Cover 3 Sports Podcast
The Cover 3 Sports Podcast is a weekly show that highlights local sports in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
Cover 3 Sports Podcast
Getting caught up in San Benito County and a preview of Week 2
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In today's episode, Juan Reyes and John Devine will catch up with sports reporter Gordon Kass for an update on Hollister High.
Then the guys will take a minute to chat with King City head football coach Mac Villanueva about the big showdown against Gonzales High.
And finally, they'll cap off the show with a preview of Week 2 in prep football, along with an update on the Top 10 rankings.
We’ll have all this and more on… the Cover 3 Sports Podcast.
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Yo yo yo yo. We got MC Divine and Jam Master Ray on the mic. And we're coming to be live on the Cover Three Sports Podcast. What's going on, yep, yep, yep. Hey man, I I gotta I gotta I gotta lighten up the the program here. I mean it's been a hectic, hectic week one. How are you holding up? How are you holding up, man? This is crazy.
SPEAKER_04Well, we'll see if it's sustainable over a 10, 12 week season. Um, but hey, we both got through it, and again, I think we both talked about the fact, you know, the lack of officials is creating more Thursday games.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So Thursday is now becoming Friday, so essentially it's back-to-back Fridays in addition to what we do on Saturday. So it's a grind. I mean, those two o'clock in the mornings are gonna get old real quick, but it's temporary, right?
SPEAKER_00Temporary. We're only doing this for a little bit. But like you said, let's get those Thursday games out of the way. And then uh it's a grind, but uh might as well, like I said, we'll get we'll push through it, and then once uh once that league league play starts, then we'll kind of hopefully be back uh somewhat uh in in some uh in order. I don't I don't know how you do it. Two in the morning. That's I mean, I I know I know we got flag football now, girls volleyball, golf, tennis, water polo, cross country. I mean the madness just never ends, but but else but but what else would we be doing if not this, John? What else? I mean, come on. I could think of a couple things, but uh well I I let I love to cook, so maybe at one point I I did kind of think about working in the food industry, but just to think about having to wash all those dirty dishes and clean up the kitchen every night. Nah, no thanks. I'll I'll I'll stick to to sports reporting.
SPEAKER_04Well, I was gonna say keep this in mind. What we do for a living, I mean it's yeah, it it matters to these kids down the road, and hopefully we're creating some memories for everybody. But in hindsight, it's not you know, it's not the end of the world, it's just sports, and it's supposed to be fun.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, exactly. In this week's episode, John and I will catch up with sports reporter Gordon Cass for an update on Hollister High. Then we'll take a minute to chat with Kane City football head coach Mac Villanueva about a big showdown against Gonzalez High this weekend. And finally, we'll cap off the show with a preview of week two in prep football, along with an update on our top ten rankings. We'll have all this and more on the Cover Three Sports Podcast. Howdy folks, and welcome back to the Cover 3 Sports Podcast. So before we jump into previews for week two of prep and college football, let's take a cruise out to San Benito County to get an update on Hollister High. And it looks like the Hay Baylor football team had a big, big 17-6 win over Soledad. Um, hey Gordon, uh, tell us what you saw out there last week and and how did uh Hollister uh perform?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, thanks, Juan. Uh excellent start for Hollister. Um 17-6 victory over Soledad, and they looked great. Uh especially the passing attack with new quarterback Eli Lovejoy. Uh and very solid play on the interior from the uh offensive line in the defensive line and linebackers. Uh and that's what you want to do against a team from uh a division below you. Um doesn't always happen, but uh Hollister did that on Friday night.
SPEAKER_00For sure. Took care of business, like you said, against uh one of those crossover uh peacal games uh against a lower division and not taking anything away from Soledad, but uh no, I mean Hollister came away with that with the win there at the end. Um kind of going back on on Eli, uh just uh tell us your thoughts on on how uh on how he looked under center in terms of just you know his poise and and just kind of keeping the offense in control.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Eli Lovejoy uh only had 10 passes last year as he played behind Cruz Raquette, who's now at MPC. Um but he looked uh very comfortable and very sharp. 14 for 17 passing, uh 212 yards, uh very comfortable in the pocket, uh, with uh assist from a great OL performance, offensive line performance. Uh but he looked good and uh a trio of really good receivers uh helping him out. Uh EJ Jimenez, Max Cunningham, and Damian Aragon all uh had big nights uh as receivers for him. Nice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, like you mentioned, uh 14 to 17, pretty pretty sharp in terms of uh percentage completion, uh and then uh no no no mistakes, right? No interceptions, uh mistake-free football. That's that's how you win. And then uh the on the defense, I mean, pretty good job holding the Aztecs there to just seven points. Uh who on that defense uh impressed you the most uh that night, Gordon?
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, one one more comment on the offense, actually. Uh so one touchdown, no turnovers for Eli. Um, and then a good running for Braden Hernandez, who's back from last year. He had a pretty good season last year before injured injury. So uh a pretty good performance all over on offense. Um they uh they kept uh Soledad pretty much under control. Uh Soledad has uh Daniel Garcia's a great runner. Um and he had uh 20 carries for 25 yards, which is uh uh 1.25 yards per carry average. And that's because the D DL was just stacking things up like crazy and he didn't have a lot of room to run. Uh Christian Gonzalez had a little bit of success as a scrambling quarterback. Um, and this comes down to a whole bunch of guys on the Hollister side, uh, especially the DL and the linebackers, and the two who stood out the most uh were the two Candelaria brothers. Uh Nate had two interceptions, Ben had one, uh, and uh they and their teammates really kept uh Soledad uh under control most all night, except for just one touchdown drive. Right on.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's awesome. Uh the Candelaria of uh brothers right there doing it on the field, along with everyone else on that defense. Uh sound sounds like a pretty stout uh defense there. But uh like you said, Soledad, I mean they held they held their own, and and I mean I thought uh it was only uh 7-0 game, I believe, at half. And so um, did you see something that they were doing to kind of keep Hollister from from running away from the game?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, not a bad effort at all by Soledad. Uh they're playing a uh Gabalin team with a much larger roster, uh, and a lot of the Soledad guys are going both ways. Uh they were uh pretty solid uh for what they had to put up with, especially in the defensive line and linebacker side of Soledad, uh in terms of keeping the Hollister running game under control. So kudos to those guys. Uh Garcia is known to be a great two-way player and great running back. He'll have his days, especially in the mission south. Um good night for Christian Gonzalez, a quarterback. He uh was very agile, he could dodge the rush. Uh, he had some scrambles to pick up some big yardage. So those were the good signs from Soledad. So uh if you figure Hollister's gonna have a good season, you have to say, well, Soledad, that's a pretty darn good effort against a team like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no doubt. I I love it. I I love it when uh yeah, those lower division, quote unquote lower divisions, you know, take on the gabelin teams because it's it's a good test, it's a nice little test for them uh moving uh forward to the season for sure. And uh next up for Hollister, they will be traveling out to Salinas to take on Alvarez, which is coming off a 13-2 win over Alisal, another one of those uh Gabolin teams. Um I think some might be sleeping on Alvarez, though. Uh I'm sure I'm sure the Haybalers won't, though. I I'm pretty sure they'll be wide awake for this one, especially knowing they could they can go off uh they can get off to a 2-0 start heading into that matchup against Wilcox. But as the coaches say, one game at a time, right? And and that game is against Alvarez.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that game is uh on the road. Uh and Alvarez uh wow, defense held Alas Al to two points. I mean, that's like they held them to nothing. Uh so that that's a pretty strong uh performance by Alvarez. And the last time they played was two years ago over in Alvarez uh with uh the Eagles uh beating the Baylors and uh a bunch of new faces for Hollister. Uh not too many guys back from that game. Uh new coaching staff, it's Thomas Sullivan's second year. But I'm sure somebody will remember that they got they got beat uh two years ago and uh tell them to expect quite a quite a battle.
SPEAKER_00Nice. Yeah, this should be a good one. Uh again, I mean there's gonna be no this isn't an easy route for Hollister this year. It's every every week it's gonna be a grind for them, uh, no doubt about it. Uh let's see here. Um any other updates uh with some of the other programs on campus? I know we got uh some some other teams uh in action out there.
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, so the the last comment on football is that uh Alvarez will be a tough one. Uh in the week after that, not that anybody looks ahead, is Wilcox. Uh Wilcox has a new coach. Uh the quarterback transferred to MIDI and got injured and won't play, but uh new quarterback. Um in with all that, uh Wilcox was was crushed in their opener against Valley Christian 42-13. So some years you think look at Wilcox, and it's like, well, pretty hard to beat them. They may be a little bit vulnerable. So Hollister, you know, if they if they're taking care of business and improving each week, Thomas Sullivan knows they have a few things to work on, but uh they could have a good start to the season. Um outside of football on campus, uh, the good news was the Slight football team on Monday uh beat Notre Dame San Jose 20 to nothing, which is a good start. Slight football was strong two years ago, had a lot of graduations, stumbled a bit last year. So good start for them. Um volleyball has uh just gotten going, and they have some return returnees. They have to get them themselves uh you know some new options uh at the outside after Danny Orsetti graduated and went on to play in college. So uh we'll get an early look at them this week. They got some stuff coming up.
SPEAKER_00For sure. Sounds good. I know uh girls volleyball is is underway. I know it takes a couple weeks there at the beginning of the fall to kind of get things going, see who's who out there on the court. But yeah, we'll hopefully we'll we'll get into some more uh girls volleyball next week and kind of get uh get a get a uh a team-by-team analysis and and see uh how Hollister is doing uh by then. All right, Gordon. Well, I thank you. Thank you for stopping by the quote unquote studio. Let's uh let's catch up again next week. Like I said, we'll we'll chat some more uh some more Hollister. Thanks, Gordon. All right, another big thank you to sports reporter Gordon Katz for his insight report on Hollister High. So Hollister 1-0, Soledad 0-1. But like we mentioned before, season is far from over. And uh, hey, uh good performance there by Soledad. Uh way to hang in there. Uh again, keeping it close uh at halftime and making it a game, keeping Hollister uh on the ropes, as they say.
SPEAKER_04Well, and keep in mind that Solid is a Mission Division South team. They weren't supposed to win this game. The fact that they were able to play with Hollister, I just think really bolds well going forward for them. And I think they got another Gabbling Division opponent this week in North Salinas, and this is something that Eric Rodriguez talked about before the season started, that he wanted to challenge his players and get them ready for the Mission Division South season, and that's exactly what he's doing. And assuming they survive uh the rigors of playing Gablin Division opponents in a preseason, they will be somebody that will challenge King City for that championship.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's yeah, that should be a governor, man. Uh just uh going down to the wire and we'll see. We'll see who who's the the last team standing, as they say. All righty. Well, speaking of King City, uh, you know, let's uh let's bring on uh let's bring on our next guest to uh I guess I guess we can call this segment the the coach's corner, the coach's clipboard. I mean I don't know what's what's good for you. I mean we just gotta come up with something here. But either way, we do have a head coach coming in and uh our next guest he was uh named interim head coach or head football coach at King City back in 2012. Uh prior to that, uh he served two years as the Mustangs offensive coordinator. And at the time, he was already part of the program for about eight years, nearly reaching a decade. And even at one point, uh this King City graduate was uh the school's athletic director. Ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Mac Veneva to the Cover Three Sports Podcast.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Appreciate you guys having me on.
SPEAKER_04Big game this week, huh, Mac?
SPEAKER_01Big one, the little big game, the 90s, 95th, uh 95th game.
SPEAKER_04You know, I w I want to ask you right away, and maybe I've obviously I've known you for 20 years and remember you in high school, but as as a player and as a coach, what's the biggest difference in this game for you?
SPEAKER_01I think as a player, I I don't think I really felt the pressure of the game. Um as a coach, I have definitely felt the pressure more to to win the game. Um it's it's a whole different feeling for me, it is anyway. Uh you know, from from playing in the game and then coaching it, there's definitely a lot more pressure on the coach's side.
SPEAKER_04What's it like in the community? I mean, I re obviously I am a South County guy, so I remember the excitement all during my era. It always happened in the last game of the season. Uh you're obviously playing in week two because you guys are in different divisions right now. But is there a different buzz around town and is there a different feeling during practice?
SPEAKER_01There's definitely a different feeling uh during practice, um, because we we we all we know it's it's it's the rivalry game. We know it's Gonzalez, so it does feel different. We try not to make it, you know, um some big thing to, you know, to to put too much pressure on the boys, although I mean you can kind of sense it that they feel it's different. Definitely, you know, the community, the people people in town are definitely more excited for this game than they are uh most other games. Um so you can definitely feel in the community that there's you know, excitement around this game.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and of course you've you've had the megahorn or megaphone?
SPEAKER_01Mega phone.
SPEAKER_04Mega phone, you've had it now for the last three years?
SPEAKER_01No. Uh we've this we've had it for a year. We we lost this game two years ago at home.
SPEAKER_04Ah, there you go. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Uh I like to call it the the I I like to call that one the Ray Blanco game. That kid that kid for for Gonzalez took it over as their quarterback and also played safety. He was uh he was a one-man wrecking crew on on both sides of the ball. One of the one of the um I would like to say, since I've been coaching, definitely one of the best performances I've seen uh on from from either team as far as how much rated that game.
SPEAKER_04That's right. Hey, before we get out of here, though, I I'm curious, um how do you keep things kind of even keeled for practice this week? Because like you said, the kids know what's at stake, they know who they're playing. Obviously it's not a league game, and there's gonna be eight more games after this season, so regardless of what happens, you have to prepare for a season. But how do you keep things, you know, normal if that's possible this week and during practice?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, we just you know tell the boys it's just uh it's another week. So I mean we we treat you each week like a you know like a a one a one-week season. Nothing more important than the opponent in front of you that week. Uh this week has happens to be Gonzalez. We all know it's at stake. Um you know we have the megaphone this year and we hope to retain it. We just try not to make it bigger than it is and try to put more pressure on the boys. We kind of have kind of treated it like we're we're preparing for another team. It's it's Gonzalez this week. You know, and um that that's pretty much it. Just try to not make it bigger than what it is. I mean they know they know it's at stake. They don't we don't need we don't need to build it up even more for 'em, you know.
SPEAKER_04No, but the reality is it's not another game. I mean, i if you're gonna win one game this year, this is probably the one game.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, if we're gonna win one game, this this better be it. Um 100%. And I I'm sure Gonzalez feels the same way. If they're gonna win one game the whole year, if it's this one, it's the one you want to get.
SPEAKER_00And it's the mega game. Well, Juan, for those that don't know, uh the megaphone? You said that that's what it's called? The megaphone or the megaphone, correct. Gotcha. I'm sorry. John, what was that?
SPEAKER_04I was gonna say for Juan, if you for those that don't know, uh King City right now has currently the second longest regular season winning streak in in the in the whole PCAL with uh Tenon Ten County next to Palmer's 12.
SPEAKER_00Dang, nice, nice, awesome. Awesome. Hey, I was gonna ask, do you guys do you guys drink out of the megaphone, you know, like the Stanley Cup or whatever it is?
SPEAKER_01No, we no, we don't. My my biggest thing is that it's uh it's a real it's an old trophy, and um I've got a lot of respect for it. I got a lot of respect for the coaches who've coached in this game before me. All the players who employ who played it, who've played in this game. So we treat it, we treat the megaphones with respect. We don't do anything that, you know, uh we don't we try not to do things that we wouldn't want our opponent to do with it if they had it.
SPEAKER_00No, no, no doubt, for sure. I was just yeah, just curious. I don't know, maybe if you guys do something.
SPEAKER_01I'll tell you one thing, though, Martinelli's apple cider or something. No, one one thing though is that um, and you know, um doesn't make my wife too happy, but I I go to bed with that thing sleeps with me uh the night we the night the games we do win, uh it sleeps. I've got a picture to document every year that's I've been fortunate enough to win this as a coach, and I sleep with that thing every night right next to me. So we're not in be not in between, not in between my wife on the on the on the opposite side, but it's okay. That was gonna be my next question.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_04Hey, before we let you go, just so people know, King City actually leads this series 60 to 32 to 2, I believe.
SPEAKER_00Hey, well, hey, thank thanks for thanks Mac for sharing uh your your stories there. And uh thanks for joining us today on the Cover Three Sports Podcast, man. Good good luck this week and and good luck the rest of the way for sure.
SPEAKER_01Appreciate it. Thank you guys, and I appreciate you guys having me on. Thank you. All right, Mac, take care.
SPEAKER_02We'll talk soon.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, it's it's pretty cool that we're having all these uh rivalries, uh these rivals square off against each other early in the season. I know I know some folks are more traditional. They would rather see these uh games later down the road. But uh hey, if it's if it's a non-lean contest, schedule that bad boy right away. I mean, for me it's kind of it kind of sets the tone of how the season maybe could go. And I mean, look at Santa Cruz. Uh they beat Watsonville, Pacific Grove, just uh they they edge Carmel and that thriller. And yeah, uh from here, I mean it'd be interesting to see how how all four of those programs respond uh after the that the season the season opener.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04Well, I'm really impressed with your knowledge on Mac. I mean, I don't know where you found all that stuff, but you did forget one thing. He was the quarterback of that program in the mid-90s.
SPEAKER_02Oh man. So easier.
SPEAKER_04Uh he uh he's got experience from all sides of it.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, yeah. I I I again I I just gotta dig deeper, man. I when I do these uh profiles, but but that's why we have you here to uh you're the fact checker, you know. Uh unlike uh unlike one of these uh local networks that uh doesn't really fact check uh for their own sake. But uh anyways, uh going off of that. Moving on, moving on. Uh let's see here. Well, um, hey, you know, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. And we talked about all that, which is which is exactly why I guess we should kind of come into the uh top 10 rankings here. And uh let's go over this week's list starting at the bottom. At number 10, we have Stevenson. At nine, we have Carmel dropping down five spots. At number eight, we got Newcomer, Pacific Grove. Hollister jumping up one spot to number seven. Uh Monterey jumping up three spots to number six. Then we have King City, same foot. Uh North Salinas going up two spots at number four. And then the top three remain the same with Tokel, Salinas, Palma at the top. And then on the bubble, we have uh oh sorry, I was gonna say on the bubble we have Scotts Valley, Soledad, Aptos, Alastel, and Alvarez.
SPEAKER_04And uh I'm sorry, the only argument I had in that top ten is it's really hard right now for me to maybe not have put Scotts Valley into the top 10 after the win over Gonzalez, and I'm a big fan of Louis Walters as well. But I just had to take a look at the entire body of work. You know, I'm not sold on Stevenson not being a good team. I mean, this is a program that starts their their year five days later than everybody else. Uh, they have boarders that weren't allowed to play in that game, and Leland is a good football team. So I'm not surprised that they got beat. I want to see what they look like in a couple of weeks. But I can understand if somebody was sitting there saying, hey, how do you not have Scotts Valley in your top ten?
SPEAKER_00No, I I totally agree. I I'm gonna have to say I totally agree because some might be asking, like, what is Stevenson still doing on there? You know, I mean, sure, it was a pretty, pretty uh lopsided loss, but hey, that's a good Leland team, like you said, playoff team. And and yeah, perhaps Scotts Valley is on the cusp of that number 10 spot, but I think for now, I think I think this the list looks pretty solid, and I think uh we'll we'll see. We'll see in a couple weeks, maybe even after next week. Uh uh, who knows, right? I mean things change.
SPEAKER_04I'll I'll I'll I'll say it again. Does it matter where you're ranked in September or does it matter where you're ranked in November?
SPEAKER_00Exactly, exactly. All right, well, let's uh let's get into our games of the week uh presented by insert sponsor here, hint hint. Uh here's uh here's a quick rundown of our five games, our five games of the week. Uh let's just real quick start with uh King Freddy versus Gonzalez. Uh that'll be Thursday tonight at 7.30 p.m. And then uh Salinas versus Los Gatos. That's a Friday night game at 7 p.m. start uh Scott Valley at Santa Cruz. Uh again, Friday night at 7.30, and then uh a couple other Friday night games. We got Palma versus Sacred Heart Prep, and then uh Pacific Grove versus Half Moon Bay. Let's start with uh Pacific Grove. Uh they're coming off that that you know emotional, thrilling win over a rival uh emotions running high. Uh just just your thoughts on on the breakers uh hosting a good Half Moon Bay team.
SPEAKER_04Well, I do worry about the hangover effect. I mean, there's so much emotion that goes into that shoe game, probably more than any of the rivalry game that I've seen. That includes Palmas Flinus or Seaside and Monterey. There's just something about the communities. I mean, there's small towns and they basically rally around that game. And it's it's a lot on these kids' plate. I did like what Northrop Kirk told me after he ran for 128 yards, and that you know what, we're gonna enjoy this this weekend, but it's back to work Monday. In fact, Sunday, I'm watching film of Half Moon Bay because we can't let this move on past Monday. We've got to move on. And I agree with him because if they stumble and lay an egg per se against Half Moon Bay, and I think it takes a little bit away from that win over Carmel. I mean, you've got some momentum now, it's only week two, but uh, let's see what you got against another team. And again, this is a roster with just 20. They'll they'll be lucky to suit 20 suit up 26 players on Friday.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_04It's their home opener. Uh there should be some momentum going into this game, and I am curious to see how they respond after such an emotional win. You know, as we mentioned earlier, snapping that 11-year losing streak to their rivals.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep, no doubt. Uh again, emotions running high, like you said. Let's see, uh, let's see if they could not get that hangover and uh and uh again just come out and play against a solid half moon team. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04It's one of those things now, okay. You beat Carmel, and that was the number one goal. You know, usually it comes in week 10, but it came in week one. Now there are other goals out there, and and you've got to come out with that same pass in a fire that you had against Carmel. It's your home opener. You should be out there, you know, flying around the ball.
SPEAKER_00Yep, yep, exactly. Uh let's see here. Next up, we got uh Palma hosting Sacred Heart Prep. That'll take place at Rabbo Bank Stadium. Nice uh stadium there to host this game. This one should be interesting, only because uh from what I hear, I think we might have some some players, some key players out for Palma. Game time decision.
SPEAKER_04I don't know what's what's well I'd be I'd be surprised if Eli Dukes plays in this game. I mean, the important thing now is they gotta get him ready for Gabler division play. Now he popped his hamstring on the second play of the game against North County. Obviously, they didn't against the Condors, but this is a kid that's been battling injuries all going back to last spring when he doubled up and uh competed in lacrosse and track and field. Um I don't think it's serious. I don't think it's gonna be something that's gonna linger if they take care of it. And the beauty of Palma is they've got an offensive line that I've mentioned before, that's as good as any offensive line in the center coast section, and they've got some depth at the running back position. Now, nobody's Eli Dukes. I mean, he holds the county rushing record for a reason. He's on his way to UC Davis. You know, he had offers from you know the Naval Academy in Oregon State, he's he's a stud. But these other running backs that they have behind that offensive line, I have no doubt that they'll be able to move the ball. And if Patrick Driscoll can continue to show the progress that he showed as a quarterback and you know, throwing that ball like they did against North County, then they're gonna have some success. Now, I'm not foolish to not realize that Sacred Heart Cathedral is probably a better football program right now than North County coming out of the West Catholic Athletic League.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_04So this will be a bigger test for the Chieftains. Uh and don't forget their defense posted a shutout against North King. That was their first shutout in two years. So the defense is good too. And the two things that head coach Jeff Fernando talks about all the time is he says, Yeah, we need at least 150 yards from our quarterback, but we've got to play good defense and we've got to be able to run the ball. And that's what they were able to do against North Kings.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and like you said, especially with the uh a a brick wall of an offensive line that they have, I think those running backs probably should have no trouble uh finding some open lanes.
SPEAKER_04Uh come I think the key is is taking care of the ball, which is a good job against North County. Sacred heart's gonna bring a little more physicality to this game, right? I mean and and you know, having that vision, and what I mean by that is it's one thing to be an athlete, and he they've got two really good running backs that in my opinion are just athletes. But how's their vision? Do they see the hole when it opens? Because it's a split second decision.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, it's quick. It's quick. All right, well, well, moving on to uh Scotts Valley at Santa Cruz, uh once former Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League rivals. But again, you know, that that rivalry never kind of goes away, especially after seeing each other for so long. But I will say Scotts Valley has gotten the best of them. Um, they hold an 18-2 record since 2004, which was which is one of the two times the Cardinals beat the Falcons, the other coming in 2021, uh not not too long ago. But uh we've talked about it in the past. Um I I like what Santa Cruz is doing under under third year head coach uh Sergio Escobar, but but this could be one of those tall tasks for them this week. And not to say Santa Cruz won't put up a fight, because I know they will. I I believe they will. But I I just think I don't know, Louie Walters, head coach for Scotts Valley, they got a they got a pretty special group over there. And and uh yeah, I I don't know. I think this is gonna be one of those there. They might get tested, but we'll see. We'll see how it goes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I also think that Scotts Valley is pulling a little bit of chip on their shoulder. And what I mean by that is this is the second year in a row that they don't have a home field to play games on or practice on. I believe all their practices are harbor high. Yeah, I believe their home games will be at Harbor High, which to me is not a home game if you have to get on a bus and go somewhere. And uh, you know, but I think maybe they're rallying around that. I mean, they did it last year in making the postseason, uh they had a nice win over Gonzalez last Friday. And I think Santa Cruz will provide a little bit more of a test, but I agree with you. I think they're you know, he's got some dudes over there, and I think they're gonna be just fine.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, for sure. And and I I I know what you mean about the whole having to get rally the kids, put them in a bus, let's go to another stadium to host the game, right? But I I I think just talking to the to the boys, I they're they're cool with it. I mean, it's not too far. Uh and and and I guess it just gives them a chance, right, to to kind of ride together into the game, and you know, just kind of get pumped up, and then uh and if they come away with the win, you ride back home, you know, and it it's I don't know, it just and they get and they get to play under the lights, too, which which is something they don't get to do uh at Scotts Valley. So again, I I guess they're I think they are relishing everything that's going on and just kind of tinking it all in. And and if you got a good group doing it, I mean it makes it it makes the the season even better, right?
SPEAKER_04Well, and Walters is never gonna make any excuses. Uh but there's nothing better than walking out of your locker room on your campus in front of a crowd onto the field. And and next year when that stadium is done, they will have lights.
SPEAKER_00For sure. Oh, I I took a photo of it. Uh it's uh it you know, obviously it's still ongoing construction, but it looks good. And I'll post that on Instagram. Uh make sure you guys follow our Instagram account. That way uh you guys can look at all these cool videos and photos and everything that we've been posting on there. But uh go going back to the matchup. I mean, I I don't know. I I I I just really like it. Uh both teams are coming off wins, uh, momentum is riding high. Santa Cruz is trying to prove that they belong in that mission north. So this could be uh again a test for them and and Scots Valley. I mean, they're just they're aiming to keep things rolling, and uh we'll just have to we'll just have to wait and see come Friday night. Yeah, yeah. Uh yeah, uh and uh and finally we have uh a couple more games here. Uh Salinas versus Los Gatos and King City uh against Gonzalez. Um let's start off with uh Salinas Los Gatos. I know uh this one kind of uh caught your eye a little. What uh uh Los Gatos is coming off that big win against Soquel. Salinas falling to Clovis. I mean, what what's what's intriguing about this uh matchup for you?
SPEAKER_04Well, I want to see how Salinas rebounds after getting beat by Clovis, who they've lost to now for the I believe the fourth straight year. And uh the one thing head coach Steve Zink told me after the game was is, you know what, we were competitive in the first half. They had a 70-yard touchdown call back as well. Um, and he said that's something that we hadn't done in the last two years. Now they end up losing 44 to 14, so it sounds lopsided, but the first half was actually a pretty good game. And I would hope that they build off that going into this game against Las Gettys, who not only, as you mentioned, shut out Silkell last week, who's a Gavin Division rival, but this is the same program that knocked Palma of the playoffs last year on that very same field they'll be playing on Friday. Las Gatus is a good football team, and again, this is something Zinks talked about for the last what, eight, nine years, that he will play a challenging non-league schedule to get himself ready for the Gabon Division. And I don't know if he can get any more stronger than what he has because after Las Gattus, they've got Valley Christian the following week. So it's a tough three-game stretch before you get into the gab. But that's what he wanted. He said you learn from your mistakes, you learn from games like this. He feels like you don't learn anything when you beat a team 44 to nothing. So uh hopefully they've learned something, and and I'm curious to see how they respond and how they look because as you know, SoCal's knocked off Salinas the last two years. And again, you don't want to measure you know what you've done previously to what you're gonna do this year, and I think SoCel is a different team than they have been the last couple years just based on losing their quarterback. But uh I just want to see how they match up, and it's a road game too. And a lot status, if you've ever been up there, that's a tough place to play.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is a tough place. And uh yeah, it's just one of those like those uh stadiums. I mean, it's nestled kind of in the in the in the for like the the woods, the forest, so to speak. It's it's just a it's a cool, it's a cool background for sure if you've ever been up there.
SPEAKER_04And here's what here's one of the things for you, Juan. I saw the Bay Area rankings the other day, and there's five teams in our section that are in that Bay Area rankings. Four of them are from the WCAL. The other one is Los Gatus.
SPEAKER_00Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, and then you mentioned Valley Christian. I mean, that's another school that uh Salinas has to take on, and that they're coming off a pretty big win, too, uh, against uh Wilcox. So yeah, that's just one of those other uh schools that uh on that grueling schedule for Salinas for sure.
SPEAKER_04And then you know I I I had a coach once upon a time that told me this story, and this is going back maybe 20 years ago, and he said, in his mind in the preseason, you want to face a team that you really believe you can beat, you want to face a team that you believe is gonna give you some competition, and you want to face a team that maybe you're gonna get your butt kicked, that you're gonna learn something about yourself. I don't know if you want to face three of those type teams, and that's what the trajectory of Slainus is headed towards.
SPEAKER_00Oh man, that's tough, man. That's tough. But hey, I mean, that's that's the way uh Steve set it up. So kids gotta roll with it. Let's do it. Suit up, let's go for sure. Uh finally, we got uh, let's see here, a big one, right? King City, Gonzalez. Uh gosh, it's it's just one of those longtime old school rivalries. We've been talking about it for a while here.
SPEAKER_0495 years.
SPEAKER_0095 years. All right, John, let's let's talk about it. Let's get into it. What uh your your your thoughts on this uh on this big game here.
SPEAKER_04Well, in the past, and again, King City has a size of a leader. I think overall it's it's 60, 32, and 3, I believe. And they've had the upper hand over the last few years um over Gonzalez. And again, they play in different divisions now, and they play in those different divisions for a reason. You know, right now King City's program is is a is a a little bit better than you know Gonzalez is just based on what division they're in. But none of that matters when you get in these rivalry games. We saw that already last week with Pacific Grove knocking off Carmel. And you saw it with Santa Cruz beating Watsonville. So it you have to throw, uh and it's such a cliche, but you have to throw records, which right now don't really mean much because there's only been one game. But you've got to throw all that stuff out when these two teams play because all it takes is one little break to change that momentum around. And this is one of those games where you'll draw an extremely large crowd down in South County. The game's down at War Memorial Stadium. And um on paper, you look at King City and say, Well, God, I got Carson Tidwell who ran for over 2,000 yards, who by the way did not play in this game last year and still ran for 2,000 yards. You've got Rocky Villanueva, who's you know uh a defensive player of the year, Nathan Vega, those are two of the better linebackers that any program has in the area, and they're on the same team together. So the the the the parts are there for King City to go on another run like they did last year. If I had one concern for King City, is how they looked last week against Greenfield, at least in the first half offensively. They looked really flat, couldn't move the ball, they were shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and mistakes. Uh they kind of got their act together in the second half, and then what was I believe a 26-0 win? Uh but their defense was outstanding, and I think Gonzalez is gonna have trouble moving the ball against that defense.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, we'll see. Yeah, I I again that's why they suit up, they go out there, they play, but you're right, Kansas City right now. I mean, they're looking like the the stronger program coming into this to this uh fall season, and um they're looking to to defend that that league title and and uh trying to trying to keep that uh record uh flawless.
SPEAKER_04And there's a what is it called? A megaphone, a mega horn. I don't know what it is, it's some big thing you yell out of.
SPEAKER_00Another another one, another one that we gotta look into, right? Why why do they have this megaphone? What is it? If anyone can tell us, please let us know. I would love to learn the history of it.
SPEAKER_04We should have asked Mac.
SPEAKER_00We didn't even we had a chance and we didn't do it. Ah, all right. Well, next time maybe, but we'll we'll bring it up again sometime and we'll we'll see why. Why why do they play for this megaphone? Oh man. Well, uh, it looks like that's our show for today. Join us again next Tuesday as we recap week two and jump into some girls' volleyball, no pun intended. And uh please make sure to subscribe to the Cover 3 Sports Podcast on Apple and Spotify. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram where you can find highlights, player interviews, and other cool stuff we like to post here and there. So check it out. Make sure to give us a follow. Thanks again for listening, my friends. Have a safe weekend, and we'll catch you on the flip side.
