Week Five H.S. Football Scores:
Franklin 28, Monterey Trail 18
Elk Grove 63, Jesuit 14
Grant 34, Pleasant Grove 7
Del Campo 21, Cosumnes Oaks 14
Burbank 57, Valley 12
Sacramento 63, Laguna Creek 0
Bradshaw 58, Rio Vista 0
Monterey Trail football coach TJ Ewing shaved his beard. Then
his Mustangs lost Friday night to Franklin, 28-18.
“Absolutely, that was what I did wrong,” TJ Ewing chuckled.
“Naw, it was too itchy.”
The smooth face wasn’t the only new look Ewing tried to whip
out on a Franklin squad that like the Mustangs came into the Delta League
contest with one win and one loss apiece in league games. Ewing had his offense
on several occasion line not two, but three running backs in a straight line
parallel to the line of scrimmage. In the old days that was called the “full house”
formation.
“We went to it to give us a different look,” he said. “It
was good for the team. But, we’ve got to get our special teams better, that’s
something we’ve got to coach better.”
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| Monterey Trail lined up several times in the full-house backfield |
His club couldn’t convert any points-after-touchdown and
that perhaps was a one of those little mental battles the Mustangs couldn’t win
that night.
“I thought our effort was outstanding,” he said. “Franklin
did a good job, they are a good football team. It’s a Delta League game. It is
what it is. We want to play in those games.”
After Franklin (4-2 overall, 2-1 Delta League) scored 0n
Rashaan York’s 12-yard run with 4:40 to go in the second quarter to give the
Wildcats a 14-6 lead, Monterey Trail came right back with a drive that drained
the clock the rest of the first half.
Holt’s pass into the end zone on the two-point conversion
that would have tied the game was batted away.
Wildcat coach Mike Johnson knew his squad needed to sustain
a few drives offensively if they were to win the contest. That’s exactly what he
got.
“The key there is ‘when we execute,’” Johnson said. “We have
a quick team and we have a lot of kids playing right now. That’s why it is
rewarding to coach this group. Most of them didn’t play last year. We have some
kids who have never played who are on this field.”
Still, the Wildcats executed its offense very well in the
final two quarters, particularly the ground game.
“We haven’t run well at all this year,” Johnson said. “We
have a really young line, inexperienced line. We’ve been working super hard and
getting better every week. But, tonight I saw the light bulb come on tonight
and, yeah, we can push some guys.”
York scored his second TD of the game midway through the
third quarter to stretch Franklin’s lead to 21-12. But the Mustangs bounced
back to within three at 21-18 with 7:22 to go.
Holt found Neville Bood from seven yards out, but once again
a pass play went awry on the two-point conversion.
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| Neville Bood scored on a TD pass to close the Franklin margin to 21-18 |
“We didn’t whither there at the end,” Johnson said. “We took
it the distance which we had to do.”
The Wildcats took the ensueing kickoff and drove right
downfield, converting several key plays on the way.
“Those third downs got us,” Ewing said. “They really hurt us
there.”
Eric Turner blasted right up the middle on a 26-yard TD run
with 3:44 left in the game to give Franklin a 28-18 lead.
Monterey Trail, now 4-2 overall, 1-2 in the Delta League,
couldn’t get any closer the rest of the way.
Several Mustangs have gone down this season with injury and
after this game Tui Pulu who is a running back and linebacker for the Mustangs,
was ailing from what looked like a shoulder injury.
“This is a tough league and you’ve got to play with all your
guys,” Ewing said. “We’ve had some guys out and the guys we’ve put in have
played admirably.”
Next up is the Grant Pacers, but the Mustangs have done well
in the past against the perennial football power.
Franklin will travel to Davis in Week Seven of the 2015 high
school football season.
“We’re a young team, looking to win as many games as we
can,” Johnson said. “Six wins are all we need, that’s our goal.”
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