Pacific Grove-Carmel football

Saturday's game
Pacific Grove (8-1) at Carmel (7-2), 2 p.m.
 The Shoe. The league title. The top seed in the postseason. Redemption.
 You name it, it's out there for this highly anticipated showdown.
 All of it is on the line Saturday in a battle of unbeatens in the Mission Trail Athletic League.
 Since stumbling out of the blocks and losing to Palma and Salinas, the Padres have rattled off seven straight wins while Pacific Grove is 5-0 since falling to Hilmar.
 Could this game be another shootout, where we could see 130 points like last year?
 I doubt it.
 Both defenses are better.
 Yet, both teams are averaging over 40 points a game in league. And both have explosive tailbacks in the Breakers' Jason Leach and Carmel sophomore Covossay Windham.
 While Leach buckles knees with his speed and quickness. Windham breaks them with his powerful 215-pound frame.
 Both teams will move the ball on the ground. What decides this game is can Pacific Grove's defense contain Carmel's passing game?
 The Padres' passing attack is as potent as it has been over the last nine years as Connor Marden has 27 touchdown passes, surpassing last year's total of 25.
 Marden, who tossed two interceptions in his first 59 attempts, has two in his last 185 attempts. He is eight touchdown passes off the single-season school record.
 As a team, Pacific Grove has intercepted 10 passes this season, four from John Buttrey. Linebacker Keenan Selbicky is closing in on 100 tackles.
 Four receivers have over 30 receptions for the Padres, including William Kehoe, who has 52 catches in nine games.