Statement game. Signature moment. Take your pick.
But how about the significance in Palma's overtime win at Menlo-Atherton.
Perhaps the only ones that believed the Chieftains could beat the Central Coast Section powers were the players in that lockerroom.
Palma normally does not do a lot of celebrating. When you've made 33 straight playoff appearances, it's an expectation. But this time it was warranted.
The Bears were coming off impressive wins over West Catholic Athletic League powers Bellarmine and Mitty. An argument could have been made that they were the best team in the CCS.
You can certainly put Palma in that conversation. Over the last two weeks, it has sent Sacred Heart Cathedral and Menlo-Atherton to their only losses.
For all the concerns head coach Jeff Carnazzo has had with his young offensive line, it responded in a big moment, going on a 75 yard drive in the second half, putting Menlo-Atherton on its heels.
It opened holes for Anthony Villegas to rush for over 100 yards for the ninth straight game, creating an opening that saw the junior end the game with a 10-yard touchdown in overtime.
An opportunist defense continues to prove no moment is to big, such as coming up with an overtime stop on fourth down at the 1-yard line.
Or Mateo Martinez intercepting two passes to halt drives. A week earlier, Brent Eastman preserved a win with his second pick of the game.
Last year at this time Palma was 1-2 and dodging question about its demise. Now state conversations will heat up. Then again, that has quietly always been in the back of their minds.
John Devine has been writing about high school sports in Monterey County since, well, practically since he was an athlete at King City in the days just after leather helmets. In PrepNation, John has even more in-depth analysis of the latest results and news he's brought to you in The Herald and in his weekly videos.
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1 comment:
Heard the same that you wrote about as far as the belief. I hear it was brought up that even if they lose the game this was going to be a very tough game (the players believed they could win this game). This Palma defense is looking like they could be among the best in many years - very quick, fly to the ball and good tacklers - very disciplined. Line was undersized against its opponent (they had one kid 6-8, 340 pounds and our DE was 6-3, 180 pounds and used leverage and his quickness to neutralize the size as did all the line ). Palma middle defense was extremely stout and LBs played great. Palma strength in the DBs was very clear going against several players that have D1A offers - I count MA has about 10 players that will play on and many at top programs like Alabama). This game is clearly a signature game for a team that has good senior and junior leadership and is only going to get better. Thought Palma QB while not his best first half as he seemed to be hyped up and may have overthrew some was still mistake free nd when it counted made the polays. Surgent has a huge upside as a QB and I think can play on after highschool. Juniors Viegas and Bering willed the team to a win. Got to say Aptos and Salinas are going to have their hands full when they play this team. The Palma o-line really did take a step and going against a very stout and stacked MA defense that probably has 7 players that will be playing on Saturdays. Friday night team was greater than talent and the Chieftains defeated CalHiSports #32 state ranked team.
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