The Mission Trail Athletic League is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Central Coast Section.
"Sometimes our league gets overlooked for the quality of football," Pacific Grove High coach Chris Morgan said. "Really, there's a lot of hard work that players across the whole league are putting in."
In other words, the MTAL gets no respect.
Being the most southern league of the CCS — which ranges from San Francisco to King City and everything in between — the MTAL often gets overlooked. In actuality, there is some pretty good football being played. The league has had a team reach a CCS title game in five of the last six seasons.
For the first time in over 20 years, the MTAL had tri-champions as Carmel, Pacific Grove and Soledad all claimed a share of the 2015 title.
P.G. went the furthest of the three, making it to the CCS D-V title game before falling to eventual champion Half Moon Bay, who defeated P.G. rival Carmel in the semis to reach the title game. Soledad fell to Silver Creek in a tight first round D-IV matchup. And after Soledad's big rise last year, none of the league's upper echelon are taking any games for granted.
“I feel like Carmel and Soledad are going to be good again, along with ourselves,” P.G. running back Noah Cryns said. “I think the rest of the MTAL is getting better and I think they can possibly be even better than they were last year. We are going to have a lot of competition.”
Cryns — the reigning MTAL Back of the Year — will be heavily counted on once again if the Breakers hope to remain atop the MTAL and make another run at CCS. The senior rushed for 1,083 yards and 13 touchdowns on 183 carries last year.
Strong running games could be a theme for the top teams in the league, as Cryns, Carmel's Covossay Windham, and Soledad's Emmanuel Ortega all return after strong 2015 seasons.
Carmel (8-4)
The Padres return one of the best backs in the CCS in Windham, who leads the team's rushing attack for the third straight season. Despite missing three games, and sitting out a lot of second halves against lesser competition, Windham rushed for 1,605 yards and 18 touchdowns on 218 carries last year.
Against the tougher competition is where Windham shined brightest, racking up 318 yards and five touchdowns against Sacred Heart Prep and 297 yards and six touchdowns in a 50-47 playoff win over The King’s Academy.
Senior Daniel Higman will now have full reign over coach Golden Anderson’s spread offense, after Jonathan Hugo moved out of the area. The two split time last season.
Shokh Inagambaev will anchor the Padres defense. He was a first-team all-MTAL selection, having led Carmel with 9.5 sacks last year.
If the Padres can keep Windham healthy, an MTAL repeat title and long CCS run could be in the cards again.
Pacific Grove (10-3)
The Breakers will rely on Cryns to carry the offense this year and the senior has shown he is more than capable. They will be breaking in a new quarterback this year ,but having the luxury of Cryns, who will on occasion play some Wildcat, will help out a lot. If he can stay healthy, expect the senior to top last year’s totals in rushing yards and touchdowns this season. Receiver and defensive back Nick Coppla also figures to play a large role.
P.G. will also return two-way starting lineman Foster Smith, who again will be a force on both sides of the ball. Smith was a first-team all-MTAL selection both offensively and defensively last year.
The Breakers will have November 5 circled on its calendar, when the Breakers will visit rival Carmel for the annual Shoe Game, which has had major MTAL title implications on the line. Expect the same this year for the longtime peninsula rivals.
Soledad (8-3)
Frankie Berlanga has transformed the Aztecs from a team competing for at best third-place in the MTAL to a program that believes it can not only compete but actually beat the likes of Carmel and P.G. Last year Soledad pulled one of the biggest upsets in the entire section when the Aztecs beat Carmel, 9-3, in Soledad. It was the first time since Anderson became head coach at Carmel that his team was held without a touchdown in a game.
“The job Coach Berlanga has done over there is nothing short of amazing,” Pacific Grove's Chris Morgan said.
Ortega returns in the backfield after running for 914 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Daniel Contawe and Andrew Hernandez — both of whom were first-team all-MTAL selections — will once again anchor the lines for the Aztecs.
Soledad will take on Seaside and visit both Salinas and Alisal before beginning MTAL play on Sept. 23, when they host Gonzales.
King City (5-5)
King City lost a lot of senior talent from last year’s team including its quarterback, top two rushers and receiver. It will be the next man up approach for the Mustangs who hope to contend with a new crop of athletes in the MTAL. Senior David Ortiz and junior Clay Barbree should fill two of those roles, after Ortiz was among the team's leading receivers last season and Barbree reached the end zone three times.
The Mustangs will have a tough opener against Monte Vista Christian, who finished in second in the tough Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division, before visiting Monterey and hosting Seaside in non-league play.
Gonzales (5-5)
The Spartans struggled late last season, suffering a pair of winnable games against Marina and King City. Gonzales will return Jesus Mendoza, who led the team with a team-high four interceptions. Gonzales kept the bulk of its MTAL games close with the exceptions being losses to Carmel and P.G.
Gonzales will host TKA in its opener, before a pair of road contests at Coalinga and Gilroy, before beginning MTAL play at reigning MTAL tri-champion Soledad on Sept. 23. The Spartans would love nothing more than to open the season in similar fashion to last year, when they won their first three contests.
Stevenson (4-5)
For the fourth straight year Stevenson will stick to a nine-game schedule.
The small Pebble Beach located school starts school amongst the latest in the CCS and coach Bruce Dini factors that when scheduling.
Quarterback Casey Mornhinweg, nephew of former NFL player and current Baltimore Ravens quarterback coach Marty Mornhinweg, will again lead the Pirates offense. Mornhinweg threw for 2,104 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. His top target from last season, senior Will Lansbury, also returns after snagging 43 balls for 797 yards and nine touchdowns last year.
Meanwhile, senior linebacker Alexander Meredith is back to spearhead the defensive unit, after registering nine sacks and 19 tackles for a loss last season.
Greenfield (2-8)
The Bruins will visit St. Francis Central Coast Catholic again this season. Last year, Greenfield edged St. Francis CCS 25-23. Unfortunately for the Bruins they would go onto drop six straight games after last season.
Greenfield coach Ryan Bravo hopes for a more positive outcome following its trip to Watsonville to take on the Sharks.
The Bruins will host Alisal and Pajaro Valley before beginning MTAL play Sept. 23 when they host King City.
Marina (3-7)
The challenge is clear for the Mariners, who open up MTAL play this season against the three tri-champions. Marina, however, is hoping to build off a season in which it beat Gonzales, and lost by three to Greenfield and by five to St. Francis CCC. The Mariners also picked up wins last year against NCS opponent Livermore Valley Prep, and were impressive in a rout over Harbor.
The Mariners will open MTAL play this year at P.G. before hosting Carmel and Soledad all in consecutive weeks.
Marina will visit Seaside, host North Monterey County and visit Monterey before beginning its brutal stretch in the MTAL. The final stretch of the season presumably has more opportunities for winnable games in league play.
