SALINAS — There is an anticipation that each time Jayden Duarte touches the ball, a highlight reel moment is not far behind in what is becoming a historical season.
Four games into the season and there isn’t a position on the football field that the Alisal High multi-purpose back has not had a magical moment.
Duarte accounted for five more touchdowns Thursday, rushing for a school record 339 yards, while throwing a 78-yard scoring strike, lifting the Trojans to a wild 62-40 win over Monterey.
“I will let it sink in tomorrow,” Duarte said. “It’s all about my offensive line. It’s high caliber. They make it happen. In order to play all these positions, you have to be conditioned.”
The 62 points are the second-highest total in Alisal’s 50-plus years of existence, having scored 63 points in 2005 in a win over North Salinas.
Having produced touchdowns four different ways this fall, Duarte has amassed 19 total touchdowns. His 339 rushing yards on 25 carries fell 16 yards short of the county record of 355 yards, set in 2011 by Monterey’s John Wyatt Williams.
“He (Duarte) has a good balance of speed and strength,” Monterey coach Alex Besaw said. “He’s similar to (Eli) Dukes, but in a different frame and offense. He’s a physical runner. He bounces off guys. You think you’ve got him down and he gets away.”
The seniors’ five total touchdowns equaled his output from last week, as Duarte had touchdown bursts of 77, 41 and 73 yards, while tossing a 78-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Garcia.
“Coach preached effort all week,” said Duarte, who has accounted for nearly 1,000 multi-purpose yards in the last two games. “We didn’t give enough effort in our last game. I felt we had our best week of practice all season.”
Last week Duarte accounted for five touchdowns and 490 yards in total offense, coming within a shoestring tackle of returning his second kickoff for a touchdown as time expired in a 44-40 loss to Hollister.
“We talked about how one game doesn’t define us,” Alisal coach Francisco Estrada said. “We preached all week that no one has won a title in Week 4. Everyone was zeroed in. Our theme of the week was focus or fold. The kids responded.”
The theme could easily have been big plays as Duarte had three plays of 75 yards or longer for touchdowns, while Pepe Jacinto returned a kickoff 99 yards for six.
“He (Duarte) has made me grab my head in absolute amazement each week,” Estrada said. “He jumped through three guys and landed in the end zone. Jayden makes play-calling easy.”
Running behind an offensive unit that includes holdovers Jorge Martinez and John Barrett, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Duarte set the tone on the first play from scrimmage with a 77-yard touchdown run.
“Our offensive line was resetting the line of scrimmage,” Estrada said. “We emphasized finishing blocks. The plays were being executed the way it was set up.”
Despite Duarte rushing for 199 yards in the first half, the Trojans held a slim 27-20 halftime lead, as Monterey receiver turned quarterback Dekota Ordonio accounted for all three first-half touchdowns.
Filling in for Bronson Gulley, who is out six weeks with a broken right wrist, Ordonio orchestrated an offense to 40 points for the second time this year.
“Dekota was phenomenal playing quarterback,” Besaw said. “But it’s been different personnel each week. It’s difficult finding that rhythm when it’s a revolving door of players.”
Duarte’s touchdown pass to Garcia — the second straight week the pair have hooked up — in the third quarter put the Trojans up 47-34.
“This will carry on into next week,” insisted Duarte, whose Trojans will visit Aptos next Friday. “I’m feeling great. This is a big win. We had to get right.”
Giving up 40-plus points for the third straight week is something that Estrada feels is correctable. The Trojans defense spent a lot of time on the field because of Alisal’s short drives.
“It’s never good when you give up 40 points,” Estrada said. “What we need to improve upon is our special teams. Our kickoff coverage gave them a shorter field. There are still things we have to improve upon in all three phases of the game.”
Ordonio tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Kai Vaughn and rushed for two, while Ethan Bonilla rushed for two touchdowns for Monterey, who after a 3-0 start to the season, has dropped two straight.
“We didn’t do the simple things and we got exposed again,” Besaw said. “We have to be able to tighten that up on defense. And it took a while to get settled on offense. It’s not about excuses. It falls on us as coaches.”
Alvarez 28, North County 0: A tumultuous first half of the season has not kept the Eagles from reaching a milestone, as they equaled their win total from last year in Week 4 of the season.
Despite having two coaches suspended for one game and eight touchdowns called back because of penalties in the last two games, Alvarez is 3-1 after putting together its first shutout of the season.
Last week Alvarez had four touchdowns from Jaylen Ward called back in a 29-7 win over Watsonville. Its first three touchdowns Thursday — two by Ward — were called back because of penalties, keeping the game scoreless in the first half.
“Last week it was more of a discipline issue,” Alvarez coach Ben Newman said. “Tonight, I did not feel some of these calls were justified. I couldn’t get an explanation. I just told the kids to keep blocking.”
Despite seeing 56 points taken off the scoreboard in their last two games, the Eagles have outscored their last three opponents 83-15 in producing their first three-game winning streak since 2019.
“When I got here last year, there was no culture,” Newman said. “Building a foundation is a process. The team is buying in and starting to come together. We’re still a new program.”
Champions of the Mission Division North last year — their first league title outright in 25 years — the Condors have fallen to three teams a combined 9-2, including 4-0 Palma.
“It’s hard,” North County coach Juan Cuevas said. “It’s hard to remember we’re young. I don’t feel Thursday games are safe. We ran out of bullets. We ran out of linemen. The bottom line is we have to practice better and be detailed.”
Alvarez’s defense, which shut out Watsonville in the second half last week, used three interceptions in the second half to ground the Condors offense, including a 40-yard pick-six from Devin Pederson.
Anchored by defensive ends Alan Mejia and Aidan Jones, the Eagles held North County without a point for the first time in 15 games dating back to 2023.
“The defense is flying to the ball,” Newman said. “It’s just a base defense. We’re playing physical football. The kids are reading and reacting.”
Julian Hanson broke up the scoreless battle in the third quarter for the Eagles — who visit St. Francis of Watsonville on Oct. 5 — when he took off and sprinted 41 yards on a quarterback keeper for a touchdown.
With the aid of a Ward interception to create a shorter field, the Eagles added to their lead when Roman Garcia — who also had a touchdown called back — followed his blockers for a 12-yard touchdown run to stake them to a 13-0 lead.
The ability to move the ball through the air is enhancing Alvarez’s ground game, as Alejandro Esquivel found Isaiah Reyes on a 29-yard scoring strike with two minutes left in the game.
“We’ve shown we can pass the ball,” Newman said. “We won a passing tournament over the summer. But we like moving the ball on the ground.”
