GILROY – Trial by fire was not the intent. Injuries and illnesses, though, left Monterey with little choice but to insert five sophomores into its starting defensive unit.
The baptism came early as the Toreadores football team surrendered 14 points in the first quarter Thursday to Christopher, before the butterflies disappeared and adjustments were made.
“At one point, we had two guys on the field defensively that took a varsity snap last year,” Monterey coach Alex Besaw said. “And it showed in many ways. We had kids on the field that were JV players as of Monday.”
Once the offense shook off the cobwebs and the defense tightened the reins, Monterey showed a knack for the dramatic — leaving Christopher in a state of disbelief for the second straight year in a season opener.
Aided by a 73-yard drive in 1:20 to get to within a point with 21.1 seconds left, quarterback Bronson Gulley found Kai Vaughn on a two-point conversion to give Monterey a stunning 22-21 win over the host Cougars.
“A lot of the time, you just need reps and experience,” Besaw said. “I saw the confidence grow throughout the night. We tried to talk through things during the game. It took a while to adjust to the flow of the game.”
Last fall Christopher failed to hold a lead late in the fourth quarter to eventual state champion Carmel, falling 35-31 — its only regular season loss.
Even before Gulley connected with Dekota Ordonio for a 1-yard touchdown to get Monterey to within one point, Besaw already had a play called for the two-point conversion.
“I got ahead of myself,” Besaw said. “I called the play before we got into the end zone. I’m not messing around. I thought we had all the momentum. I knew what play we wanted to run. There was no question we were going for two.”
Whether the play worked or not, it served notice to his youthful squad that Besaw believed in them, another confidence building move by the fourth-year coach, who is 4-0 in season openers.
“We’re so young,” Besaw said. “We made a lot of mistakes. But it didn’t rattle the kids. We have little experience in making in-game adjustments. I’m so proud at how we battled back.”
The 6-foot-6 Gulley, who threw two touchdown passes in five starts last season, finished with three scoring tosses, connecting with Vaughn on scoring strikes of 67 and 3 yards to erase a 14-point deficit by halftime.
Yet, it was Gulley’s leadership and maturation as a quarterback that was on display late in the fourth quarter when he engineered a length-of-the-field drive in a little over a minute to put the Toreadores in a position to win the game.
“Where he (Gulley) gives himself an advantage is he’s a mature kid that is extremely coachable,” Besaw said. “He carries that with him all week in practice. His physical abilities are coming along with that. It’s still a process for him to believe he can do it.”
Some of that maturity Besaw spoke about was on display when Gulley shook off an early interception, finishing with over 200 yards through the air and three touchdown passes.
What aided the Toreadores passing attack was an emerging ground game as tailback Ethan Bonilla — one carry last year — piled up 127 yards on 21 carries, while Vaughn finished with seven catches for 131 receiving yards.
After giving up 14 points in the first 11 minutes, the Toreadores defense used three turnovers to shut down Christopher, including a pick in the final seconds by Israel Johnson to seal the win.
“We stepped up when it mattered the most on defense,” Besaw said. “We bent a little. I don’t know if Chris Keim and Xavier Martin came off the field tonight on defense.”
Monterey will host Seaside next Saturday in the Battle of the Bay before engaging in an eight-game Gabilan Division schedule this fall.
“It’s a good win for our program,” Besaw said. “But I reminded the kids it will only get tougher from here. We have no other option but to get better.”
Stevenson 43, Rancho San Juan 6: Starring at a six-point deficit to open the game, the Pirates ran off 43 consecutive points on the road in the earliest season opener in school history.
Owners of seven straight regular season wins dating back to last season, Stevenson was bumped to the Mission Division South this year after winning its second Santa Lucia Division title in three years.
“The kids played high IQ football,” Stevenson coach Kyle Cassamas said. “Having so many returning players helped us. We had a game with live bullets and we showed up. But we still have a lot of room to grow.”
Suiting up a roster of just 24 players, Cassamas expects those numbers to improve by the time the Mission Division season kicks in.
Rancho San Juan, who has dropped 17 straight games dating back to 2023, took the opening drive and put the Pirates on their heels with a touchdown. It took 15 quarters last year before it produced a touchdown.
“They came out with a good game plan and ran the ball,” Cassamas said. “It caught us off guard. We made adjustments. We were able to settle down rather quickly.”
The Pirates offense had an immediate answer, producing points on their first five possessions as quarterback Fin Mink completed 21-of-26 passes for 244 yards and four touchdowns.
Mink, who threw for 1,998 yards and 20 touchdowns last year, connected three times with Derek Diniz, while finding Barak De la Rosa for six. Diniz finished with 115 receiving yards, while Tono Borgamini rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns.
“We didn’t punt the ball until the fourth quarter,” Cassamas said. “We did a great job passing the ball. We had a ton of penalties that we have to clean up. But we protected the ball and forced turnovers.”
Defensive lineman Alex Wang put together a monster game, recovering a fumble for the Pirates, while Cody Thatcher and Zryan Morgan each had six tackles and two sacks. Brooks Andrade solidified the linebacking unit with five tackles.
