South Bay/Peninsula Players of Week

Archbishop Mitty’s Dakari Monroe was more serious prior to the start of the Nike Football Training Camp in 2014 (at right) than he was before the event began in 2013 (at left). He plays his final game for the Monarchs on Friday. Photos: Student Sports.

Presented by LE BOULANGER bakery, this is the latest in a new feature highlighting the most outstanding players from the South Bay/Peninsula region of the CIF Central Coast Section. This week’s three honorees are Dakari Monroe from Archbishop Mitty of San Jose, Troy Martig from Bellarmine Prep of San Jose and Nery Abarca from Pioneer of San Jose. CLICK HERE for details on how South Bay/Peninsula football fans can win 2 free San Francisco 49ers tickets.

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Le Boulanger South Bay/Peninsula
Defensive Player of the Week

Dakari Monroe (Archbishop Mitty, San Jose) Sr.

Since he was a sophomore two-way starter for the Monarchs, Dakari has been making plays and getting honors. As a sophomore, he was selected All-West Catholic Athletic League and was on the all-state sophomore team in the multi-purpose category. One of his big plays as a sophomore also was a 99-yard kickoff return.

In last week’s 59-21 win over Wilcox in the CCS Division II semifinals, Monroe hit 99 once again when he took an interception back 99 yards for a score to complete Mitty’s scoring. It was Monroe’s second interception of the night. He also had four tackles, caught a 13-yard touchdown pass and rushed for 52 yards on three carries.

“Dakari means the world to our team,” said Mitty head coach Dave Brown. “He is a team captain, he is a two-way player and rarely comes off the field. His attention to detail and football IQ are as good as any player I have coached and in big games he has come up with big plays. He continues to try to make himself a better player every week.”

For the season, heading into this week’s CCS D2 final against St. Francis of Mountain View, Monroe has five interceptions, five TD receptions and four TDs rushing. The 6-foot, 175-pounder has offers from Arizona, San Jose State, Fresno State, Nevada and Washington State.

Le Boulanger South Bay/Peninsula
Offensive Player of the Week

Troy Martig (Bellarmine Prep, San Jose) Jr.

Martig hasn’t been taking all of the snaps as the Bells’ starting quarterback, but the junior is one of the fastest players on the team (he’s also a sprinter for the track team) and was the difference in a 21-18 win last week over Valley Christian that put Bellarmine into this week’s CCS Open Division championship against unbeaten Sacred Heart Prep.

With 1:51 left and the Bells trailing the Warriors 18-14, Martig took off on a 58-yard run up the middle for what ended up as the winning touchdown. Earlier in the game, he also threw a 23-yard TD pass to Kyle Macauley.

Martig is a 5-foot-11, 165-pound junior who has played more later in the season. When Bellarmine lost 42-17 earlier to Valley Christian, Martig wasn’t a factor.

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Nery Abarca (Pioneer, San Jose) Sr.

He’s been one of the most consistent kickers in the CCS and had another solid night despite the Mustangs’ seeing their season end in a 35-17 loss to St. Ignatius in the CCS Division III semifinals.

Abarca made a 24-yard field goal in the game, which isn’t something that exceptional, but he did finish the season going 5-for-5 on field goals with a long of 40. Abarca also ended the season with 52 PATs.

Note: To send in nominations for next week’s LE BOULANGER South Bay/Peninsula Players of the Week, send info to markjtennis@gmail.com or to marketingharoldabend@gmail.com. Please include usable photo if possible as well, which means not from a newspaper or major national website.

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports