The Mark Macres Memorial Trophy will stay at Monterey Trail High School for at least another year.
In a second straight one-sided series blowout, Monterey Trail retained the coveted trophy with a 75-0 win over Florin at Macres Memorial Stadium last Friday.
The two teams faced each other in the annual nonconference rivalry game in honor of Macres, a former vice principal for Florin and founding vice principal of Monterey Trail.
Both teams play their home games at the stadium that they share at Monterey Trail High School, and both wore traditional black home uniforms. A trophy in Macres’ honor is passed back and forth to the winning team, and, for another year, it will stay at Monterey Trail.
Last year, Monterey Trail won 69-0.
In the last two meetings, Florin has been outscored 144-0.
“It feels good to win this game,” said Monterey Trail defensive back Denzel James. “We played this game for Mark Macres. Maybe we will keep [this] trophy here forever.”
Monterey Trail improved to 2-1 overall this season, winning two straight since a season-opening loss at Antelope. Following a bye this week, the Delta League opener is Sept. 25 at Sheldon.
Florin is now 1-2 and losers of two in a row.
The Panthers totaled only 79 yards of offense, including a 43-yard run from senior running back David Brown, and did not complete a pass in five attempts.
Quarterbacks Elijah Beed, who left in the third quarter with an injury, and LeAndre Lee spent the majority of the game being chased out of the pocket. Monterey Trail caused six fumbles and sophomore linebacker Sam Williams also had an interception.
The Mustangs scored 28 points in each of the first two quarters and led 56-0 at the half.
Junior quarterback Robert Holt completed 4-of-5 passes - all to junior wideout Bishop Brown - for 163 yards and three touchdowns.
Nine different Mustangs carried the ball for a combined 185 yards and six touchdowns. Junior running back Pedro Pantoja rushed for 47 yards on just three carries.
Despite fumbling three times and committing seven penalties, Monterey Trail scored its highest point total since last year’s meeting against Florin.
Senior defensive back Myles Pruitt said they could clean up the mistakes by fixing “the little things like techniques, pad levels and our footwork.”
“We all work hard together, and we all grind together,” said running back Arnett Belton. “There are no backups on this team. We are all starters. We just want to continue playing for each other.”
The team-first attitude is a direct reflection of head coach T.J. Ewing, the players say.
“He preaches camaraderie,” said senior Neville Bood. “He wants us to be together, work hard, and put all your effort in.”
