The Breakers’ Football team returned to their winning ways with a big, 31-2, win on Friday, October 3, to move to a 4-1 start on the year in the penultimate event to end Homecoming Week. The win marked a bounce-back from the previous week’s away loss to Watsonville, 24-7, which had cost the Breakers their undefeated record and motivated them even further to take a win on Homecoming weekend. Yet, the odds were in the Breakers’ favor as they were set to match up against the North Monterey County Condors, who had a poor 1-3 record going into the matchup, and the Breakers had not lost a Homecoming game in the past two years.
The game started off hot with Garrett Kuska (12) strip-sacking the Condors’ QB on the first drive of the game to return the ball 70 yards for the first touchdown of the game, putting the Breakers up 7-0. The Breakers were able to hold off the North County offense for the rest of the half, despite a few turnovers, with Sophomore Northrup Kirk creating good field position off an almost 50-yard punt return before running it in to put the Breakers up 14-0. Kuska would score another touchdown soon after, this time rushing, ending the second half with a Breakers lead of 21-0.
As for halftime, the Band, Cheer, and Breaker Girls all performed, with the Breaker Girls and Band performing together. The game would mark the last home game band performance until October 24th against Soledad due to Fall Break. A second side of halftime entertainment came with Homecoming-exclusive activities like the float exhibition near the concessions stand, as each class got to show off the superhero-themed floats that they had been building for weeks prior: the Seniors’ Batman float won the prize voted on by the crowd. Also, Milo Nothnagle and Yeva Yevdash were announced as the Homecoming King and Queen for the Senior Class.
The Breakers continued to hold off the Condors’ offense while bolstering their own, getting another touchdown after an endzone grab from Andrew Nimri (11) and a field goal from Paul Ramirez (12). The Breakers made their most crucial mistake late in the game with an errant pre-punt snap, which went through the endzone for a safety, cutting the Breakers’ lead to 29. Adding to the game’s excitement, the match marked the second time a deer has run onto the football field and interrupted play at a Breaker game this year. In the end, the Breakers won swiftly against the Condors, bringing their season record to 4-1 and rising to first place in the league standings. However, they have since been demoted to 4th place after a crushing 24-7 loss to Everett Alvarez the week after Homecoming. The Breakers will look to bounce back in a league matchup against rival Stevenson on October 18.
