Monterey Peninsula College football has cracked the top 20 in the JC Athletic Bureau national poll, climbing to No. 19 on the strength of four consecutive wins.
Monterey Herald sports columnist John Devine reported the ranking on X on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The Lobos opened the season with a loss at Laney on Aug. 27 and have not lost since.
The latest win, and the most dramatic, came Friday, Oct. 9, when MPC rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit to beat Sequoias 42-35 in the Lobos' National Valley Conference opener. The victory avenged a loss to Sequoias from the prior season.
Wide receiver Taveon Sueing set a single-game school record with five touchdown catches, all in the second half. He finished with 13 catches for 170 yards. Quarterback Dominic Pierini completed 27 passes for 285 yards and all five of those touchdowns against Sequoias.
The game-winner came with 12 seconds left.
Running back Anthony Hobbs scored MPC's first touchdown on a 4-yard run in the second quarter. Zatari Palmer rushed for 71 yards, and receivers Karendus Poe and Julius Escort each caught five passes.
On defense, Ameir Pickett led the Lobos with 11 tackles. Ethan Wiley added 10 tackles, including three for losses. Soakai Funaki, the Monterey Herald's Defensive Player of the Year at Monterey High in 2024, tallied eight tackles. Spencer Heath contributed a sack and an interception.
The four-game streak began with a win over Santa Rosa on Sept. 12. MPC then beat American River 35-11 on Sept. 19, with a pick-six and a 60-yard interception return keying the defensive effort. The Lobos followed that with a 27-26 victory at then-undefeated, 13th-ranked Redwoods on Sept. 26. Pierini threw his fourth touchdown pass of that game with 23 seconds remaining to seal it.
That Redwoods result marked the highest-ranked opponent MPC had ever beaten, according to Devine.
Head coach Adrian Gallegos, whom the MPC District Board of Trustees named permanent head coach on May 27, guided the program to six straight bowl appearances before this season. In a statement after his hiring, Gallegos said he was excited to build a program centered on discipline, accountability and championship-level football.
Pierini, who threw for 432 yards in his first college start in the season opener, has been the engine of the turnaround. He was second in the state in passing yardage per game as of early September, according to the Herald.
