Game of the Week: M-A focused on Palma

“Yes, we’ve won (our first two games), but we still haven’t played near our potential,” said M-A head coach Adhir Ravipati, whose Bears will play their first home game, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. “I don’t think we believe in scheduling anyone but the best teams we can find. It’s good for us, keeping our kids focused and pushing the kids each week to be better.”

Ravipati pointed out the Bears are still missing four starters, including its first-string quarterback, along with wide receiver Troy Franklin, who is expected to start tonight after missing the first game with an injury and suffering some kind of allergic reaction prior to kickoff last week.

The Bears are also without a starting inside linebacker, while defensive lineman Brandon Sagapolutele made his season debut last week.

“We’re going to get better going forward,” Ravipati said.

The Bears certainly have had some luck in jumping out to a 2-0 start. And it can’t be described as anything else when a third-string quarterback helps lead the teams to a pair of victories. But junior Justin Anderson is no ordinary quarterback. While QB may be his third-best position, his athleticism has proven to be more than adequate to make up for his inexperience at the position.

“It’s a good problem to have,” Ravipati said. “Justin, even if he’s not starting at quarterback, will still have a package at QB. Our team is at its best when we can use him in multiple roles.”

Feleti Malupo, who was tabbed with starting under center to begin the season, has missed the first two games with a hamstring injury — which also kept him from that inside linebacker spot. Ravipati said Malupo tested his leg in warmups last week, but the coaching staff decided to hold him out one more week. If healthy, look to see Malupo to get some work under center against Palma.

As good a start as the Bears have gotten off to, it will lose some of its luster in they can’t handle the Chieftains. Not that that is an easy task. Palma is coming off a “down” year in 2017 — one that saw the Chieftains finish in third place in the Monterey Bay-Gabilan Division and bowing out in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section tournament. Last year, M-A hung a 30-7 loss on Palma.

But Palma is only a year removed from having appeared in the 2016 CCS Open Division III bracket and a spot in a Nor Cal championship game.

Ravipati expects things to be a little bit different this season. Palma has also gotten off to a good start, opening the season with a blowout win over Soledad, 52-6, and following that with a grind-it-out 17-14 victory over Sacred Heart Cathedral.

“Palma will stress you,” Ravipati said. “They have a quarterback who can throw the ball all over the yard. … Their running back is very good. … He really makes them go.

“They’re going to be hungry.”

QB Grant Sergent is completing 52 percent of his passes while averaging 153 yards per game with four touchdowns against zero interception. Running back Anthony Villegas, who started as a sophomore last season, has gone over the 100-yard rushing mark in both Chieftains game this season — including 131 yards on 25 carries against SHC last week.

“We can’t put nine guys in the box (to stop the run),” Ravipati said. “[Palma] is much more diverse, formationally, than they have been in the past when they looked like a mini Stanford. Now, they’ll go into one-back, shotgun, four-wide (formations).”

Ravipati, however, likes how his defense has progressed the last couple of weeks.

“Against Mitty … we managed to put that game away with our defense,” Ravipati said, as the Bears needed two late stops to hold off the Monarchs. “We have guys who are playing really fast and finishing plays. They’re playing well together (defensively).”