The coaches have known each other since their playing days at rival schools in San Mateo. They arrived in Sacramento years later as Bay Area transplants, fired up to seize the football world.

A defensive back at heart who played at Sacramento State, John Heffernan coached 17 successful seasons at Burbank and is in his eighth season heading the Elk Grove Thundering Herd with a string of playoff teams. His cluttered coaching office on campus speaks of a busy man who doubles as the school’s athletic director, working tirelessly to make all systems go.

Still looking the part of a guy who can square off in the trenches like he did at Eastern Washington of the Big Sky Conference and still a regular in the weight room, T.J. Ewing was the founding coach at Monterey Trail, the school opening just over 20 years ago. He settled in despite a brutal start as a new program, and he beams in singing the praises of the grit and grind of the Mustangs.

On Friday night, the old friends squared off to decide the Delta League championship, the Mustangs visiting Thunder Stadium. With both coaches forever loyal to rushing the ball, this was a running fan’s delight with it coming down to the final play as Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 11 Monterey Trail defeated No. 13 Elk Grove 21-20.

The Mustangs broke up a 2-point conversion attempt with 14 seconds remaining, and then the team collectively exhaled when the Herd just missed a 50-yard field goal on the final play after recovering the onside kick on a cold, raining night.

Monterey Trail extended its winning streak to seven and bounds into next week’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs with an extra bounce in its step as a title contender. Elk Grove was looking to right the ship after having its six-game streak abruptly halted last week by Pleasant Grove and will head into the D-II playoffs as a threat to win the program’s second blue banner since 2019.

Given the drive of these coaches, of course it went to the wire. Heffernan and Ewing hugged after it was over.

The Mustangs (7-3) capped the Delta schedule unbeaten at 6-0 in rallying from 14-0 down by doing what they do best: competing. Star back D’Adrien Sanders rushed 18 times for 171 yards and had scoring runs of 4 and 39 yards, and Gabe Coronado with the benefit of superb blocking took off for a 32-yard touchdown for the difference maker with 3:16 left to play.

“Sanders gives us a lot of energy,” Ewing said. “Plays with a lot of emotion. He’s had a great year.”

Elk Grove was led by quarterback David Hale, the three-year varsity starter firing a 78-yard touchdown strike to Lance Lewis on the game’s second play. The steady senior hit V’Anthony Gonzalez for an 8-yard TD before the two-point pass was broken up in the end zone.

Elk Grove recovered the onside kick, had three incomplete passes and tried a 50-yard field goal at the horn that came up a couple yards short, and the Mustangs celebrated. Rivalry games still matter. League championships, too.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Ewing coached San Mateo High to a section final in 2003, stamping his major rebuild there as a success. The program had endured a 20-game losing streak before Ewing took over in 1999.

At Monterey Trail, where the freshly planted trees stood no taller than the guards, tackles and linebackers, Ewing’s first two teams were humbled. He did not suffer alone. His longtime coaching partner and friend, Rick Arcuri, has been there from the start, too.

The Mustangs suffered through a 1-19 start in their first two varsity campaigns in 2005 and 2006, placed in the Sierra Foothill League against programs in the foothills that had a decades-long head start on the sport.

“We weren’t afraid of the challenge,” Ewing recalled. “We lost games, but we competed. We saw success in that. We had kids shaking hands with players who were darn-near a foot and a half taller, but they were never afraid. That is still with us. We’re never afraid, because in football, you get beat. It happens. You just keep working, and our guys work.”

Ewing’s first team went 1-9, his second 0-10 and his third 5-5. By 2009, the Mustangs had formally arrived, playing for their first Division I section championship. Monterey Trail returned to the D-I finals in 2010, then again with a 12-0 team in 2018 and again in 2019.

Ewing awaits his first section crown but it isn’t for a lack of effort. Ewing’s teams may be small in roster numbers, often just 30 or so players, but the effort is never in doubt.

“T.J.’s teams always play fast, physical and disciplined, hard-nosed football,” Heffernan said.

MT FITS IN DELTA

Ewing and his school administration urged the governing body CIF to move Monterey Trail back into the Delta League for the start of this academic year as part of a four-year realignment cycle. Monterey Trail logged the previous five seasons in the Metro League, where the Mustangs rolled to five titles with no league setbacks.

The Delta is an Elk Grove Unified School District league with Elk Grove, Monterey Trail, Cosumnes Oaks, Sheldon, Franklin and Pleasant Grove.

“It makes sense to be in a league in our own district, and we love being back,” Ewing said.

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