College football: Fernandez’s field goal in OT propels MPC past Foothill
MONTEREY — Pandemonium was on tap. Joey Fernandez embraced the moment, creating a celebration with his powerful right leg. It resembled a playoff setting — in Week 1.
“I’ve trained for this my whole life,” the Monterey Peninsula College sophomore kicker said. “It’s one of the greatest moments in my life.”
Fernandez erased years of frustration for the Lobos when he kicked a 38-yard field goal in overtime Saturday, propelling them to a 20-17 win over Foothill at MPC.
MPC defenders Malachi Brown and Ethan Wiley force a fumble by Foothill’s John Larios in the first half of Saturday’s game in Monterey. (Donald Fukui -- Herald correspondent)
Monterey Peninsula College linebacker Damien Neveaux brings down Foothill running back Nate Williams in the third quarter of Saturday’s game. The Lobos defeated No. 14 ranked Foothill of Los Altos Hills 20-17 in overtime on a field goal by Joey Fernandez.(Donald Fukui -- Herald correspondent)
MPC quarterback Manuel Simon Lopez skirts right end for a 50-yard gain early in the first quarter of Saturday’s game in Monterey. The Lobos defeated Foothill 20-17 in overtime. (Donald Fukui -- Herald correspondent)
Monterey Peninsula College head football coach Adrian Gallegos consults his call sheet during Saturday’s game with Foothill College. MPC defeated Foothill 20-17 in overtime to give Gallegos his first win as the Lobos’ head coach. (Donald Fukui -- Herald correspondent)
MPC wide receiver Julius Robinson breaks into the secondary for 32-yard gain in the first half of Saturday’s 20-17 overtime win over Foothill in the season opener for both teams. (Donald Fukui -- Herald correspondent)Show Caption1 of 5MPC defenders Malachi Brown and Ethan Wiley force a fumble by Foothill’s John Larios in the first half of Saturday’s game in Monterey. (Donald Fukui -- Herald correspondent)Expand“I was focused on keeping the right mindset,” said Fernandez, who also had a field goal in the second half. “Don’t get too emotional. I stayed calm. It’s just like practice. I visualized making the kick.”
As Fernandez’s kick sailed through the uprights into a deep blue sky, more than 70 players ran toward the Hollister High graduate in an emotional celebration for the Lobos.
“Man I’m not going to lie,” first-year MPC head football coach Adrian Gallegos said. “It was such an incredible win. I’m still soaking it up. We won with class. We got the monkey off our backs. I’ve been thinking about this game since the schedule came out.”
That’s because the No. 14-ranked Owls of Los Altos Hills have had MPC’s number for a number of years, having won the previous four meetings between the two rivals, including a 35-21 decision in the 2023 American Bowl.
“I remember some of their coaches doing backflips after that win,” said Gallegos, who had been the Lobos’ offensive coordinator for two years before becoming the head coach.
That loss is also the last time MPC has dropped a game. On the heels of a record-breaking 11-0 season last fall, the program has won a school record 12 straight games.
Owners of four consecutive American Golden Coast Conference titles, in which they went 21-1 in conference play, the Lobos have moved into the National Valley Conference this fall.
“It’s next play, next game mentality for us,” Gallegos said. “I’m already over this game. But I will enjoy it tonight while watching film of Shasta.”
The Lobos, who were unranked in the preseason Community College Coaches Football Poll last week, will be on the road in Week 2 when they make the more than five hour bus ride next Saturday to Shasta, a member of the National NorCal conference.
“Honestly, we were the underdogs,” Gallegos said. “We took that to the heart. We wanted to show everyone who we are and what we want to do. I think we shocked the doubters. The only objective was to go 1-0.”
Special teams have been a strength of MPC’s in the past. Throughout the game, Fernandez, who split the kicking duties last year, was pinning Foothill back on its heels with his towering punts, several of which sailed beyond 40 yards.
While a pair of early turnovers grounded the offense, the Lobos defense rose to the occasion in holding Foothill to seven points in the second half.
“Those guys (Foothill) got after us early,” Gallegos said. “Our defense played lights out. We found a way to get our offense going in the second half.”
The Lobos erased a 10-point deficit when David Roberts got into the end zone just before halftime, triggering a run of 17 straight points against a defense that was one of the best in the state last year.
“Two years ago, Foothill gave up an average of eight points a game,” Gallegos said. “To put up 20 points against one of the top-ranked defenses in the state. I’ll take that.”
Eight of those points came off the leg of Fernandez, who kicked a field goal in the second half to put the Lobos up by seven before Foothill rallied to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.
“At that point, we wanted overtime,” said Gallegos, in reference to MPC choosing to run out the clock late in the fourth quarter. “We felt like our kicker was better.”
So much so that Gallegos — a former Hartnell College quarterback — elected to have Fernandez kick the field goal on third down after Foothill missed its field goal attempt.
“That’s how much confidence I had in Joey,” Gallegos said.
The 19-year-old answered the moment with his kick and waited for his teammates to run toward him, giving Gallegos his first win as a head coach for MPC.
“I was waiting for my teammates,” a humble Fernandez said after the game. “I was shouting. I was ready.”
The Lobos relied on big plays to produce a pair of touchdowns as quarterback Simon Manuel Lopez found Mark Harris on a 70-yard touchdown in the third quarter to erase a three-point deficit. Lopez also hit Julius Robinson for 32 yards to set up the first score.
Hartnell 20, Chabot 14Art Berlanga never looked at the Panthers as a reclamation project when he accepted the job as the head coach in June.
Convincing 40-plus newcomers over the summer to get on board with those who endured a 1-9 season, and to buy into his beliefs, just got a little easier.
“With the buy-in and the group of men we have in this locker room, no I wasn’t surprised,” Berlanga said. “The boys earned it and deserve to experience what they experienced today.”
The Panthers, who dropped their final five games last year, giving up 186 points in their last three games, opened the season with their first home win at Rabobank in two years after knocking off Chabot of Hayward.
“The belief gets a little stronger,” said Berlanga, who took Forge Christian High in Colorado to a state title game last year. “We had a lot of growth today.”
Berlanga, who guided Gonzales to its first league title in 18 years in 2018 with a school record 11-game winning streak, is Hartnell’s third coach in three years.
“I wasn’t sure how to gauge today because we hadn’t scrimmaged anyone but ourselves,” Berlanga said. “We had a lot of question marks. I just wanted to see how we’d respond against someone else.”
Hartnell, which scored 20 or more points in just one game last season, relied on a heavy run game that witnessed North Salinas grad Justin Pascone rush for 145 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. Quarterback Adam Shaffer added a touchdown in his return.
Yet, it was the Panthers’ defense that stole the spotlight with former North Salinas standout Sean Nimuan returning an interception for a pick six in the second half for what turned out to be the game-winning points.
Hartnell's Adam Shaffer. (John Devine -- Monterey Herald)“I was especially pleased with our defense,” said Berlanga, just the third head coach in the program’s 90-year history to have played for Hartnell. “Those men won this game for us today.”
Palma product Caden Scherer collected 10 tackles for the Panthers, including five for losses. Jacob Peinado added six tackles, while Ray Blanco recorded four tackles and a pick. Dominic Chaidez added five tackles and five pass breakups.
Hartnell will travel to face San Joaquin Delta — which fell 21-2 to De Anza in its opener — next Saturday.
