CARMEL >> Golden Anderson still remembers the smile on Jackson Lloyd’s face when the Carmel High football coach asked his prized Alabama-bound lineman to move to defensive end for a series.

“It was the opponent’s last drive in our season opener,” Anderson said. “We moved him to the end and Jackson hit the quarterback on fourth down and forced an errant throw.”

The result completed a fourth-quarter comeback that saw the Padres post a 35-31 road win over Christopher

“Our kids don’t show a lot of emotion,” Anderson said. “That’s how our team is. But when we got that fourth down stop, there was a lot of emotion.”

Did it set the tone for what would become a historic season that included a county record 15-0 campaign and State Division 5AA title?

“You look through the lens then and now,” Anderson said. “I remember we faked a punt in that game to keep a drive alive. The way we closed it. It’s just how we did things.”

The Padres’ nonleague schedule was enhanced, facing 9-1 Christopher, North Coast Section power Miramonte, and Monterey. Aspirations of playing for a state title were not dancing in their heads.

Yet, each win had a different look. Such as intercepting three passes in the end zone in going on the road and beating Miramonte.

Or finding the value of Ashton Rees cemented at the tailback position, as he combined for 278 rushing and receiving yards in a win over Monterey.

“There are no style points,” Anderson said. “Winning those games gave us a lot of confidence.”

The preseason prepared the Padres for a run at supremacy in the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Mission Division South, where they won their second straight title, culminating by beating Pacific Grove to keep “The Shoe” trophy.

“We had a team meeting midway through league to discuss all the things we weren’t doing, that we felt we had to do if we wanted to win a league title,” Anderson said. “The mistakes were consistent.”

Nevermind that Carmel was headed toward a school-record 22-game regular season winning streak. It was the big picture that Anderson and his staff were addressing.

“We told them there will be games with four minutes left where we have to stop an opponent,” Anderson said. “Or we have the ball and we need to run out the clock. We did an autopsy on our own program. We started to focus on those scenarios in practice.”

Perhaps Anderson had a premonition. In the regular season finale, Carmel ran out the final six minutes of the game in a 44-41 win over Pacific Grove.

“All that these kids have seen since arriving is Carmel winning ‘The Shoe,’” Anderson said. “Our kids were nervous. PG had a very good game plan. The kids felt the pressure, but responded.”

Anderson points back to the importance of special teams, where the Padres converted three 2-point conversations and blocked an extra point against Pacific Grove.

“That’s a three-point swing,” Anderson said. “That’s how much we won the game by. We didn’t go into the playoffs thinking we were great. We went in thinking we had to get better.”

A similar situation arose in a wild 56-46 win over San Mateo in the CCS Division III playoff opener, where Carmel needed to run out the clock to preserve the win.

“We felt we were prepared for that scenario,” Anderson said.

The CCS Division III semifinal against Hollister brought another obstacle in rain, something Anderson prepared for all week leading up to the game.

“We made conditions in practice worse than in the game,” Anderson said. “We had to figure out if we could throw the ball. We made our quarterback practice with a wet ball all week.”

After starting the game misfiring on his first three attempts, Hudson Rutherford finished 19-of-21, as Carmel outscored Hollister 26-0 in the second half in a 40-21 win.

“It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before from a quarterback,” Anderson said. “That’s off the charts in the rain. And our receivers weren’t dropping balls.”

That was just a tune-up to the section title game, where Rees ran for four touchdowns in a 62-25 rout of Aptos for its first CCS title in 15 years.

“We were humble enough to prepare, confident enough to perform,” Anderson said. “Teams tried to challenge what we were doing. We tried to control the game, not let opponents control us.”

Simeon Brown created a historic finish in the Northern California Division 5AA game when he came up with a tackle at the 1-yard line on a 2-point conversion with time expired in a 42-41 win over defending State Division 3A champion Acalanes.

“It’s the most unbelievable experience I’ve been a part of,” Anderson said “It might have been the biggest tackle in Carmel history. The odds were the other team is going to make the play.”

In part because Acalanes had run off 13 straight points in the final four minutes, including a touchdown with no time left to put themselves in a position to win the game.

“In looking back, I’m not convinced Acalanes was going to go for 2,” Anderson said. “I’m not sure they were completely prepared. That play by Simeon was off the charts.”

For the second straight game, Rees accounted for four touchdowns, just a tune-up to his five-touchdown effort in the state title game, despite dealing with a severe toe injury.

Placed in a boot all week, Rees arrived at the game in the boot. During warmups, Anderson did not like the way he was moving.

“In 20 years, people won’t believe the story of Ashton Rees’ performance,” Anderson said.

The senior rushed for a career-high 208 yards and four touchdowns, and caught a 16-yard touchdown pass in the 48-7 win over El Capitan — giving Rees 13 touchdowns in the last three games.

The Padres defense recorded six turnovers, including four interceptions off an opponent that had thrown just five all season — two from Matt Maxon and Ty Arnold’s seventh of the season.

“There was no big speech before the game,” Anderson said. “We just told the kids how proud of them we were and how much we loved them. Let’s go perform and showcase what we do.”

Two of those picks came in a span of 1:02 late in the second quarter when Carmel ran off 21 straight points to open up a 35-7 halftime cushion. Because the game was so one-sided officials didn’t stop the clock in the fourth quarter.

“There are a lot of cool memories, not just on the field,” Anderson said. “It’s a surreal experience, where we just went for a ride.”