Teen Spirit: Carmel High Football's Biggest Win
Words by Laith Agha
Photos by Kelsey Wisdom
Video by Grant Kinsey
Few things can bring a small town together better than a championship football team. Especially when it’s a state championship, brought home to a community that isn’t used to success on such a big stage.
Carmel High School’s 2024 football team did just that when it won the California Division 5AA state championship back in December, bringing home the school’s first-ever state title—in any sport—and drawing crowds that hadn’t been seen at Carmel High sporting events in quite some time.
“When we were winning, you saw the community being brought together, and they were cheering us on,” says Ashton Rees, the championship team’s leading running back. “We’re obviously so proud, and they’re so proud of us, too. It’s just a cool thing to be a part of.”
The impact is definitely something that’s felt by the players, as Head Coach Golden Anderson can attest. Anderson, who played quarterback at Carmel High (class of ’97), took over as head coach in 2009. The program was already strong at that point, having been on a dominant streak in the old Mission Trail Athletic League. But then the local athletic leagues were realigned, with Carmel joining some of the bigger schools in the area. There have been some good years and some not-as-good years along the way, but the team has remained competitive. Going back 20 years, however, it would’ve been unthinkable for Carmel High (850 students) to handle the likes of Monterey (1,400 students), North Salinas (2,100 students), and Hollister (3,400). But that’s exactly what the Padres did last season, on their way to the state title.
Talent certainly has a lot to do with winning. It can’t be overlooked that 6-foot-7, 285-pound Jackson Lloyd headed from Carmel to the University of Alabama to play offensive tackle on a full-ride scholarship this fall. But there’s more to the equation. Good coaching, of course, is a major factor. Anderson was named California’s Small Schools Coach of the Year for 2024. But to elevate to the next level, it takes a special team chemistry, a concoction of selflessness and leadership that fosters a tight camaraderie among the players.
“This group is by far the most unselfish group I’ve ever been around,” Anderson says. “They don’t care who you are. They care what you do and how you act. It’s the tightest group, the tightest camaraderie I’ve been around.”
It’s that intersection of talent and chemistry that has helped a small-town football team draw together its community—a community spread out from Carmel-by-the-Sea to Carmel Valley and Big Sur.
“It’s not lost on our players,” Anderson says. “We’ve had some lean years here, and we talk with them about why it means so much to our alumni.”
Take, for instance, Merv Sutton. The 87-year-old, who used to own Nielsen’s Market in downtown Carmel, is a lifelong Carmelite. He played on the Carmel High football team in the 1950s, back when a league championship was the best you could do.
“We won some of those,” Sutton says.
But for Sutton, who has been a supporter of Carmel High sports pretty much his whole life, a state championship takes on a whole different meaning.
“When your team has success, you have pride in that—especially for those who didn’t get to experience it themselves,” Sutton says. “To share in that is pretty cool.”
Sutton attended about half of last season’s games in person, then caught what games he could on his iPad, including the state title game, which was played in Orange County. Going to the games is a treat, he says, because “the people in the stands are all alumni. It’s always like homecoming week.” Sutton had noticed the crowds dwindling for quite some time, though, leading up to the banner season—and the boost in support.
“All my friends, they were all athletes, so there was a lot of buzz around our group,” Sutton says. “Anytime a team does that well, that’s going to pick up some enthusiasm.”
Rees, who will play for the University of San Diego this fall, noticed the difference in fan support back when his older brothers were on the team compared to his own experience as a Padres player.
“Seeing the community when they played, and seeing the community when we played, it was two totally different things,” Rees says.
Winning even one state title is no easy feat. Repeating is even harder, especially with star players such as Rees, Lloyd, and quarterback Hudson Rutherford having graduated. So, Anderson isn’t setting any expectations for a repeat. His goal, like that of any good coach, is to work with the group he has in a given year and “try to build better men and women.”
In the stands, though, will be generations of Carmel faithful rooting for more.
“It’s something I could see going on for years and years,” Sutton says. “Everybody likes to watch a winner.” <img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6457f19f1c1e1601e2c9c3f6/6487a9355b63a6818c705cea_CC-Icon--20.svg"alt="CC"height="20" width="20">
___
Laith Agha holds a Masters in Journalism from UC Berkeley. He was a news reporter at the Monterey County Herald and Marin Independent Journal and managing editor of the Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants' stadium magazines, published by Diablo Publishing.