The Monterey Trail Mustangs football team established that they are a problem for whatever team they play after a dominating 48-6 victory over the San Ramon Valley Wolves of Danville, Friday night.
San Ramon Valley (1-1) is the defending North Coast Section Division 1 Champion, in the East Bay Mountain League, (same as De La Salle) and had nine wins in the past two consecutive seasons.
The Mustangs are selling “Fear the Veer,” shirts to their fans on the home side to give opposing fans a warning to prepare for an old-fashioned ground and pound attack that is a force to be reckoned with.
Monterey Trail (3-0) got on the scoreboard early when junior running back Prophet Brown caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Viktor Timonin three minutes into the game to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.
Timonin would follow up the next offensive drive with a two-yard touchdown rush.
Although the shirts are saying to fear the offense, the grit and grind of the Monterey Trail defense is just as impressive and dominant.
The anchor of the defense is senior linebacker Marcus Jones Jr.
After the Mustangs defense gave up a first down on a bootleg pass as the first play of the game, they forced the Wolves to three consecutive three and outs and it gave the offense great field position.
The defensive unit was relentless and overpowered the San Ramon Valley offense with hard hits all night long.
Jones Jr. loved how quick his defense was able to maneuver through the Wolves blocks and get to the ball.
“It all starts with the D-line, then goes to the middle backers,” Jones Jr said. “Everyone on the field fulfilled their role.”
He added that when the team gets hyped up when they are all making plays and able to build off one another’s success.
Brown would add on to his great night as he dashed up the sideline for a 53-yard rushing TD to give Monterey Trail a 20-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Although Brown had great vision on the field, he said it’s a big learning experience this year with being on the field a lot more.
“You don’t learn as much by watching,” Brown said. “It’s a lot more learning and trying to figure out what to do in the live moment.”
Brown had 72 yards on the ground with four carries.
Jones Jr. cashed in the fumble recovery with almost halfway through the second quarter and had a team-leading nine tackles.
Junior running back Otha Williams closed out the second quarter with a two-yard TD rush to give the Mustangs a 27-point cushion at the half.
Monterey Trail came out and immediately marched down the field to open the second half and were not going to let up on San Ramon Valley.
Brown added his third different type of scoring on the night when he found senior wide receiver Brandon Blanton for a 38-yard TD pass to extend the Mustangs lead to 34 with 8:48 left in the third quarter.
On his only carry of the night, Monterey Trail junior running back Chris Lands rushed the ball up the gut of the Wolves defense and sped down the sideline for a 63-yard rushing TD to put the game into the running clock motion.
This is the second week in a row the Mustangs have had a running clock after they did it last week over Spanish Springs of Sparks, Nev.
After the Lands touchdown and a fumble recovery deep in San Ramon Valley territory, senior running back Caleb Ramseur found the end zone for the fourth time this season on a five-yard TD rush to put the final points on the board for Monterey Trail for the night.
The Wolves did avoid the shut out after the Mustangs took out their starters and scored a late touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Monterey Trail head coach, T.J. Ewing, said that the energy his team came out with was remarkable.
“When you’re watching film, you don’t know exactly what they’re going to bring,” Ewing said. “Our kids played fast tonight and it was a collective effort.”
He added that he was happy how his team was able to get turnovers because in week zero at Sheldon they had opportunities to get the, but his defense couldn’t jump on the ball.
Friday night was the only time that Mustang had a home game in the month of September. They travel to play at Cosumnes Oaks next week before having a bye week. They will round out September where they will travel to Lancaster, to play Paraclete on Sept. 27 for the final pre-season game.
“This road stress is going to be important for us in the playoff seedings,” Brown said.
The game this Friday at Cosumnes Oaks will kick-off at 7:30 p.m.
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