By Marge Ann Jameson
At 66, the venerable old, bronzed shoe trophy that started life as the track shoe of former Carmel High athletic director Lloyd Miller is showing no signs of slowing down.
“The Shoe” has been passed back and forth between the Pacific Grove High School Breakers and the Carmel High Padres as they compete annually for the bronze trophy and associated bragging rights. Carmel has now won six straight Shoe Games, but the series has been fairly even over the decades – 32-32-2.
The 66th Shoe Game may go into history as filling Breaker Stadium to capacity, and as a game of long runs and long passes, but it ended on an anticlimactic note as Carmel ran out the last 5:35 on the clock to prevent Pacific Grove getting their hands on the ball. It was also a game that, for the first time – and thanks to sponsorship by People’s Desal – was streamed live on the Internet through kSBW Channel 8. From our vantage point on Facebook and Twitter, we’re aware of viewers all over California, and from Nevada, Arizona and Oregon who were following the action on the Internet. It was a game worth watching.
The Breakers blew out of the gate in the first four minutes of the game with a touchdown and extra point, but the Padres answered a couple of minutes later with the same. Carmel then tried a long pass with the receiver open in the end zone, but missed. They went for – and got – a field goal. The score was 10-7 Carmel.
Pacific Grove took it to 13-10 on a TD pass from Jake Speed, then won the extra point and made it 14-10 with seconds left in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Carmel’s Thomas Spanos ran in a touchdown to make it 16-14 Carmel, and with the extra point. With Pacific Grove’s defense working overtime, Carmel then made it 20.
Pacific Grove’s Jason Leach took a handoff from Luke Lowell and ran it 70 yards, but there was a flag on the play. But they got a touchdown on a long pass and tied it up 20-20, then went to 21-20 with the extra point.
With 3:36 left in the first half, the Padres got a first down. Thomas Spanos caught a Connor Marden pass and ran it in to make it 26-21 Carmel.
In the second half, Carmel worked it down to the three yard line. It was second and goal and they were stopped again by the Breakers, but they got a touchdown on the 3rd with goal left.
Jason Leach once again ran it in more than 70 yards for the touchdown, and the point was good, so Pacific Grove took it up to 28 on the scoreboard. But Carmel made it 33-28, then Thomas Spanos caught another pass and scored again for Carmel. The point was good, making the score 40-28 Carmel. At 3:47 in the quarter, Carmel punted. A pass to Dylan Chesney went awry for 2nd and 10 Pacific Grove. On the 3rd and short, Pacific Grove got the first down.
On an outstanding pass, Dylan Chesney caught Luke Lowell’s throw and got another first down with a minute left in the quarter. Jack Speed got the touchdown and the point was good. Score was 40-35 Carmel, and there it stayed for the rest of the game.
Luke Lowell’s pass to Chesney was no good, then he was sacked. Pacific Grove punted and Carmel took the ball. Connor Marden was sacked. Dylan Chesney made another outstanding catch with 6:53 in the game. Carmel knocked Jake Speed out of bounds which cost them 15 yards, but from then on time appeared to stand still as play after play went nowhere. Pacific Grove took a first time out, then a second. With a little more than a minute left in the game, Connor Marden took his helmet off and left the field, supposedly a signal for a head injury. Players milled around, but soon Marden was back, and Carmel took a time out. And the clock kept ticking until it ran out.
Both teams went into the game with perfect scores, and both will be seeded in the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs. But Carmel is potentially the No. 3 seed while Pacific Grove, with only the loss of the Shoe Game to blemish its record, will likely be seeded seventh. Stay tuned. They might even meet again in the playoffs, but it won’t have the excitement of the one and only Shoe Game.
