Monte Vista head coach Johnny Millard prepares for a high school football game against Foothill, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023 in Pleasanton, Calif. (D. Ross Cameron for the Bay Area News Group)
PLEASANTON – Johnny Millard was equal parts elated and somber after Monte Vista’s 41-14 victory at Foothill.
The Monte Vista coach, whose team needed to snap a two-game skid and did so behind Julian McMahan’s 169 yards and three touchdowns, was thrilled to see his team physically dominate the Falcons at the line of scrimmage.
But the Pleasanton native, who starred at the local school in the late-2000’s and later coached under Greg Haubner, took little joy in routing old friends on Foothill’s homecoming night.
“It was bittersweet,” Millard said after his first game at Foothill since taking the Monte Vista coaching job in 2022. “These are my boys, and I love them to death. But when you look across the field, and it’s just surreal.”
“Those guys are my family.”
Early on, it appeared as if his alma mater was going to spoil Millard’s return to the stadium both he and his father, 1989 NFL defensive player of the year Keith Millard, dominated in.
Encouraged by several generations of alumni in the stands, including the 1988 EBAL championship team, Foothill started the game strong with a surprise onside kick recovery.
Little was expected from the Falcons this year after two of its top players transferred during the offseason. Leading receiver Chris Lawson and and his 16 total TDs went to Riordan, and top rusher Samear Lattier transferred to Tracy.
However, the Falcons had been more competitive than its 1-4 record indicated. Three of their losses came by a combined seven points, and its one victory was against crosstown rival and Valley Division favorite Amador Valley.
Following an Erik Olsen to Michael O’Donoghue 11-yard touchdown to open the game, the Falcons appeared poised to compete with one of the Mountain Division’s better teams.
However, when the junior receiver left the game with leg injury in the second quarter, the offense stalled. The rushing game was nonexistent against a dominant MV front, gaining negative-five yards. Monte Vista defenders Talan Jones and Carson Brown had big nights.
“It was exciting on the front end, but we just ran out of gas really quickly,” Haubner said. “Our kids are trying, and I really appreciate that about them.”
Monte Vista did whatever it wanted on offense, digging out of that early 7-0 hole and taking control by the middle of the fourth quarter. Quarterback Brayden Turner completed his first nine passes, and ended the night 16 of 19 for 280 yards and two touchdowns.
His accurate passes helped lead the Mustangs on an eight-play scoring drive, one capped off when McMahan found plenty of room to operate on a draw play for an 11-yard TD with 7:28 left in the first half.
“These practices (during the bye week) were all about consistency,” McMahan said. “We were having issues up front, but we fought through that.”
Following another Foothill drive that fizzled out, Turner connected with Jacob Shehata for a 76-yard touchdown bomb down the right sideline to give the Mustangs a 17-7 advantage with 2:17 to play in the half.
Shehata had 95 yards on four catches, a number only bested by his teammate Brayden Breedlove and his 113 yards. Both were the beneficiaries of a passing game that had all the time in the world to operate behind great blocking by linemen such as Dakota Dickson.
“We came in with the mindset that we are a great line, and we needed to show people that,” Dickson said. “I knew that Foothill was going to come out and try and hit us in the mouth …. I was just trying my hardest to get my boy Julian some yards.”
Monte Vista went into the halftime locker room up 20-7 after Carter Junge made his second field goal of the night as time expired.
The Mustangs controlled the second half, with McMahan adding a 19-yard touchdown reception and a three-yard plunge.
Foothill got a brief glimmer of hope when Olsen, who passed for 238 yards and two TDs, found Nathan Bodensteiner in the flat. The 6-3 receiver shed tacklers up the right sideline for a 42-yard TD with two minutes to go in the third quarter.
But after its lead was cut to 27-14, Monte Vista scored the last 14 points of the game to salt away the EBAL victory. It looked like the team that started the season 3-0, not the one that lost 41-34 to Amador Valley and 38-14 to Campolindo before limping into its bye.
Foothill (1-5, 0-1) will travel to Clayton Valley Charter next Friday, and Monte Vista will play host to a California team coming off a bye.
“It’s good to have some momentum, but we’ve also just got to take it one game at a time,” Millard said. “We’ve got to focus on beating Cal.”
