You see it happen in movies, but rarely do you see it in real life. An ultimate underdog, leaping from the depths of despair to become a dominant force.

That describes the transformation of the Alvarez High football team in just a couple of seasons under head coach David Bottom. After a 2012 season that saw them go winless (0-10) in Bottom’s first year at the helm, the Eagles turned the tables this past season, going undefeated (10-0) in the regular season, claiming the Monterey Bay League Pacific Division Title, before winning a playoff game over Monta Vista. Alvarez became the first team from Monterey County since 1979 to go from 0-10 to 10-0 in back-to-back seasons.

For his tremendous leadership in orchestrating such a dramatic turnaround, Bottom is the Prep2Prep Central Coast Section Coach of the Year.

“It was a real exciting year,” Bottom said. “It was fun to see the kids in the school take so many steps forward and really get a chance to be proud of the team and the program they put out.”

When asked about what contributed most to the special season, Bottom shined the spotlight on his players.

“They made the decision that they wanted to be winners,” he said. “They put in all the time in practice and listened to their coaches. There was a desire by these kids to keep pushing themselves and get everything done to win these games.”

Alvarez was led all season long by running back Ceasar Ramirez, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards and was counted upon as a team leader, along with quarterback Edric Gamble and linebacker Rene Chavez.

It was Ramirez who ran for 159 yards on 16 carries in a 43-35 win over Hillsdale in the third game of the season. After that game Bottom said he began to believe that something special was happening in Salinas.

“You really saw that ‘never quit’ attitude, where it went back-and-forth," Bottom said. "They scored, and either we needed to score or we needed to stop them on defense. It was one of those games where we could have lost and we wouldn’t have been so sure about ourselves, but we were able to pull that game out and [after that we believed] that we could win a game anytime.”

Whatever confidence the Eagles gained from that victory surely paid dividends. Their season may have ended with a loss to Hollister in the semifinals, but nonetheless, they gave their fans something worth celebrating for the first time in more than a decade. In its 18-year history, Alvarez had previously recorded just four winning seasons, had not posted a winning record since 2002, and had never won a division title.

Bottom has accomplished so much in just a short time at Alvarez, but building upon the past year’s success will not come easy, as the Eagles are moving up to the Gabilan Division next season.

However, Bottom sees no reason to doubt his team.

“We should be able to continue to be consistent at what we do,” Bottom said. “That’s the key: consistency. It’s going to be a positive experience every year.”

He added: “I don’t think we should ever drop back to where we were before.”

Also considered: Trevor Pruitt, Los Altos; Patrick Walsh, Serra; Jeff Mueller, Monta Vista; Mark Krail, Los Gatos; Randy Blankenship, Aptos; Pete Lavorato, Sacred Heart Prep.

NOTE: We would like to thank our readers for all of the nominations you sent in for the season-ending CCS football awards. It is a daunting task to narrow down our selections to just the top few as we recognize there are lots of great players who make contributions on the football field that are not necessarily well-documented but mean a great deal to the success of their teams. We salute all of the players that have made this a wonderful season of CCS football.