CarmelPG rivalry renews Thursday
CARMEL >> Missing will be the crowd of crazed students and alumni in the usually sold-out stadium. Instead, there will probably be just a scattering of parents watching their kids play in what traditionally has been one of the biggest high school football games on the Monterey Peninsula.
No pep bands, no pregame rallies, and no weeklong hype leading up to a game that has been played for more than 70 years, one that allows the winning team to hoist a coveted trophy featuring a bronzed shoe.
In a school year that has been anything but normal, what has been salvaged during the pandemic is a 73-year-old football rivalry as Carmel will host Pacific Grove on Thursday at 4 p.m. for “The Shoe.”
“It says a lot about both schools making this happen for the kids,” Carmel coach Golden Anderson said. “For me, this is bigger than ‘The Shoe.’ It’s important for both communities and a sense of normalcy.”
Three weeks ago this didn’t seem possible. Carmel’s squad had started conditioning with no intent on playing a football game, while the Breakers had just 11 players conditioning.
“We were planning a five-week program with no possibility of a game,” Anderson said. “We went at a slow pace. We wanted kids new to football to learn the game. Once games were allowed, we pivoted.”
Anderson has not changed his plans. Five weeks is up after Thursday’s game and the Padres will turn in uniforms after two games (the Padres lost to King City in their opener Saturday). Pacific
Grove will host Greenfield in its final game on April 14.
“From conditioning to being able to use a ball, it’s been a process, yet still not knowing if you’re going to have a game,” firstyear Pacific Grove coach Jeff Gray said.
Safety protocols make for a different setting. Carmel has not used its locker room all year. Players change in the gym on game days. There have been no film sessions.
While it hasn’t been determined how many fans will be allowed Thursday, Carmel allowed three people for each player for Saturday’s game. The decision for this game is expected to be made Wednesday.
“It was a quieter atmosphere,” Anderson said. “But that’s part of it. Wearing masks is different. Our kids are rolling with it, knowing it’s going to end this week.”
After Saturday’s loss to King City, the players from the two teams, all wearing masks, acknowledged each other with an elbow bump instead of the traditional end-of-game handshakes.
“The Carmel game is obviously a little more special,” Gray said. “But from where we’ve come to just get to this point, we’re
just happy to be playing football period.”
Gray won’t be allowed to have a team dinner on the eve of the game, which has been a tradition. Varsity players will also not be allowed to attend Wednesday’s junior varsity game.
In the longest-running rivalry on the Peninsula and second-longest in the county behind King CityGonzales, Carmel holds a 37-33-2 lead, posting a 3314 win in both teams’ season opener last year.
The Padres have won five straight and 12 of the last 13 meetings. Before that, Pacific Grove had rattled off eight straight wins. Anderson is 10-1 in the game since becoming the head coach in 2008.
Gray has just 19 varsity players and he is juggling personnel to fill voids and put out a competitive lineup.
Pacific Grove has all of its sports practicing simultaneously and state guidelines mandate athletes choose just one sport to avoid the potential spread of the virus.
“We lost two starters that moved for various reasons,” Gray said. “We’ve had other players decide to play other sports. As far as the mental preparation, it’s been rocky.”
Carmel does have the
advantage of having played a game last week. Anderson played everyone in a 58-28 loss to King City — a game that was tied at 28 at the half. The two old Mission Trail Athletic League rivals also scrimmaged two weeks ago.
“Anytime you’ve done something in football, whether a game or scrimmage, you get a little bit better and comfortable,” Anderson said. “But I don’t know if it’s any real advantage.”
Junior Tristan Staehle will get his second start at quarterback, where he has two dynamic targets in Oregon State-bound tight end J.T. Byrne and receiver Antonio Posadas.
Posadas is coming off a six-catch, 115-yard receiving performance in just three quarters last week with a touchdown.
“We’ve been in gear for two weeks,” said Anderson, who won his 100th game as a head coach last season against Pacific Grove. “We’re trying to keep perspective on what our original plan was in all of this.”
Gray, who has served as an offensive coordinator in the past for the Breakers, has scaled back his offense and simplified the game plan.
Sophomore Cameron Johnson, who was slated to be the starting tailback, will start at quarterback, giving the Breakers a dual-threat at the position. He’ll look to run behind 260-pound lineman Angelo Hampton.
“He will be our workhorse,” Gray said. “There will be a lot of missed assignments. Players are trying to catch up on terminology. We’re raw when it comes to football knowledge. Players have to be ready to play multiple positions.”