The Monterey Trail Mustangs delivered family and friends a dominant win Friday night on senior night at Mark Macres Memorial Stadium as they beat the Burbank Titans 41-6.

The two teams came into the game undefeated in the Metropolitan Conference play and this was the game which would ultimately decide the conference winner.

Burbank 4-4, (2-1) received the ball first, but fumbled on their second offensive play of the game at the 23-yard line of Monterey Trail.

The Mustangs 8-0, (3-0) scored on the second play of their opening drive when senior quarterback Zachary Larrier rushed down the field for a 70-yard touchdown run.

Monterey Trail’s defense quickly got the ball back as they forced the Titans to punt the ball.

Larrier would lead the Mustangs on an 89-yard drive down field for most of the first quarter and punched the ball in with a 2-yard TD rush.

Monterey Trail led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Mustangs defense forced Burbank to punt again and in the process of a bad snap, senior linebacker Andrew Almonte picked the ball of the ground and raced into the end zone for a 23-yard fumble recovery touchdown.

With a 21-point deficit, the Titans had a nice drive down the field until the Monterey Trail defense came up big again with a goal-line stand to force Burbank to turn the ball over on downs.

One of the reasons the Mustangs defense stopped the Titans on that drive was because of junior linebacker Marcus Jones Jr.

He was the team leader in tackles for Monterey Trail going into the game Friday where he averaged 11.9 tackles per game and fans heard his name often during the game against Burbank.

Jones Jr. gave credit to his defensive line for filling the gaps and controlling the Titans offense.

“We recognized the plays after practicing it for the week,” Jones Jr said.

This was the Titans third turnover of the first half.

The Mustangs took a 21-0 lead into the half.

Monterey Trail opened the second half with a 47-yard rushing touchdown from senior running back Thaddeus Hills after Burbank had botched an onside kick.

The Titans were tired and gassed as they went down by 27 points, since they only have 23 players on their roster according to Maxpreps.

Larrier would score his third and final touchdown on the night when he scored on a 20-yard TD rush extending the dominant lead to 34 points.

Larrier said he worked and cleaned up things fundamentally that he noticed he did wrong in the second half of most games during the season.

“Most of my steps were off in the second half and tonight I kept it,” Larrier said.

He added that he mentally focused on it all week and after practicing it all week, he saw it contribute during the game.

The Mustangs conceded their first points in Metro League play in the fourth quarter on a two-yard passing TD from Burbank senior quarterback Levelle Bailey to senior athlete Darius Daniel.

Monterey Trail senior running back Jehiel Budgett would find the endzone for his 15th rushing touchdown on the season with a 45-yard run into the land of quick six.

Mustangs head coach T.J. Ewing said he was happy with how his team performed Friday, especially against a Titans team that has a lot of tradition and pride.

“We have a good relationship with the youth football, so they knew all of our kids like we knew theirs,” Ewing said.

He added that it felt like a real rivalry game for the players since they knew one another well.

Ewing has been the head coach of the football program ever since the school opened in 2004 and has seen a lot of senior nights.

“You build a great relationship within the community from youth football, so you have known the families for years,” Ewing said. “Just having their trust that we are going to do the right thing for their child is huge.”

Monterey Trail tied their highest win total in a season since 2014 and they will be on the road next week as they travel across the highway 99 overpass and play on the road against the Laguna Creek Cardinals at Cosumnes River College.

The Cardinals 1-7, (O-3) lost to the Kennedy Cougars 22-19, whom Monterey Trail shut out in week eight with a 50-0 victory.

“There is so much pride for our school,” Larrier said.

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