MONTEREY >> It was supposed to be another Pacific Coast Athletic League football thriller — a matchup pitting a pair of top-three teams in the prestigious Gabilan Division — under the bright lights at Monterey Peninsula College on Friday night.

But Soquel High, the defending CIF Division 4-AA state champion, turned their anticipated matchup against Monterey into a one-sided affair.

Quarterback Sam Whelan completed two of his three touchdown passes in the first quarter, and the Knights trounced the short-handed Toreadores 33-6 to move into a tie with fellow unbeaten Salinas atop the standings.

The Knights (6-2, 4-0) are hoping they can turn their next contest into a yawner, too. They take on host Salinas (7-1, 4-0), the defending Gabilan champion, at The Pit on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The winner will earn no worse than a share of the division crown with one week remaining in the regular season.

Whelan completed 7 of his 11 passes for 105 yards, with scoring strikes to Vaughn Bredy, Hudson Summerrill, and D’Rell Hopkins, and ran for 38 yards on seven carries.

“I’m most proud of spreading the ball to a lot of guys, getting everybody touches,” Whelan said. “The win feels a lot better when everyone is touching the ball and everyone’s contributing.”

Running back TyReis Lundy accounted for the Knights’ other two scores. He ran for a pair of touchdowns in the first half, when Soquel jumped out to a 26-0 lead. Lundy finished with 122 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Monterey (4-4, 3-2) faced an uphill battle with starting quarterback Preston White sidelined by a lingering shoulder injury on his throwing arm.

“We were handcuffed a little bit,” Toreadores coach Alex Besaw said, “not that one guy makes up the identity of the offense. We’d like for other guys to be able to step up and other guys be able to elevate their play, which didn’t happen tonight. Hats off to Soquel, they’re a great football team. They kinda put guys in the box and made us one-dimensional, which we already were to start with.”

Sophomore Bronson Gulley, a tight end and defensive end on the junior-varsity team, was called up to varsity and started at quarterback for the Toreadores. He was replaced by receiver Kai Vaughn in the second quarter after failing to complete any of his first three passes.

Gulley did complete one pass, but it went to the Knights. Jake Escalante snatched his third interception of the season and returned in 30-plus yards to Monterey’s 19-yard line. The turnover set up Lundy’s 12-yard scoring run, which put the Knights up 13-0.

“It was a big ask to put a kid at quarterback tonight who hasn’t really played it that much this year, even at the JV level.” Besaw said. “And he’s been awesome. He had a great week of practice.”

On the Toreadores’ next offensive series, Soquel’s Django Daillak pounced on a fumble and the Knights converted that miscue into points, as well. Whelan connected with Summerill for 19 yards out to put Soquel up 20-0.

Lundy tacked on a 54-yard scoring run through the heart of Monterey’s defense in the second quarter.

Soquel was hoping to earn a running clock on the chilly evening, but Monterey made red zone stops to close the first half and open the second half.

The Knights benefitted from stellar field position to produce their final score. Escalante, who also serves as his team’s punter, booted a kick that was downed by teammate Wyatt Nichols inside the 1-yard line.

Escalante said he was more proud of his punt than his interception.

“Because I’m always practicing,” he said. “It’s hard to do.”

Soquel forced the Toreadores to punt after three plays, and took over at Monterey’s 37-yard line. Whelan connected with Hopkins on a 30-yard scoring strike to go ahead 33-0 early in the fourth quarter.

Whelan’s touchdown passes to Bredy and Hopkins both came on fourth down.

Monterey got on the board with 3:10 remaining after marching 75 yards for a score. Running back Ethan Bonilla Ojendis capped the nine-play drive, which included a fourth-down conversion, on his 16-yard scoring run.

The Toreadores finished with 122 yards rushing on 33 carries, and 25 yards passing.

Soquel rushed for 258 yards on 39 carries.

“I’m proud of the whole defense stepping up, almost getting the shutout,” Escalante said. “It’s hard to do against a great offense. And I’m proud of the whole offense moving the ball quick. It was fun.”

MVC 42, NMC 23

WATSONVILLE >> Senior quarterback Dominic Pierini completed 25 of 41 passes for 437 yards and a school-record six touchdowns, as the Mustangs handed the Condors their first loss in PCAL Mission North Division play Friday.

The Condors (5-3, 3-1) dropped into a three-way tie atop the standings with St. Francis (6-2, 3-1) and Alisal (4-4, 3-1) with two games remaining in the regular season.

MVC (4-4, 2-2), which moved into fourth place, has games remaining at Seaside (1-7, 1-4) on Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and versus St. Francis on Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Mustangs senior receiver Nico Downie had 11 catches for 192 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He scored on receptions of 43 and 70 yards.

Downie has a state-leading 1,478 receiving yards this season, a new Tri-County record. He topped the previous mark of 1,477 yards, set by Gilroy’s Jourdan Soares in 2012.

MVC’s Max Arce scored on receptions of 11 and four yards. Max Torres had two catches for 117 yards, including a 76-yard scoring reception, and Boston Ashe hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass.

Downie also recorded an interception on defense, as did teammates Brady Cortez and Torres.

MVC’s Gunner Sorensen made a team-high 14 tackles, including a sack, and teammate Rykin Resurreccion made 12 tackles.

NMC quarterback AJ Gomez threw two touchdown passes to Kenji Mellin and one to Jacob Reed.