1974 Gonzales High School Boys Football Team

Art Brusa, an early inductee into the Salinas Valley Hall of Fame, and Gonzales High School
team reporter/statistician for more than 30 years, considered the 1974 Gonzales High
football team the all-time No. 1 Spartan squad. They were led by head coach Larry Welsh
(a previous inductee to the Salinas Hall of Fame), and assistant coaches Steve Ponsi,
John Pettas and Rudy Meza. The ‘74 team averaged 430 yards per game on offense while
allowing a mere 108 on defense.

Co-captain David Raffile–who rarely got off the field–was the MTAL Defensive Player of
the Year, All-Salinas Valley Player of the Year and Spartan Back of the Year. Overall, nine
Spartans were on the All-MTAL team. Four of their five offensive linemen were all-leaguers–
Mike Brusa, Doug Arnesen, Steve Wiley and Ron Stanfield. Tim Ryan and Steve Brusa filled
out the rest of the line. Quarterback Mike Silva ran the option offense while setting a school record with nine touchdowns. He also passed for 1,374 yards and earned the team’s Golden Helmet Award. Silva was joined in the backfield with Steve Simonetti and Marty Corda. The split ends were Jeff Sommer and Kenny Escher.

The defensive line included all-leaguers Richard Correa and Carlos Nieto and were
supported by linebackers Kevin Piearcy and starting DB’s David Guzman. Fred Ledesma,
David Deleissegues, David Luna and Jeff Sommer (All-MTAL).

Gonzales opened the season with three straight shutouts and closed it with four
consecutive shutouts. Their only loss came in Week 4, against Pacific Grove, 14-7. But the
Spartans responded by shutting out North Salinas 35-0, Palma 49-0, Hollister 40-0 setting
the stage for their season-ending showdown against King City, which had knocked off Pacific
Grove the prior week, giving the Breakers their only loss of the season. Gonzales responded
with a 30-0 victory over the Mustangs to finish in a tie for first place with Pacific Grove. PG was awarded the playoff spot by virtue of its win against the Spartans.