Monterey misfires in loss to soquel

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

With their starting quarterback injured, the Toreadores flounder on offense

Monterey quarterback Kai Vaughn follows a wall of blockers for a gain around left end on Friday night at Monterey Peninsula College. Vaughn, a wide receiver, subbed for injured Monterey quarterback Preston White. PHOTOS BY DONALD FUKUI — HERALD CORRESPONDENT

Soquel’s Tyreis Lundy, who scored two first half touchdowns, gains yardage in the first half of the Knights’ 33-6 win over Monterey on Friday night at Monterey Peninsula College.

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By John Devine

jdevine@montereyherald.com

MONTEREY >> The magic from last week’s late game dramatics, along with the adrenaline rush vanished. The reality is missing their quarterback is a punch to the gut for Monterey High down the stretch.

With the uncertainly of quarterback Preston White’s ailing right throwing shoulder for the remainder of the season, the Toreadores’ offense will need a new look going forward if it has aspirations of a sustained playoff run.

Misfiring on all cylinders with a scaled-down offense, Monterey never got in rhythm Friday, falling 33-6 to defending State Division 4 AA champion Soquel at Monterey Peninsula College.

“We pieced together an offense last week to beat Hollister,” Monterey coach Alex Besaw said. “But I felt we needed to have a more balanced attack and show we have the ability to throw the ball. It’s a big responsibility asking a JV kid (sophomore Bronson Gulley) to come up” to play quarterback on the varsity team.

White suffered a dislocated shoulder injury during the first quarter of last week’s game against Hollister. He was unable to practice all week because of the soreness.

“We’re not sure what Preston’s status will be for the final two games,” Besaw said. “He didn’t even touch a ball last week in practice. He might not get any reps until game day. At the quarterback position, that’s hard. I’m sure he’s cautious.”

A three-year starter, White has thrown 67 touchdown passes in 40 games during his career at Monterey, having 12 scoring tosses in six games this year.

“We tried to have a heavy run package with safe throws,” Besaw said. “We were doing our best to keep the offense on the field and move the chains. Soquel is really good. We didn’t have much of an answer.”

Monterey has dropped its last five games to the Knights, falling 21-7 in the regular season last year and 22-0 in the Central Coast Section Division II semifinals.

A member of the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Santa Lucia Division in 2018, Soquel has climbed four divisions in five years. It will go into its battle with Salinas next Friday riding a six-game winning streak.

Both the Knights (6-2, 4-0) and Monterey (4-4, 3-2) have already clinched playoff spots.

“It’s back to the drawing board for us, looking at Palma’s film and seeing what we can do,” said Besaw, in reference to next Friday’s game against Palma.

The challenge for Besaw is blending his offense with the personnel behind center, as Gulley started at quarterback. The Toreadores also had a package of plays designed for Kai Vaughn, who stepped in at quarterback in the second quarter.

Vaughn was forced to play quarterback last week when White went down, engineering the game-winning drive in the final seconds against Hollister.

“I’d like to keep working with Bronson and Kai as well,” Besaw said. “Bronson needs more reps and practice time. With Kai, I can go to the Wildcat (formation). We’re going to have to simplify things on offense.”

A heavy dose of tailback Enobong Wirth only enabled Soquel to stack the box and dare the Toreadores to put the ball in the air, as their first two drives were three-and-outs.

Monterey was held without a point in the first half for the first time all season.

“My mindset right now is we know who we are and what we have,” Besaw said. “We have to figure out what type of offense we’ll be without Preston. Tonight was a tough test and we got exposed. That’s on us as coaches. We have to put the kids in the best possible position.”

Soquel, which is 9-1 since becoming a member of the Gabilan Division in 2023, was able to produce points on its first two drives with quarterback Sam Whelan tossing a pair of touchdowns, including one on fourth down.

Before Monterey could get the ball across midfield on a drive, it was staring at a 26-0 deficit after Tyreis Lundy sprinted through the defense for a 54-yard touchdown run.

“It’s hard to keep your heads up when you’re getting your butts spanked,” Besaw said. “But there were some good conversations on the sidelines, kids keeping themselves in check.”

Despite spending most of the first half on the field, the Toreadores defense, anchored by Jayden Brown and Soakai Funaki, came up with a fourth down stop in the red zone late in the first half.

“That stop in the second quarter was awesome,” Besaw said. “With our roster, our kids go from offense and turn right around and play defense. Our kids understand the importance of getting off the field. We did a better job of that in the second half.”