The playoffs are here, which means regular season results mean nothing as everyone starts fresh again.

That was the mindset for the No. 7-seeded Monterey Trail Mustangs on Friday night, trading blows early with the No. 10 Lincoln Trojans of Stockton, before running away with a 53-34 victory in a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoff opener.

It might have been cold at kick off, but both teams got off to a hot start and it was a derby as the Mustangs rushed for 378 yards in what they do best — controlling the tempo. Senior running back D’Adrien Sanders had the bulk of his teams rushing impact. He carried the ball 28 times for 243 yards and scored five touchdowns to advance Monterey Trail to Friday’s quarterfinal at No. 2 Oak Ridge in El Dorado Hills.

“That’s what we’ve been worried about all week,” Sanders said of the team’s line of thinking coming in. “We’ve been really short these past few weeks. … we’ve been keeping it consistent and sticking to the script.”

The Mustangs unleashed their back while having to deal with Lincoln’s top rusher. Fresno State-committed Jordin Thomas rushed for 150 yards on 17 carries and three scores. Also for Monterey Trail, junior Odie Jefferson chipped in 112 rushing on 15 carries and a score. Brothers Christian and Gabe Coronado each ran for a touchdown as Monterey Trail’s vaunted veer running game was in high gear.

Gabe scored a 4-yard run to get the Mustangs on the board in the first quarter and Christian had an 8-yard run late in the second quarter to give Monterey Trail a 21-14 lead.

“They did a good job doing stuff to try to make it hard for us,” Monterey Trail head coach T.J. Ewing said. “I think our kids really offensively, stepped up, played really well and executed.”

THEY’RE ALL GOOD PLAYERS

Guys like Sanders may have huge individual numbers but this is a team where anyone can shine.

There are no individual egos, just a team that remains focused on each other and their goal to win games. It’s what kept them grounded on their way to an undefeated Delta League record and an 8-3 overall record.

“This season has been great,” said Sanders, who rushed for more than 1,400 yards and 21 touchdowns. “This season has been up and down. It’s been really adverse, making us become better young men, making me become a better teammate for my team.”

The Mustangs have built camaraderie while suffering back-to-back losses to start the season against Inderkum, seeded fourth in the D-I bracket, and Bay Area powerhouse Pittsburg, or putting it all together during in this seven-game winning streak.

“We’ve been in those tight games, so we obviously built trust,” Sanders said. “We know what we can and can’t do. And this whole season, this has been a great line of experiment. It’s been something I’ll never forget.”

Ewing commended his team’s effort.

“They’re all good players,” Ewing said. “You can point out parts of the game where they all started out and played well. The kids made plays because they’re talented players. They’re good football players, and they played a lot of football growing up in our junior football program so they have high football IQs.”

Monterey Trail’s defense has been led by senior linebacker Elijah Folau, who last week was named the Delta League Player of the Year.

“We just came out with good energy going into the second half,” Folau said. “We had the mindset (the score is) 0-0, nobody’s up. We just came out with the same energy and played hard the whole game.”

“We were going pretty hard,” said senior Kharter Turk, who led the game with 11 tackles, nine solo. “We’ve been working all week on our offense, our defense.”

Now a much more formidable test looms against Oak Ridge, battle tested from the Sierra Foothill League. The Trojans have wins over Rocklin, Granite Bay and Jesuit, all alive in the playoffs.

“Oak Ridge week starts right now,” said Folau, a team captain. “We have to get prepared. They’re a good team. But yeah, my team, we’re gonna be ready. We’re going to work hard the whole week.”

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