MPC football

 MPC (10-1, 5-1)
 For all the offensive firepower the Lobos have shown during the Mike Rasmussen era -- 17 years and counting as the head coach --  defense set the tone last fall in a 7-0 start to the season.
 True, MPC was still an offensive juggernaut, averaging nearly 32 points a game in closing the year by tying the school record with a 10-1 mark.
 Still, MPC's defense was filthy, recording its first shutout in four years while holding three teams under 17 points. Eight of its 10 wins were by 10 points or more. The one loss was by four points.
 "We forget the feeling of success so we can become hungry,'' defensive lineman Dylan Beechum said. "What we don't forget are the expectations. We hold each other accountable.''
 A chunk of that dynamic defense has departed, as Rasmussen sent off nearly a dozen kids to four years programs last year -- 165 players have earned football scholarships during his tenure.
 "Every year is a rebuild,'' Rasmussen said. "Half your team returns and half the team is new. There are strength and weaknesses. No question, you have to make tweaks with your personnel.''
 This fall the numbers at MPC are impressive as 82 players will fill out a roster with ambitions on repeating the feat.
 "Numbers don't really bother me,'' Rasmussen said. "You have to have the right group of players to be successful on the field. Does a guy want to commit to the program?''
 Not all the faces will be foreign on defense as Monterey High grad Anthony Saavedra and his team leading eight pass breakups are back in the secondary for the Lobos.
 Last fall Saavedra came up as a defensive back and compiled 70 tackles, the top returning tackler for the Lobos.
 "Anthony had a good summer,'' Rasmussen said.
 So did the 260-pound Beechum, a Trinity Christian product, and one of two returning starters on MPC's defensive front.
 Beechum, who didn't play 11 man football until he arrived at MPC, was a terror in the trenches for last year's conference championship team.
 "People told me I wouldn't be ready, having played eight-man football,'' Beechum said. "I didn't have the experience. It wasn't that hard to adjust. I was able to react quickly.''
 While there will be some retooling and shuffling defensively among the front seven, the offensive line should be a strength for the Lobos.
 The return of 305-pound Carmel High product Patrick Hungate and Edwin Cortes-Grande is a good starting point to protect the quarterback.
 For now the quarterback spot is a battle between sophomore Jordan Bernal and San Benito freshman Hunter Raquet.
 Bernal, who prepped at Templeton, has a slight edge with a grasp of the system, having seen spot duty last fall.
 "He (Bernal) has an advantage because he knows the system and understands it,'' said Rasmussen, whose squad will open the season at Yuba on Sept. 2.
 Bernal has a trio of returning targets to get the ball too, including former Monterey standout Michael Armstead, who had his season cut short last fall with a torn ACL.
 Prior to the injury, Armstead -- a 22 foot long jumper in track -- caught 45 passes for 915 yards and eight touchdowns.
 "I've been dying to get back on the field,'' Armstead said. "It's the first time I've ever been injured. I was upset about how last season ended. It was a cheap shot out of bounds.''
 Armstead declared himself 100 percent. So is 6-foot-2, 225-pound former King City product Jarod Davis, who caught 17 passes for three touchdowns last fall.
 "He's just an athlete,'' said Rasmussen, in speaking about Davis. "We look for more from Jarod this fall.''
 Bernal also has a familiar target to get the ball to in former prep teammate Matteo D'Alfonso, who is expected to flank the opposite side of Armstead.
 "The goal is to win another championship,'' Armstead said. "The individual numbers will come. It is the wins that you have to work for.''
 For as wide open as the Lobos assault has been under Rasmussen, it was a punishing ground game in the second half of last year's bowl game that completed the historic season.
 While the Lobos have never been regarded as a run oriented program under Rasmussen, grinding the ball is an option with the return of Akili Jones and addition of freshman Hunter Nye.
 Jones, who piled up three consecutive 1,000 plus yard seasons at Monterey, and is one of the fastest players on the team, lead the Lobos in rushing touchdowns last year with four.
 "He just has to keep maturing in all areas,'' Rasmussen said.
 Nye rushed for nearly 1,800 yards and 26 touchdowns last fall for San Benito. Both will need to be able to catch the ball out of the backfield in Rasmussen's pro-style offense.
 "Both have speed and physicality,'' Rasmussen said. "Both have good size."
  One of the longest tenured coaches at MPC, Rasmussen doesn't keep track of wins or conference titles.
 What he does have is a list of every player that has gone off and played at a four-year college.
 "Getting these kids off to a four year program to pursue their education and play football ... that's the real pay day,'' Rasmussen said.