8/22/2016

Monterey football




Monterey Toreadores (2-8, 1-5)
 Hiring a coach five weeks before the start of the season and having your starting quarterback elect to not come out put the Toreadores in a tough spot last fall.
 Yet, I don’t know if anyone felt a program that had won 44 games over the last five years, including three straight seasons of eight or more wins in the Gabilan Division, would win just two games.
 "We were not able to put aside our differences,'' Monterey senior lineman Mercury Compagno said. "We didn't have enough time to mess together.''
 Installing a new system takes more than five weeks. Simply put, Monterey didn’t have the personnel to run the offense.
 Some felt suffering a heartbreaking 22-21 overtime loss to Seaside in Week 3 sent the Toreadores spiraling in the wrong direction.
 Makes sense. Monterey dropped seven straight games by an average of 30.2 points a game. Having been moved to the Pacific Division this fall will help in resurrecting the program.
 It won’t hurt that second year coach Dan Brown has had an off-season to re-establish a foundation and implement his footprint on the program.
 "We were playing catch-up and got maybe half our offense in last season,'' Brown said. "We were behind. It a way, it was unacceptable."
 The Toreadores will be better this fall with a cast of unknowns. The offensive line has two returning starters in the 310 pound Compagno and Nathan Lubbe.
 That’s a good starting point for an offense that averaged 10 points a game in its eight losses. Erupting for 35 points in its final game last year will be used as a building block this fall.
 "We still have things we need to work on,'' Brown said. "But the offense is in. We feel good about where we're at."
 Bishop Ward and Kevin Lawson are expected to get their share of carries for the Toreadores while Marcus Dorn provides speed on the outside as an elusive receiver.
 "Team chemistry is one thing that comes to mind,'' Ward said. "We are all working better together. Last year there was a lot of arguing. Having a coach for a full season makes a difference.''
 Monterey alternated quarterbacks in a scrimmage with state power Bellarmine and San Benito last Saturday, using Anthony Cortez and Evan Charles.
  Brown has a history of turning programs around in his second year. He did it at Sobrato in Morgan Hill and Wilcox in Santa Clara.
 But this is a rebuilding process from the ground up. Monterey struggled at all three levels last year. The numbers have been down of late. The process will take time.

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