PACIFIC GROVE, C — After having its six-year reign as Mission Trail Athletic League champions and its 46-game league unbeaten streak snapped last week, the Carmel High football team came into Saturday night’s Central Coast Section Division IV playoff contest against Half Moon Bay with a new lease on football.
“We came out a little uptight last week,” said Carmel coach Golden Anderson. “We were chasing a bunch of ghosts from year’s past trying to do things and settle scores that didn’t impact the game.”
On Saturday night, the Padres weren’t chasing ghosts - they were too busy racing towards paydirt.
The No. 4-seeded Padres combined for 459 yards of offense and five touchdowns to defeat the fifth-seeded Cougars 42-14 in Pacific Grove.
“We knew tonight we had to start fast against a very good team otherwise we were done,” said Anderson. “We wanted to keep the clock moving and I thought our defense did a great job early and setting the tone.
Carmel (8-3) came out of the gate early going 65 yards on 15 plays on a drive that was capped by a Connor Marden eight-yard touchdown pass to John Stivers.
After forcing an HMB three-and-out, Carmel answered with a six-play, 61-yard drive capped by a Covossay Windham 23-yard touchdown run.
“Our linemen blocked really well and our receivers blocked well in the second level,” said Winham. “We just set the tone with our running (game) and it went well.”
The Padres weren’t done yet in the first quarter. After forcing yet another Cougars punt, Carmel raced 59 yards on six plays resulting in another Marden to Stivers hookup, this one for 15 yards.
“This week we did our job,” said Marden who combined for 199 yards of offense and four touchdowns in the win. “The o-line did a fantastic job today opening holes for me, (Windham) and our receivers also.”
Carmel tacked on 10 more points in the second quarter and went into halftime up 32-0.
“We didn’t come out to play like we should, we came out soft,” said Half Moon Bay tight end James Cartwright.
Marden rushed for 110 yards on 15 carries and a nine-yard touchdown and threw for 89 yards and three touchdowns on 10-of-21 passing.
Windham rushed for a game-high 179 yards on 28 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown and Stivers caught seven passes for 54 yards and three scores in the win.
“We felt that if we didn’t stay balanced, the clock would be our enemy,” said Anderson.
HMB (7-4) scored on its first possession of the second half when quarterback Shane Acton connected with Cartwright for a 61-yard touchdown pass.
Carmel tacked on three points on its next possession when kicker Andrew Good nailed a 37-yard field goal — one of two he hit in the game — forcing the Cougars to become one-dimensional if they hoped to get back in the game.
Acton threw for 184 of his 223 yards in the second half including two touchdowns and an interception, but it was too little, too late for the Cougars, who didn’t get within three touchdowns in the second half.
“A couple of long passes were the difference for them and credit to them for making those plays,” Anderson said.
Cartwright had a game-high 124 yards receiving on four catches, including two touchdowns. Matt Spigelman caught five passes for 63 yards and Tobias Leonardos rushed for a team-high 80 yards on 20 carries in the loss.
Sam Terraszas, Carlos Alcantar-Acosta and Leonardos had one sack apiece for Half Moon Bay.
Cartwright feels that HMB has what it takes to return to the playoffs next year and do even better next year.
“This season was big for us and hopefully it’s the start of something great,” said Cartwright, a senior. "We've got some good juniors and the JVs were great this year so Half Moon Bay is here to stay and they’ll make some noise in CCS next year.”
Daniel Higman had an interception and Freddy Cordrey added a sack in the win for Carmel.
The Padres will now shift their attention to a date with No. 8 seed Terra Nova (5-6), which upset No. 1 seed The King’s Academy 42-28, next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Carmel.
Carmel is well aware of how dangerous of team Terra Nova is.
“They are a very good and well-coached team,” said Anderson. “Coach (Tim) Adams does a great job and their quarterback (Anthony Gordon) is off the charts. We have our hands full but we’re so excited to be practicing on Thanksgiving and playing again.”
