The buzz continues to build around the Monterey Trail High School football program.
After back-to-back appearances in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship game, they will participate in the first-ever Elk Grove-area football broadcast on ESPN.
Monterey Trail will host Pleasant Grove in the season opener on Saturday, Aug. 27 on ESPN2, giving the nation a taste of what the section has already learned: Monterey Trail has quickly evolved into one of the top programs in Northern California since 2009. “Looking forward to the season,” said head coach T.J. Ewing. “Should be another fun year for high school football fans in the area.”
Considered an overnight sensation in 2009 after winning 11 games and reaching the school’s first-ever Division I final (they had never won more than five games), Monterey Trail is no longer the darling of the section.
They prefer the us-and-against-the-world mentality, and it has worked for the last two seasons.
Monterey Trail has combined for a 21-7 record, six postseason wins and two section-final appearances. No other team from the North, aside from Pleasant Grove, has comparable Division I postseason success since realignment in 2006.
But, as the 2011 season approaches, those same critics that wondered if 2009 was a fluke will be in a similar mindset now that Monterey Trail graduated the core of those two playoff runs.
The coaching staff disputes that claim.
“Our guys commit,” said offensive coordinator Rick Arcuri, also the school’s athletic director. “They are in good shape and mentally ready. They want to play both ways, they want to be in on every play.”
It won’t take long for Monterey Trail to see exactly where it stands in the Division I fold. They open the season with arguably the toughest two-game stretch, albeit separated with a bye, of any Division I team – at home against Pleasant Grove and at Nevada Union.
If not a coach, Ewing is seemingly an ideal candidate to be a motivational speaker. Five minutes with him and even the timid would be willingly to strap on pads.
This might be his toughest job since 2008, but it also could be the most rewarding if Monterey Trail gets back to the playoffs.
What to watch on offense: Quarterback Michael Calvan. Gone. Running backs Drake Tofi and Derek Bellamy. Gone. Receivers Ethan Clark and Delvonte Johnson. Gone. Tight end Michael Worthen. Gone.
All graduated.
Calvan threw for 882 yards and ran for 624, third best on the team, in his senior season. Tofi was second in the DVC with 2,224 yards, and Bellamy ran for 1,208.
Worthen, Clark and Johnson were the team’s top three receivers from a year ago.
“We have guys that are ready to go from complimentary players to being the man,” Arcuri said. “These guys are hungry. But there’s also being hungry and ready but staying humble and doing the job.”
Jeffrey Malm-Annan might be the next capable running back in Monterey Trail’s stable. With Tofi, Bellamy and Calvan handling most of the carries last season, Malm-Annan ran just 13 times for 95 yards.
What to watch on defense: The defense benefited last season from a running game that chewed up long drives and time off the clock. With an inexperienced offense this season, the defense might be forced to keep Monterey Trail in games, especially early in the season until the offense catches up.
They return twice as many starters (6 defense, 3 offense).
Monterey Trail was fourth in points-per-game allowed in the DVC, only ahead of Laguna Creek and Davis.
Conversely, they allowed 21 or fewer points in their final three playoff games.
The defense surrendered just three points over the final three quarters of a 22-17 road win at Granite Bay in the Division I semifinals, and also returned a fumble for a touchdown in a 37-36 regular-season win over Franklin, its first loss of the season.
Best offensive player: Leonard Wood, OL
Always lost in the shuffle of a solid ground game is the offensive line. Not with Ewing.
Wood paved the way last year for a 2,000- and 1,000-yard rusher and a rushing offense that averaged 310 yards per game.
Best defensive player: Trey Flury, DL
Solidly built at 5-10, 220 pounds, Flury had 52 tackles as a junior last season. He also had two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.
His season high of nine tackles came in the Division I final against Pleasant Grove, a 21-6 loss at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium.
Schedule: The season opener against rival Pleasant Grove was moved to Aug. 27 to be televised on ESPN2. It will be the third meeting between the two teams in 12 months. Monterey Trail smartly has a bye the next week before a trip to Nevada Union on Sept. 9, followed by four consecutive home games. The final four-game stretch is daunting, with two of those three road games at Grant and Franklin.
Key game: at Grant, Oct. 14
Until Folsom knocked off Grant in the Division II championship game, it was Monterey Trail that nearly derailed Grant’s bid for a perfect season.
Playing in front of a home sellout crowd at Mark Macres Memorial Stadium, with some fans watching from the parking lot and outside the stadium fence, Monterey Trail led late in regulation before eventually losing, 28-22.
Then-junior running back Shaq Thompson led Grant with 175 rushing yards on just eight carries. Tofi ran for 159 yards, and Bellamy 105 for Monterey Trail.
Successful season if…Monterey Trail returns to the postseason.
The obvious answer is to get back to the Division I section final. After all, they are the only team from the North to make back-to-back section-final appearances since realignment in 2006. But, after losing more than 90 percent of its offense to graduation, Monterey Trail should be more concerned with just a return trip to the playoffs.
The top two in league will be hard to crack with Grant and Franklin as the likely candidates for those spots. But, unless Elk Grove is drastically improved, Monterey Trail might still be the league’s third-best team.
Prediction: 4-6 overall, 2-3 league
