SALINAS VALLEY — King City Mustangs will be the only South Monterey County football team playing at home this week.
The Mustangs begin the regular season Friday as they host the North Salinas Vikings in a 7:30 p.m. contest.
“North Salinas is solid and they are really fast,” said King City head coach Mac Villanueva. “They have a little bit of size up front, but what we have to contend with is their speed and how athletic they are. I was pleased with our defense in the Soledad scrimmage, but then you expect the defense to be ahead of the offense to start the season.”
Gonzales Spartans will play against Scotts Valley High School on Friday night at Harbor High School.
Spartans head coach Eddy Ramirez had a good opponent in the Alisal scrimmage last Friday night.
“They were a tough and physical opponent and we learned a lot about our guys and it was good to hit someone with a different color jersey,” Ramirez said. “Scotts Valley is always a well-coached and physical team. We expect it to be a hard game, but I think our team matches up well. I just hope we can stay healthy and continue to learn.”
Soledad High head coach Eric Rodriguez knows the Aztecs will be playing a good team in defending state champion Carmel on Saturday.
“The kids played OK in the King City scrimmage, but the youth of our team really shows,” Rodriguez said. “We have a tough first two games of the season with the game at Carmel, followed by North Salinas the next week.”
Greenfield head coach Adam Barcenas was pleased with the Bruins’ efforts at the jamboree last Friday.
“We got a lot of reps and came out 100% healthy, which has been rare for us the last few seasons,” Barcenas said. “We also were able to do some situational downs, which was nice. This week’s opponent is St. Francis early on Saturday and they are well-coached with some really good athletes. The last few games have been either overtime finishes or second-to-last plays.”
