The MJC football team has all the ingredients to produce another successful season.
An experienced quarterback with a complement of talented receivers, running backs and an offensive line that will do anything to protect him. The defense is stingy, adapting a bend-but-don’t-break mentality. And the special teams can make plays, too, blocking punts and consistently finishing scoring drives with successful extra points.
The Pirates opened the season with a 44-17 win at Laney and on Saturday welcomed fans excited to see the defending Valley Conference champions for their home opener against Santa Rosa Junior College.
In another dominant showing, the Pirates beat the Bearcubs 51-14, scoring the most points in a game since they beat Santa Rosa 51-41 last season.
“We had a really good first half, but not a very good finish in the second half,” head coach Rusty Stivers said. “A bright spot is we put the defense in compromising situations and (Santa Rosa) didn’t score. That was a big deal.”
They match up with another 2-0 team this Saturday, the defending Northern California champion College of San Mateo.
The Pirates’ offense played its best first half of the young season. It scored a touchdown on all six of its first-half possessions and put up 27 of its 41 first-half points in the second quarter.
Over the game, quarterback Luke Weaver completed 16 of 21 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a pair of touchdowns. Lyon Colon rushed for 84 yards on 15 carries and Juan Esquivez rushed for 41 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. Joey Stout and Glen Weber each caught a touchdown pass. Stout, Trace Hernandez and Xzavier Clark each caught at least two passes for more than 50 yards apiece.
While the offense was nearly unstoppable, the Pirates defense and special teams were impressive as well. After giving up 14 second-quarter points, the defense held the Bearcubs scoreless in the second half and allowed just 68 total yards.
“We did a good job staying on top of vertical routes, we didn’t allow a lot of explosive plays,” defensive coordinator Eddie Abbasi said. “Trying to eliminate big plays, make them earn a drive. We tell our guys if they score on a 15-play drive, that’s good for us. That means we had 15 chances to try to take the ball away.”
Special teams made its third impact play in the first two games when Hernandez returned a third-quarter punt 75 yards for a touchdown.
But the team is chasing greatness and Stivers said there are still things to improve.
“Running the ball when we need to, defending deep passes that are up in the air for a long time, sometimes we lose sight of the ball,” he said. “We had more penalties today than last game.”
The Pirates’ game against San Mateo is always one of the key points in the season. It often serves as a way for MJC to see where it stacks up against another of California’s premier junior college football programs.
According to the most recent JC Athletic Bureau poll, San Mateo is the No. 2 team in California and No. 1 Northern California team. MJC is the No. 9 team in the state and a top 5 NorCal team.
The Pirates will host a jersey giveaway Saturday, handing out football jerseys from past teams to fans who enter the stadium.
Though it is a nonconference game, Stivers said it could be big down the road. A win could put the Pirates in good standing with the Northern California playoff seeding committee. If MJC wins and takes the Valley Conference title, a NorCal playoff home game is a possibility. With four NorCal playoff seeds, only the No. 1 and No. 2 are guaranteed at least one home playoff game.
“Some might think it’s just a preseason game, but really these preseason games give you a better chance at getting a higher seed,” Stivers said. “We were four last year, we want to be one or two.”
Arguably the toughest month of the Pirates’ schedule starts Saturday.
After hosting the Bulldogs, MJC travels to Butte on Sept. 28, hosts American River College on Oct. 5 and, after its bye week, travels to Fresno City on Oct. 19 for its conference opener.
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