DANVILLE — Monte Vista coach CJ Anderson didn’t address his team immediately after the Mustangs’ 14-0 win over El Cerrito. Instead, the former NFL star walked to his opponents’ postgame huddle and told the Gauchos they had nothing to hang their head over.
It took a touchdown midway through the third quarter to break a scoreless tie, then another after a late turnover on downs to pad the Mustangs’ lead in a showdown of top-15 teams. No. 14 Monte Vista muscled its way more than 200 yards — and its fourth victory in four tries this fall after coming up emptyhanded in six games last spring.
“That is grit and fight,” Anderson said of his squad. “That same team that was 0-6 last year would have been down on themselves.”
Ultimately, Monte Vista (4-0) outlasted the Gauchos to stay undefeated in Anderson’s brief tenure. No. 12 El Cerrito (3-2) has yet to allow more than 14 points — a streak that dates back to 2019 — but took its second shutout loss of the season.
Monte Vista quarterback Dyllan Devitt completed 8 of 10 pass attempts for 89 yards while under frequent duress from the Gauchos’ front seven; El Cerrito got to the quarterback in the backfield more than half a dozen times. Running back Rocco Schramm had the most success against the Gauchos’ stout defense with 96 yards on 16 carries.
“We didn’t play to our highest potential,” Schramm said. “I think that if we had played 100%, the score would have been 60-0.”
El Cerrito coach Jacob Rincon said his team was gassed by the end of the game.
“I just think we need to finish,” Rincon said. “At times, we get tired and just don’t finish the play. It just messes up the rhythm of everything we’ve got going on.”
Running backs Robert Freeman and Antonio Hines totaled more than 110 yards on the ground for the Gauchos.
They combined for five rushes of at least 8 yards in the first three quarters but couldn’t come up with the explosive play the ground-heavy Gauchos needed once they got into a hole.
The Gauchos got the ball back with about 3 minutes to play, still trailing 7-0. A strong punt from Monte Vista’s Nathan Price pinned them at their 2-yard line, but after three plays, they were already facing a do-or-die fourth down from inside their 10-yard line.
The play was drawn up for Freeman, who motioned outside as the intended target of a screen pass. The ball from quarterback Jace Taylor, however, went through his fingers, and with it, the Gauchos’ last hopes.
El Cerrito opened the game with five straight run plays, but on its first pass attempt, William Pierotti picked off a throw from Taylor, who was escaping a hoard of Monte Vista linemen.
El Cerrito also drove deep into Monte Vista territory at the end of the first half but couldn’t get on the scoreboard. Taylor threw incomplete on fourth-and-9 from the Mustangs’ 21-yard line, securing a scoreless first half.
Monte Vista started the second half with a drive that ate up more than 7 minutes and ended in the game’s first touchdown. It would be all the Mustangs needed.
Devitt found tight end Jack Endries in the back of the end zone from 5 yards out to cap the scoring drive.
The drive was interrupted by a medical emergency on the El Cerrito sideline.
As the Mustangs were driving with 6:56 left in the third quarter, El Cerrito defensive coordinator Alex Marchan collapsed and play was halted. The game was paused for about 15 minutes until an ambulance could arrive. Marchan, in his fifth year at El Cerrito, waved to the crowd as he was loaded on a stretcher into the aid car.
Once play resumed, the Mustangs were in the end zone within a few plays.
