Cover 3 Sports Podcast
The Cover 3 Sports Podcast is a weekly show that highlights local sports in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
Cover 3 Sports Podcast
Countdown to Kickoff 2026
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In this week’s episode, John Devine and Juan Reyes will talk about the ongoing issue with a shortage of officials in the area.
Then they'll have a fireside chat with Carmel football head coach Golden Anderson for an update with the Padres.
And finally, the guys will cap it off with reactions from this past weekend’s football scrimmages and a couple of more stops on their preseason bus tour.
We’ll have all this and more on… the Cover 3 Sports Podcast.
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Well, I was I I I spent a week in Paris. I was I went I went to a little backpacking sightseeing and all that stuff. I was in Italy, uh, went over to England, caught an arsenal game, which was actually pretty, pretty cool. And then uh yeah, no, but Paris, Paris was something else, man. The food there is just incredible. And and I will be back. I will be back, I can promise you that. And and I'll be taking my wife, Licha, and uh our our little guy, Elias, who actually turns nine months today. Gosh, man, where's where's the pause button, John? What where can we where where do I find this so he can just stop growing for a couple months here?
SPEAKER_03It it it it goes fast, as I told you last week when we spoke, you know, we dropped the youngest one off of Horriton State over the weekend, and that was a painful drive home.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know that that drive back home. I you know, and it's funny I I ran into uh Watsonville coach, uh girls basketball coach and flag football coach uh Zach Cook, and he was telling me that that his daughter's gonna be his senior, and it's like I I I didn't want to I I I didn't I just didn't want to think about Eli already being a senior, you know. I mean he's barely crawling, he's barely eating his solids. You know, it's just it's it's just a totally amazing thing, man.
SPEAKER_03I remember Rachel San Juan coach and his radio and I told him what I was doing. He said, Well, bring the tissue box.
SPEAKER_01Oh man, for sure. Again, I I just don't want to think about that. I'm getting kind of choked up thinking about it. Right now, I just want to I just want to start showing them how to throw that football or baseball and maybe start showing them how to kick a soccer ball or something. And I heard gymnastics is pretty good for uh the little ones too, at least from what I've heard.
SPEAKER_03They're just a lot more flexible at uh one and two years old than you are, say, at 45 or 60.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Hey, uh speaking of that, I heard uh I I I read or I saw something uh that some guy uh he's like 47 and he's on a football team or something like that for uh San Jose College.
SPEAKER_03I don't know, but uh well hey, hey, MPC's got a a player and he's gonna see time as a as a blocking running back that's three months older than head coach Adrian Gallows.
SPEAKER_01Ah, wow, that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_03And again, it's not old, he's 33, but you know, for junior college groups, and he's not a kid anymore. But uh I saw him out there practice the other day and he can play.
SPEAKER_01Nice. Hey, it's never too late, right, John? Um, I'm 43. Maybe I might be able to go out there now. Oh man. Uh again. For sure. Uh anyhow, yeah, we we got a lot uh to talk about here. Opening week for prep football, uh JC. I mean, we you know, it's it's it's a busy, busy time, and uh why don't we just uh jump right into it? Oh right in this week's episode, John and I will talk about the ongoing issues with the shortage of officials in the area. Then we'll have a fireside chat with Carmel football head coach Golden Anderson for an update with the spectacles. And finally, we'll cap it off with reactions from this past weekend, football scrimmages and a couple of more stuff on our preseason foot sports. We'll have all of this and more on the Cover Three Sports Podcast. All right, uh this past weekend we had all of our schools partaking. Well, at least uh a majority of our schools. Uh, I know you had mentioned uh last week that Carmel wasn't showing up uh the North Monterey County scrimmage uh Friday night. Still don't know why. And then I heard Monovista Christian pulled out of the Rancho San Juan Gamboree that uh took place at Allistah High School also on Friday. And word on the street was uh I guess uh Mustangs didn't show up because there were no officials uh available. And it's not the first time. It's not the first time that uh that uh we've heard that. Uh seems like uh availability for these officials is still an ongoing issue. And and I remember I remember it started with uh games getting pushed back uh to Thursday night because there just there just wasn't enough uh officials out there to to call the game.
SPEAKER_03Well, and again, let's let's be honest. I mean, there is a shortage of officials, and there has been for the last five or six years, and it's a tough job. I mean, if you've ever been out there covering a game and you hear the uh the cat calls in the stands, I mean I don't know if I'd want to be an official other than some of the abuse they take. Uh so kudos to those that are still out there doing it. That being said, you know, we've moved games to Thursday for a reason. We just don't have enough officials, and this year they made uh made every team in the PCAW pick two games. Either you play on Thursday or you play on Saturday. And 95% of them chose the Thursday game. So we're gonna have a boatload of Thursday games to the point where it's gonna feel like Friday night on Thursday night for most of the season.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's uh yeah, these these uh it is a tough gig. And there's no doubt about it. Uh uh, but it seems to me, it seems like I guess I just maybe more of the veterans are slowly retiring as well. They're just kind of just uh uh leaving and St. Francis head coach John Osman kind of pointed that out to me during a phone conversation I had with them that yeah, yeah, a lot of a lot of these officials are just kind of just kind of leaving. And and not not to say that there aren't any of the younger ones, right? I mean there are some some uh younger guys out there, uh, but uh it's just there's just fewer, fewer uh less of them nowadays.
SPEAKER_03Well, and the younger guys need training. I mean, you don't want to throw somebody into a varsity game that isn't ready for that role, and it's great when you get new ones to come in like that, but they usually need a season or two and at the lower levels uh before they go to the varsity game because of the magnitude of a varsity game in terms of the impact it makes for schools that have playoff aspirations or title aspirations. So you you want the best official you can get at the varsity level, and that takes time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I guess I to me I I I didn't realize that as well, right? I mean, yeah, you can't just throw anyone out there at a varsity game, right? I mean, they gotta start somewhere and and uh maybe there's just not enough signing up for that for for those roles for the for the the youth leagues, and I don't know, maybe is the pay not worth it anymore, or who knows?
SPEAKER_03I mean, uh I mean I know I don't know if I'd I don't know if I'd officiate for a hundred dollars a game. Like I said, the abuse some of these people take at certain sites, yeah. You know, uh I'd have a list where I'd say I'm not going to this place, I'm not going to that place, and I'll just leave it at that.
SPEAKER_01For sure, man. Yeah, well may maybe maybe we should probably get one of these uh these younger uh one of these newer officials on its own. All right, folks, that was our water cooler talk for today. Next up, we have a special guest of the house. This is a 1997 Carmel High graduate threw for 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns during his senior year on the football team. And as head coach of the Padres, he is a two-time Central Coast section champion most recently, leading the Padres to a Division III title in 2024. And during his 16-year tenure at Carmel, the program has reached the postseason 13 times, and they have made uh an appearance in the finals five times. And let's not forget his duties as athletic director as well. Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Golden Anderson to the Cover Three Sports Podcast.
SPEAKER_06Thanks, Juan and John. Thanks for having me here.
SPEAKER_01Looking forward to talking to football. Nice, nice.
SPEAKER_03So we need to get one of those things where we have people clapping and stuff like that. We're bullying one or the other.
SPEAKER_01I'll put some sound effects. I'll make sure to do that.
SPEAKER_03Hey, Golden, we got a big game this week, don't we?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, first football game ever under the lights. Uh, we've had some events under the lights uh previously, last year and a half, but this will be the first time we've been cleared for uh the Friday night football, the larger event. So uh we're really excited for that, and I know our students are.
SPEAKER_03You know, and not that this game needs any more of a of a hyped up, you know, atmosphere, the fact that it's been played for 78 years. But this just has to add a little more adrenaline rush, wouldn't you say? Friday night, Carmel, probably going to be the largest crowd we've ever seen at a Carmel football game based on what you've told me so far early in the week. And it's Pacific Grove.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I mean, the crowd piece, obviously I wear multiple hats at the high school. Um we've been meeting for about four or five months about this, uh, trying to provide the best experience that we can. It just so happened that the shoe game became the first game. Uh, it's not that we ever saw originally when we had these plans, but uh that's kind of how it shook out. And yeah, we we're we're anticipating to be, I mean, at least in in our area, our recollection, uh, the largest event on the campus at Carmel High. And we've we've had some pretty big ones at Montreal Peninsula College, um, etc. But uh definitely has gonna be the biggest thing that's been at Carmel High. So um I know our administration stuff's been working around the clock, uh, so is our entire school district. The amount of manpower and resources that they poured into this is um off the charts to try to provide a good experience for the students and the fans. Um my job and when I take that hat off is to make sure the football team is as prepared as we can be, uh, because we've got a good challenge.
SPEAKER_03You know, the one thing you told me earlier today when we talked was the fact that this has been an accumulation of time of other students, other administrators, you know, trying to get this off the ground.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I I recall, you know, school board meetings four years ago where students are coming in um giving speeches about wanting the lights, and the students that were speaking were saying that they knew firsthand that they would not ever get to experience it. But if they didn't speak up, they thought it would never happen. And so I thought they did an awesome, awesome job of doing that. And we're really unselfish. I mean, we previous school boards, previous superintendents, previous principals fought like crazy to get this across the finish line, and they did, and they went above and beyond to try to make it happen and appease community members that weren't happy with it, and we finally got it to the finish line, and you know, in these moments you think about all those people that really helped out, um, that didn't get to necessarily experience it on the field or as a student, but they should be very proud of what they did. I know the students right now are extremely thankful because our school district talks about those folks that came before us. So our it's not lost on our students how many people did the legwork for this to happen, and our students, I know the football players are all excited, but the student body is is it's like their excitement's off the charts for um just wanting to come and experience that.
SPEAKER_03And you can't call this week a normal week, can you?
SPEAKER_06Nothing about it's normal, John. It's the first night game, so that's a little different. The Pacific Grove game, um, you know, obviously that's that's everything to both communities and fan bases and alumni. It's you know the sort of rivalry games, and it's not to take anything away from that, but it's just different. I didn't always grow up in Carmel. And when I first came here as a sophomore in high school, the way everybody talked about it, I didn't believe them. And then I got to experience it, and it was like nothing I'd seen when it comes to like high school football around here, as far as old communities of old fan bases, you know, literally living and dying on that and those bragging rights. You know, a lot of schools, the alumni don't want the team to be as good as it it was when they were there, and they almost kind of kind of hate on the teams. Our alumni bases, they don't care what happened, they don't care how the season went, they want to talk about that one game, and that's Pacific Grove. And it's the same way for Pacific Grove. If there's one game you're gonna win, both both communities would say that's the game to win. So that's where it's unlike anything else. And obviously, my job, my job as a coach is that's a lot of pressure on me sort of get our kids as focused and um organized as I can because I'm not out there playing.
SPEAKER_03But you you mentioned in the past, and again the lights are just another another uh added uh sequence to this game, but there are distractions leading up to this game.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I mean all these I say it all the time, our students we've got 15 to 18 year olds that have grown up since they were three, four years old coming to this game every year and just dreaming of doing it. So a lot of times, you know, we we take some grief sometimes, a lot, you know, uh, you know, um maybe not playing well at the beginning of the game or the game's sloppy. But these kids are really nervous, both of them are, uh both programs. It means a lot. And they wait all their lives to do this, and they're finally getting to do it, and that's a lot of pressure on a 15 to 18 year old that you know from the outside you may not think that, but being here you understand what they're going through. And as I said to you before, there's a lot of momentum shifts in this game because of the emotion and the passion that's involved in it, and that that's from the community on down, and they all know it, and they all feel it. And our job is just trying to do our best to compartmentalize and focus on what we can control and have some reasonable expectations about what a first game is gonna look like, and be be prepared for the ups and downs and not get too up and not get too down.
SPEAKER_01Hey Golden, uh, without putting any more pressure on these kids, why why does this game mean so much to the communities? I mean, you guys talked about it here and just how passionate it is, but what what what is so meaningful about Pacific Grove versus Carmel, the shoe game?
SPEAKER_06Well, it's two, I mean, obviously you can look from the outside, it's two small towns, very similar uh socioeconomic population, very similar school sizes, uh, had a lot of success across the board schools over the years. But this thing's been passed down from generation to generation. I I don't know what spearheaded why this is so important, but every coach, every alumni that are older than us that came before us were so passionate about it. Uh when I first came to school here, it's all anyone worried about. You know, those are the days where Pacific Open Carmel weren't even going to the playoffs. So it was literally the game that was circled at the end of the year that everybody was at because that's the send-off for the season. And um, you either live a whole year as the victor or you live a whole year as as the one that lost. So um there's just a passion to it, there's an intensity to it. The the alumni and the fans, like how many people come out. I mean, I I know people that missed, you know, I had a somebody a couple years ago say, Hey, my 30-year reunion was last week, but I missed it because I was only gonna make one trip up here and I made it to this. They came to the shoe game instead of their 30-year reunion the week before. So there's stuff like that all the time. And uh you people probably laugh at it from the outside, but I'm sure Pacific Grove has plenty of stories about that as well. You know, you've seen it, um, you know, both fan bases, we've heard it since we were kids. You know, it's always great to win the shoe, it's always it's even better to win it back. You know, I've heard that phrase since I was a kid, and that's how both fan bases feel. So, you know, you you're always gonna when you have the shoe, you are the hunted, and they're doing everything they can for that one game, so you've got to be prepared for for their best shot. And so and it brings out both communities. They take it very seriously, and you know, a lot of times, you know, you'd play that week ten game and it would be sold out, and then you'd play the first round of the playoff game and it'd be half empty in the next week. Because it's just it's just hits different, it's just different. Um that's the one all the the the alumni circle to go to. Wow, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_03So Golden, is there more pressure on Farmell right now because you've won the last eleven shoe games? And the witness Pacific Who has nothing to lose.
SPEAKER_06Uh yeah, you you you got the shoe to lose every year. Um and if all if all if all these players that we have right now played the last eleven games, I would say they probably had pressure on 'em. But most of these guys have played one or once or twice in this game. So it is what it is in that regard. Um whatever we've done in the past has no you know, bearing on what's gonna happen. Um doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how many you've lost or win or won in a row, none of that matters. It's just Friday night will matter who plays their best. Um and you know, you got no excuses afterwards.
SPEAKER_03So, you know, and I know again we've talked about this probably for the last 17 years since you've been a head coach. But this game normally happens in week ten for the most part. This is week one where you know you're still iron out deficiencies and whatnot. But maybe more of a concern that I would have win or lose, and you said this to me earlier, you gotta come back to practice on Monday. And there's such an adrenaline rush for this game. I mean, these players are probably mentally drained after this game. How do you get them back up for the next nine weeks?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and we've been, you know, we've been blessed enough to have um you know been in the playoffs a fair amount, and so every year we're kind of dealing with win or lose on this game, we've got to bounce back to next week. And when we lost in 2014 to a good Pacific Grove team at Carmel and they beat us, we turned around and won our first round playoff game and went to the semifinals. You know, that you can turn it around that quick. And we've been in the position where we won the shoe game and we've turned around and we've lost in the first round of the playoffs. Like it's that's just the reality of things. Like you the same thing's happened to us when we've been in the playoffs. It's different when it's the last game of the year. You know, maybe when I was a player or when you weren't making the playoffs back in the days with either school, um, that was it, that was the finality. That was that would end people's careers right there. And so you know, we've been on the end of it where us and Pacific Grove are both going to the playoffs and we're battling it out, and we both got to be ready. And we've been on the other side of it where they weren't going to the playoffs, and those are some of the best games we've ever had with Pacific Grove. Like down to the wire games. Like, you know, they were a team, they were a team, you know, a couple years ago and even last year, nothing to lose. That was it. And they were gonna leave it all out there, and they did, and they were two really hard-fought games. We were lucky enough to end up on the right side of them. Um, but yeah, week one's gonna always be sloppy. There's gonna be a lot of procedural penalties, not enough guys on the field, too many guys on the field. All that week one stuff's gonna go on, and like I said, we're just trying to have make sure our kids have some uh reasonable expectations on how things go in these games so that they're prepared to deal with the environment um as best they can because it's going to be uh probably one of the largest crowds these kids have played in front of. It's gonna be a night game at Carmel, so our fan base is all hyped up for that, but our fan base isn't playing. Our our players aren't in the crowd experiencing it. They're just playing a game. Someone asked if it was a disadvantage to have never played under our lights. I just said the majority of the stadiums we go to, we've never played under their lights, and we play the game and we're fine. Um, so that's got nothing to do with it. I think it's all that kind of pageantry is for everybody else. Um the two football teams just gotta go out there and play hard.
SPEAKER_03Do you put any emphasis on the fact that over the last three years Pacific Grove is 13 and 2 in their first five games of the season? Now, obviously they've struggled in the second half, whether it be injuries or opponents, and obviously the last three years you've played them in week ten, I believe. But you put it into that that they've gotten off to these great starts over the last three years.
SPEAKER_06No, they're they're a good program. Um, you know, Coach Gray, you know, who I've known forever, he did a really good job. Now, did that that didn't always, you know spare you know, a playoff appearance or something like that. But they were off to fast starts. They ran into some injury issues, but when we played them at the end of the year, every year, I mean these have been battles. So they're a good football team, they're our rivals, so um, you know, they don't go unnoticed by us at all. Um, and obviously to start the year, new coaching staff, you know, from within, so knows a bunch of the players, you know, working in youth sports. I, you know, I'm involved in youth sports in our community, um, dealt with and worked with a lot of the PG players, I know them personally. They've got good athletes, they're very similar to our kids in in many ways, and they got a good good group and they got an excited group. You know, watched them play Friday night and they got a ton of energy and they're excited, and everybody has hope, all teams, us included, the beginning of the season. And we you know everyone's gonna be excited and fired up, and we're not gonna sneak by them and they're not gonna sneak by us. Um, both of us got each other's attention.
SPEAKER_03Hey, Juan, to give you just an indication of how tight this series is, even though Carmel has won the last. Two years ago, Carmel needed a touchdown in I don't know, was it the final minute or two golden to beat the Civil Gold 44 41?
SPEAKER_06Uh yeah, we were down by uh three touchdowns at one point in the first half.
SPEAKER_03And and the reason why I bring this up, Juan, is they won that game. And that was week ten, and then it went on and won a state title.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Talk about turning things around.
SPEAKER_06It just shows you in a rivalry game. Not none rivalry game, not nothing matters. And John, I spoke to you about it earlier today, but we're just trying to manage the game and find a way to, you know, manipulate the game the best we can and control the game the best we can to try to come out on top, you know, buy one one more point than they have. Um, you know, it's not it's not trying to score a certain amount or give up you know a certain m member amount of points at some point. Like we don't care. We're just trying to find any way we can to win the game. And the rivalry games are always close. They come down to clock management, situational football, controlling parts of the game with the clock, uh manipulating how many possessions you have, like all that stuff comes into play because these games are unlike any other.
SPEAKER_03Hey, before we let you go on, um just gonna ask you one last time. You got a starting quarterback yet?
SPEAKER_06We have starting quarterbacks, we got backup quarterbacks. Nobody's asked us about any other position, but we'll uh we're confident the guys that we're gonna roll out there at all the positions, and you know, we expect it to do good things, uh, but it's gonna take a total team effort, and it's not gonna come down to one guy.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Dangolden just talking about the rivalry, man, you're getting me all pumped up. Oh man, and it's it's kind of like already ri Rivalry Week, I guess. I mean, we got Santa Cruz in Watsonville as well. I mean, we got some pretty good, pretty good old school matchups this week. This is awesome.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, we've been pretty lucky with the scheduling. We've you know, traditionally was the last week of the season, and this is I think the third time we've had to play it the play it another time, and both of us thought what's better, you know, doing it at the end, the culmination of the season, what's better or what's closest to that, and we all thought it was like kick off the season with it. So I don't know how a lot of people don't do that, but it's been a good formula for our two schools. It's it's started the school year off in both you know, fan bases, both both schools, but with a lot of excitement and energy to kind of kick off the fall season. So it's been kind of a really neat thing to be part of. And the only time it's not been the last game of the year has been these three times, and I've been blessed to be part of all three of those. It's kind of it's it's pretty neat to be part of.
SPEAKER_01Trying to get those branding rights early, huh?
SPEAKER_03I was gonna tell you, too, one, when I'm out on my football tours and I'll ask a kid, you know, you know, what's the goal this year? No one has ever told me, and this is either side, no one has ever told me, oh, we want to make the playoffs, we want to win a title. It's always the shoe.
SPEAKER_01That's uh that's great. That's great. Oh man, awesome, awesome. All right, Golden. Hey, thanks again for being a guest on our show, man. You are you are more than welcome to come back anytime, my friend.
SPEAKER_06All right, thanks, Juan. Thank you, John.
SPEAKER_01Man, I guess I gotta start doing uh uh a more thorough job on these intros. How can I forget that uh Golden won that state title? Gosh, it's just uh I I don't know. I don't know how I forgot that.
SPEAKER_03Not only that, but it it's a PCAL record 15-0 season. Uh obviously, when you go all the way to a state championship, you're playing the maximum amount of games, which is 15, and as you we talked about, they didn't lose a game that year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, that's uh just an amazing career for him, and I I remember the one of the first times I ever met him. Uh, I was actually working uh alongside you at the Herald, and I was doing the videos. Remember, I was doing some videos and stuff, and I show up and I have my camera and my my tripod and everything, and he goes, What is this? Uh ESPN or or NFL Films or something like that?
SPEAKER_03I'm like, ah he's he's always good for some smart ass tag comment. That's that's what makes Golden lovable.
SPEAKER_01For sure. Well, I and I think I I think that that's like the moment where I was like, okay, cool. He's he's cool with me, you know? So it's like, you know, and and and and Golden's always been a great guy, man. I just like I said, just uh just a a good coach and just a good person as well, for sure.
SPEAKER_03And think of the job he's done. People don't realize this. Um the Carmel is about 700 students.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So if you take a look at the rest of the Gavin division, whether it be Salinas or Hollister or Monterey, Soquel, whatnot, Alistair, most of these schools hover anywhere between 1,500 and 3,500 students. So uh the playing field isn't exactly fair. And I'm sure if he had his way, he'd prefer to be in another division, but he's not, and they just kind of embrace it and move forward. And as you saw last year, they were they were a 500 team in the gabbling division, but they got to the postseason, and you know, he's he doesn't as he talked about it, he doesn't set his sights like we want to win a state championship. I mean, their priority is the shoe, which I get Pacific Grove as well. And then we'll work on getting better. You know, that's the thing. As long as we're getting better every week, he's content. And uh maybe that's the way we should look at things rather than oh, we got to get to the playoffs. That's the most important thing.
SPEAKER_00For sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Hey, uh I maybe I didn't get the the throw in the state title in there, but at least at least I was able to surprise you a little bit when I busted out the uh those stats from his senior year at Carmel. I love it. For sure. Hey, I learned from the best. All right, welcome back to the cover three sports podcast. Well, we are done week one or week zero, as some put it, which doesn't make any sense to me. But uh yeah, we're here. I mean, we got we got a lot going on, uh nice slate of of uh season openers, uh including uh some of the junior colleges. Uh I know I know you you just uh paid a visit to was it Hartnell NPC? Both both.
SPEAKER_03And uh as you know, NPC's got the rare Thursday game, uh this Thursday at Laney. A team that they beat last year. In fact, uh, you know, I was out there at their practice, and there's 95 players out at NPC to the point where he's gonna gray shirt probably 21 players just because he said, you know what, I don't need 95 players out here, but I need 65 to complain. And that's what he has. They are so deep at so many different positions that if uh you know if somebody goes down, they've got a backup that's capable of jumping in there and filling that role right away. He's got a few D1 kickbacks, which helps uh foster that depth. But more than anything, what I saw that stood out to me is is some of the local guys that are out there. I mean, these are names familiar to you, obviously, with Nico Downey, one of his receivers, and his former quarterback, uh Dominic, and I should be able to pronounce his last name because I'm Italian as well, but I'm drawing a blank.
SPEAKER_01It's uh I think it's Perini.
SPEAKER_03Yes, uh obviously a school record holder for the Mustangs at Monta Vista, and he looked really good out there just winging the ball uh to a number of receivers that NPC has. Uh again, if they can run the ball just a little bit, and I think they will, this is a this is a team that will make some noise, more noise, I should say, in the national division, which as you know is the upper division of the community colleges in the state of California, where they've jumped up there last year. You know, a lot of people thought, what is NPC doing? You know, after winning four straight conference titles. Well uh Adrian, Coach Adrian quick clearly knew what he was doing by making that move, and he's only enhanced this program by adding some size up in the trenches.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I you know MPC, they they're always deep, man. And they they they've got some ballers and they've they've been a really, really great program uh over the uh last uh couple decades. Five years, yeah.
SPEAKER_03You you realize that he has they sent 22 kids off to colleges last year, and and 18 of them were division one rides.
SPEAKER_01Wow. That's incredible. That's incredible. Yeah, I I I know I know Cabrillo college uh head coach Anthony Romero. We talked to him uh last week. He he's he's trying to get on that same level, right? Trying to get these kids in the college, trying to get them to the next level and and further their education. And it's not just about football again for these coaches, it's about building uh men and and and turning them into uh into scholars for sure. That's yeah.
SPEAKER_03And don't sleep don't sleep on Hartnell either. You know, our Berlanga came in there last year, wasn't hired officially until mid-June, which gave him basically five weeks to get ready for a football season. Yeah, I think he had 10 returning sophomores. He ended up having a roster around 40. Well, they went out this year and it's recruited their asses off, and he's got 80 kids on that roster right now, and a lot of them are names that you'll recognize, as well as there's a few out-of-staters. But in the uh Coast Con Golden Coast Conference, uh, they'll be competitive this year. You know, they closed last season by winning their last two games. Uh, and he hasn't forgotten the 83-0 to DeAnza last year. He calls it something that he uses as motivation, even though DeAnza is no longer in the American uh division. Uh, it serves as motivation for Hartnell to continue the progression that it's made, obviously going from one win in 2024 to uh 30 wins last year. Um, it would not surprise me to see them win six or seven games this year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me either. Uh Art Berlinga, I mean he's uh he he knows how to turn programs around. You know, that's another coach that uh knows how to go in there and and start uh building from the ground up. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Think about this. When he was at Gonzalez, in his second year, they went 11-0 and won a title after a three-win season.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03In his second year at Forge Christian out in Colorado, he took a one-win program to a state championship. Now I know this isn't high school, this is college.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03But he has a his trajectory in his last two stops as a head coach is in year two, the program just takes off.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I mean the resume speaks for itself for sure. Um, yeah, I and uh again, going back to Cabrillo, I'm gonna go see uh those guys later on uh this evening, uh Tuesday, and then um see what uh what uh what what the uh roster is is made up of. I know I know they got a a couple of local uh players, uh a lot from Aptos, a couple from Scotts Valley, um SLV as well, uh Kell again, you know, just uh some local local talent uh filling up those the roster spot. And um yeah, I'm just I'm I'm just curious to see what uh what's going on over at at Aptos. Fox City. No, I'm just kidding. Um but uh no going going back to uh to high school, uh I I know we we got uh a coup uh uh a lot of games actually uh lined up uh for this weekend. And um actually here's a here's a couple of matchups and uh what we'll simply call our games of the week. Uh here's a quick rundown for our games of the week, uh starting with Monavista Christian at Seaside. Uh-huh. That'll be Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Uh-huh. Then we have the shoe game, Pacific Grove at Carmel, uh Friday at 7. And then all of that at Hollister, another Friday night game.
unknownUh-huh.
SPEAKER_01And then uh North Monterey County at Palma.
unknownUh-huh.
SPEAKER_01And then finally we have Santa Cruz at Watsonville. Uh, John, let's begin with uh with the shoe game. I know Golden talked about the rivalry, the traditions of that particular matchup, but uh but this Friday is different, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03Well, in a sense, yes, for two reasons. Now, one is this game is normally played at the end of the regular season, which if you're a team that's not making the postseason, you know, it's it is your playoff game, uh, which has been a case for Pacific over the last couple of years, where Carmel was already postseason bound. But this year it's in week one. And I don't know of any coach that'll tell you his team is ready to go in week one in terms of uh having a complete playbook installed and ironing out the deficiencies that you've seen over the last two weeks of practice. In addition, as we talked about with Golden, is this is the first game at Carmel under the lights on the Carmel campus. So it's a big deal for the community. So that adds a little more pressure to this game to the kids. I mean, they realize that this is something that's been in the works maybe for a decade and it's finally here. Uh if you're Pacific Grove, I think you go in there with nothing to lose. I mean, nobody expects you to win. You haven't won the game in 11 years. You're in the mission division, Carmel's in the Gabling division, so they're supposed to win this game. But as we've seen over the last two years, uh going back to, as we mentioned, Carmel's uh state title run where they went 15-0, their biggest challenge came against Pacific Grove in week 10, where the Breakers had the lead going into the final two minutes of the game before Carmel won that game 44-41. And obviously, I think that kind of snowballed into the postseason. I'm a firm believer that if Pacific Grove had won that game, Carmel would not have won a state title that year, just from seating purposes in the CCS to everything else that goes on from that point. So that was a huge game. And of course, last year, Pacific Grove jumped out to a 10-0 lead. You know, Carmel was a little mistake prone and and the Breakers took advantage of it and they had all the momentum. But I always say this, you know, there's an adrenaline rush in this game that's like no other for those first five, six minutes of the game. But when that adrenaline rush runs out, now you got to play football. And then it becomes all right, who's ready for this game and who isn't?
SPEAKER_01Yep, for sure. Yeah, I mean, just the way you and Golden talk about it. I mean, it I I definitely have to go check it out one of these years. Uh sounds like a sounds like a fun time for sure.
SPEAKER_03Well, think of it this way. They've been doing this for 79 years. I think it goes back to 1947 and when Golden took the job, um, I believe the uh the Breakers were were had a four or five game series lead. Because right now Carmel has a 10-game series lead and Golden 16 and excuse me, 15 and 1 as a head coach in this game. Although he didn't talk about the fact that as a player he lost this game.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. All right, all right, all right.
SPEAKER_01Well, you brought it up, so there it is. Oh man, oh man, that's awesome.
SPEAKER_03I will say this though, I I do like what I saw from both programs. I do think Pacific Grove has the skilled athletes to compete with Carmel this year. Uh my concern for the breakers is probably what it's been for the last decade, and that's the lack of depth. I mean, there's gonna be 32 players on that roster. There's not a lot of size, which means a lot of his linemen are gonna have to go both ways, and it's gonna come down to conditioning.
SPEAKER_01Yep, for sure, man. That's uh yeah, that that's I guess the the name of the game for for the uh the smaller schools, right? Oh, Carmel small too, but uh, but yeah, I mean smaller programs, I should say, for sure. Right. Um uh well next up uh uh speaking of kind of smaller programs, we have uh Monavista Christian, and uh they they'll be traveling over to uh to the peninsula to take on Seaside. One of uh six games scheduled for Thursday night. Thursday night. But uh we we did we did talk a little bit about both teams last week, kind of giving them a uh a team preview, breakdown of them. But uh what what makes uh this matchup so intriguing, you think?
SPEAKER_03You know, for me it's it's seaside more than anything. This is a program that was on life support a year ago. We didn't even know if they were gonna have a program. Uh the numbers are still not very good. And you know, head coach Al Avala, who's been there for 40 plus years, was worried about even having a JV program this year because the numbers are down. Uh, fortunately, some kids have come out, most of them of which have never played football before, so there's a growing process at the lower levels. And we've seen that over the last three years with this program that he's taken players that don't even know how to put a uniform on. And by the time they're a junior or senior in high school, they've become pretty good football players, and that's what he has right now. You know, uh Josiah Escort is one of the more explosive and electrifying running backs, not only in the San Jose division, but maybe in the county. And you're gonna see a lot of him. Um Juan Cebalas is is is a linebacker of old school Seaside. And what I mean by that is this kid brings physicality to the game, and you know, we haven't seen that a lot in Seaside over the last couple years, partly because a lot of these kids are still learning how to play the game. Um now Seaside's into Santa Lucia for a reason. You know, they're not at that level yet. Monta Vista being a Mission Division North team probably has a little more depth, a little more talent, but it is at Seaside, it is a season opener, and as we've talked about in the past, uh it kind of comes down to who's more prepared in game one because most coaches don't have their entire playbook in yet.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. And you mentioned uh Al Avila being there uh for quite some time. Um I I'm excited to see this uh new pro style offense that uh Mustang first year head coach uh Joe Sturdevant uh brought with him from uh from Georgia, where he was a uh a high school coach over in that area. Um and and he's got a good quarterback uh in Evan Vesti, who could he he's got a he's got a cannon for an arm. He can laser those uh passes in there um to his wide receivers and and and some of those receivers uh include Jordan Ramirez, uh Johnny Finney, and uh Kai Burk Bertkold. Sorry if I if I uh butchered that name. You could you can correct me on Thursday when I see you. Uh but uh no that they also have a a couple other uh other weapons in the backfield in Reese Walker and and Brandon Hagan. Uh that that's a new up-and-comer that I saw during training camp. Um just yeah, just excited to see what they can do.
SPEAKER_03You know, another name they brought in who's not a player, but had a lot of success is the offensive corner of Stevenson the last couple years, and that's Maurice Mann, uh, who I think is gonna help just invigorate this offense just a little bit more. And for those that don't know, uh Mann, he he's a moderate high graduate uh who spent close to a decade in the CFL. Uh he ran a similar attack at Stevenson that as we saw last year, the quarterback set numerous passing records. So I think if he has a little bit of a hand in this offense, and it sounds like he will, uh Montavista could be really explosive this year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no doubt. Uh again, yeah, just uh having um uh a a young quarterback like that. Uh well he's a senior, but still just uh having having a mobile very mobile and and just he can throw on the run. He's yeah, if he can get into uh if he can get uh situated in that in that offense that uh Maurice brings, it yeah, like you said, they're gonna be a pretty dangerous team. Um and I I know I know the Mustangs can score. I mean they did it last year. Uh they were in a lot of uh shootouts, so to speak.
SPEAKER_03But uh on just one of the last two years, haven't they? Yeah, going back to Buried's days there. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01For sure, yeah. They but they can put up points. I I I guess my my uh my big question or my uh one of my concerns is I'm wondering if the defense can now make some stops. Uh because last year and even the year before that, they were they were they they may be giving up a a lot of uh points there on the scoreboard. Um last year I think it was at uh thir 32 points per game. Um and the lowest one being 19 points in a win against Greenfield. So again, just just a little, just you know, a couple stops uh could go a long way. And we'll see if uh that that that defensive can uh can can do it. And then uh next up we have uh just a quick here rundown on uh solid dad at Hollister. I I don't know. I I feel like this will be a good test for both teams, just seeing where they're at level wise, right? I mean I know the Haybalers they they might have that the slight advantage being that they do compete in that grueling gabalon division, plus they'll be at home. But I I I feel like the Aztecs uh they'll be able to hold their own. And and and I know I think I guess the thing for them is can they hold on to a lead once they take it? I know that was a a problem for them last year. So I I I don't know I feel like it's a good test for both teams.
SPEAKER_03Well, there's two things that stick out to me on this game. And number one is the offensive coordinator for Hollister and Troy Emory. This is his second season now, so now these players have a little bit of an idea and the c of the concepts of this offense. So I expect Hollister's offense to be better this year. You mentioned Soledad. People forget they started the year, I believe, 0 and 4 last year. Uh two of those games, you can make an argument, they gave away a 19 point lead to Monta Vista, had the game locked up against Scotts Valley until a pick six ended it. Uh, but they didn't quit. You know, they grew as a team, and as you know they went four and one over the second half of the season in the mission division south and some people think that they may give King City their biggest run this year in that mission division south uh along with Stevenson and Alvarez. So uh I like the idea that Eric Rock Rodriguez is not afraid to play teams that you know should be better than him. They're in an upper division. He feels that it's going to get them ready for league. And if you look at last year's results, I don't think there was a more improved team in the second half of the season than Soledad.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And that's why I I kind of I you know when I saw this matchup I was like ooh this could be a nice little little uh matchup for Soledad right a a again a good test for them to see where they're at uh level wise yeah yeah the one key for Soledad and when I was out there a couple weeks ago is they're still kind of looking for a quarterback um hopefully that's been resolved uh the guy they were using is explosive as a runner but he he's not a great throwing quarterback then again soled that is a premier prime primarily a running type team with you know some size in the trenches so we'll see how that works out. For sure well according to uh the roster on the Max Preps website it looks like uh over for Hollister it looks like senior Eli Lovejoy will be the starting quarterback um again I I I'm I I'm I'm not certain it's just based off of the roster he's he's the only QB listed on there and and he's a team captain so I would assume that uh he'll be out there for them other names to watch out for uh on the Hay Baylors uh include seniors Jason Navarez uh Demetrius Freink and uh Benjamin Candelaria uh a trio of of team captains and two-way starters uh looking to get the the Baylors off to a one and oh start one and oh start and I know you know which I'm sorry Juan you know what you might see too in this game is you may see multiple players playing positions and what I mean by that is it would not surprise me if a team uses two quarterbacks in the first game if they're not certain who their starter is.
SPEAKER_03I can see that at Carmel this week and we'll see um so you know again week one you know it's there's a lot of excitement about it but I think a lot of teams aren't completely set yet. I don't really gauge a team until maybe weeks three or four.
SPEAKER_01For sure for sure yep it's barely it's barely the beginning we're only getting started. Well here here's an interesting one that uh that we picked out just kind of wanted to highlight it uh it's North Monterey County against Palma uh which will be taking place at Robo Bank Stadium in Salinas.
SPEAKER_03What what what stands out to you about uh this matchup I like the fact that North County despite coming off a one and nine season will sit there and say you know what we're gonna play an A-League team you know it's gonna make us better. Now I do believe uh North County will be a much better team than they were last year if they can stay healthy. And as you know last year it was a mass unit on the sidelines for the Condors to the point where the final game of the season head coach Juan Quay was basically called up every JV player he had just to fill a roster and they were competitive in that game I'm sorry it was against SLV. Gave them everything they had before you know falling in the fourth quarter and I think that carries over into this year. Now do I think they're gonna beat Palma no I mean anytime you've got an offensive line that's going to average 275 pounds across and you've got two Division I prospects not to mention the Monterey County's all time leading rusher and Eli Dukes I mean Palma has an offensive line in my opinion that is as good as any offensive line in the state of California. That's how much I think of how good they are um there's a lot of work in front of Palma I mean they've got to get better with the passing game. Conversations I've had with head coach Jeff Carnazzo it's like you know you can't throw the ball when you want to you have to be able to throw the ball when you need to and that wasn't the case last year in the postseason against Las Gatas and he came back and bit him in the second half of the of that that game I do think Patrick Driscoll's gotten a lot better you know and he's got some receivers to get the ball to the North County game will I would not be surprised if we see Palmer put the ball up what I'd call an uncharacteristic 12 to 15 times just to get him some action.
SPEAKER_01I don't see Dukes getting a lot of carries in this game because he probably won't have to but you know North County's feisty they're physical and uh they're gonna show up yeah no doubt uh I I I do applaud uh North County head coach Juan Cuevas for uh for going up against a tough tough Palma team and it it'll be quite the experience man I mean hopefully a learning one uh for the for the guys but uh no that this will this will definitely be an experience uh for them moving forward and uh yeah hope hoping they'll just kind of go off from that from that game for sure you know everybody looks at last year's one and nine season and obviously it was not a good year for North County and again injuries played a big role in that but go back to the previous season when they won their first league title outright in 25 years yeah I mean the guy can coach he just got to keep his team healthy. Exactly yep yep yep all right uh finally we have uh Santa Cruz visiting Watsonville uh another one of those uh long time ongoing rivalries in in the state um 100 plus years if I'm not mistaken I want to say the first meeting uh I I I saw something about it was like in the 1890s I don't even know if football was even actually a sport maybe it might have been rugby who knows but uh but they they have been uh again just going head to head for for the longest time and and and I was in Watsonville uh yesterday to to check out what the Wildcats with the Z have uh going on this season and and I did see I did see a good amount of of returning players on that offensive line uh starting with uh Brody Bardo and then uh Tim Ruelas and then we have uh Max Martinez Molina who is who's only a sophomore but he's out there uh grinding it out with the on the varsity squad and then um yeah here here's what Brody had to say about uh this upcoming season sound clip yeah the that the offensive line they'll be blocking for quarterback Edwin Cornejo who should have a a breakout year as a senior uh I remember him coming in as a sophomore and then uh just kind of got better as a season as uh the in his junior year and and and now here he is uh under center once again and then uh other notable returning players we have uh Jaden Ayala Noel Navarro and Mark Flores who had this to say uh during practice and then sound clip all right and then we come back well according oh go ahead you know what I like about this game Juan what's that is you know in years past these have been two teams that have sort of been doormats haven't been very good again when you're playing a rivalry game it's still a big deal and it still means something to both communities when you take a look at Santa Cruz this is a team that won a San Luisi division title last year they've got a little momentum now you know the program's bouncing back people forget that what it was three four years ago they couldn't even score a point and they've resurrected that program over there and I think Watsonville with a new coach you know uh I think Goldman said it the other day new coaches bring new energy and I think you're gonna see that for Watsonville and I think this makes this a kind of a big first game for both these teams. Yeah exactly like you said there and a new new new coach new attitude and and that's what I got from the players just kind of talking to them and uh one of the things that they said was I was like well what's one thing that you know that's different he's like we're we're really disciplined you know we're really disciplined this year so that that that goes a long way right I mean the penalties right I mean just kind of keeping your cool during uh a heated moment just any anything like that right I mean discipline that that goes a long way well just ask Alvarez who had 12 touchdowns called back last year you don't think that made a difference in a six and four season yep that that that's exactly what I mean that's exactly what I mean uh you you did mentioned um uh uh the win streak so Watsonville currently owns a three-game win streak over Santa Cruz uh including last year's 2721 victory prior to that the Cardinals won three straight and then before that the Cats had one seven out of eight going back to 2012 and then uh I I just kind of I guess doing the math and looking it up Watsonville currently leads the lifetime series with a 62 41 and five record that's crazy that's that's a lot of games here's a here's a quick note for you just kind of jumping for people that are curious you know coming into the season openers Palmer's got a 12 game regular season winning streak if you remember they went 10 and 0 last year and King City and Steve well excuse me King City has a nine game regular season winning streak they host Greenfield this week. Okay okay nice yeah win streaks that you know the the again like you mentioned the if you close out the the the season uh with a nice win streak solidad did it pv did it they closed out the game uh closed out the season five straight I mean that that could that could that could really build a lot of momentum going into the to the to the next year for sure all right well it looks like that's all the time we have for our show today join us again next Tuesday as we recap week one of prep football and we'll start jumping into some hopefully maybe some flag football along with the other fall sports happening at the moment please make sure to follow the cover three sports podcast on Apple and Spotify and if you really really really like the show we are looking for supporters that any little bit helps to keep the show going for as long as we can do it again uh anything that you could uh provide would be extremely extremely grateful thank you again for listening we'll catch you on the flip side