SALINAS, CA — In a matchup of unbeatens the Toreadores visited Salinas and handled the bull. Or in this case the Alvarez football team.
Junior running back Akili Jones ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries and quarterback Carter Aldrete threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns as Monterey handed Alvarez its first loss of the season with a 33-13 victory Friday night in both teams’ MBL-Gabilan openers.
Jones was equally dominant in both halves, running for 75 yards and two scores on only six carries in the first while adding 106 yards in the second including his third score of the game, making it 33-13 with 5:07 left in the game.
“I couldn’t have done it without my line honestly,” said Jones. “It was a hard and tough game -- they’re a great team (and) it was a great battle.
“(Winning) was an amazing feeling it’s great to be out here and play a great opponent like that.”
Monterey (5-0, 1-0) avenged last season’s 18-14 loss to Alvarez.
After being forced to punt on its first offensive possession of the game, Monterey scored touchdowns on three of its next four possessions and went into halftime up 20-0.
“They are a really good team and you can’t make mistakes -- we made mistakes and they capitalized off them,” said Alvarez coach Dave Bottom. “We didn’t come back quick enough.”
Aldrete connected with Skye Keller for a 70-yard touchdown pass to give the Toreadores their first score of the game.
After forcing Alvarez (4-1, 0-1) to a three-and-out, Jones capped a four-play, 30-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.
“Our line had a good push and Akili was a bad man tonight and he took us all the way,” Aldrete said. “He really opened up the passing game for us because they were keying in on him.”
Jones added a 33-yard touchdown with 6:40 left in the second quarter to make it 20-0.
It wasn’t just all offense as the Toreadore defense held an Eagles' offense that was averaging just under 43 points per game coming into the contest scoreless in the first half.
“Defense stepped up again and continues to do so all year,” Aldrete said.
Aldrete wasn’t as consistent as in games past — completing only four of his 11 pass attempts — but when the junior and 2013 MBL Sophomore of the Year connected with his receiver it was for a big play.
Of his four completions each went for at least 20 yards including his second touchdown pass of the game — a 40-yard dime to Ryan Reynolds.
“We weren’t too consistent on offense but big plays really drove us tonight,” Aldrete said.
While Aldrete was throwing touchdowns, Alvarez senior quarterback Edric Gamble — the 2013 MBL-Pacific Division MVP — was forced to be one-dimensional.
Gamble ran for a team-high 152 yards on 22 carries including two touchdowns but was held without a completion.
The senior finished 0-of-12 passing including an interception.
Monterey’s defense sacked Gamble five times. The Toreadores were led by Matthew Wright who had season-high three sacks. It was defensive lineman Christian Martorella who intercepted Gamble.
Monterey hosts San Benito at 7:30 p.m. Friday in another league game.
Despite his team’s first loss of the season, Bottom still sees big things ahead for his team.
“We can play in the Gabilan -- we are going to come back and win a lot of games,” he said. “We are going to learn from this and get better. You’re going to see the best team that we have next week and each week we are going to get better.”
Alvarez meets North Salinas at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Rabobank Stadium.
