SALINAS – From a historical perspective, the season was pointing in the wrong direction.

Palma High’s football team was sitting at 0-5 at the midpoint of the season, forced to forfeit three wins for using of an ineligible player.

Nine games into the season, the Chieftains were 2-7 and in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in 39 years, needing a win in their finale to lock up a playoff spot.

Once the playoffs arrived, however, Palma became a team possessed, ignoring the outside noise to go on a journey that ended with the county’s first state football championship.

“We have had adversity in the past, but nothing like this,” Palma coach Jeff Carnazzo said. “The losses made it difficult. The team showed its resilience sitting at 0-5.”

Palma quarterback, Thomas Nunes, runs for a long gain against Mission Oak during the CIF Division 4-A State Championship in Pasadena. (Raul Ebio – Herald Correspondent)
The barriers that the Chieftains found in their path were endless. Injuries forced them to call up a freshman running back 24 hours after learning of their 0-5 status.

Losing University of Notre Dame-bound receiver Logan Saldate in the second half against Hollister put the Chieftains on their heels, trailing in the fourth quarter.

Yet, quarterback Thomas Nunes willed the team to overtime, where his two-point conversion in OT gave them a 31-30 win – a win Carnazzo called one of the most gratifying of his career, which includes a county record 209 wins.

“Thomas (Nunes) put us on his back in that game,” Carnazzo said. “But we weren’t totally back.”

That’s because Palma dropped games to Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division champion Salinas and Soquel, which would go on and win a State Division 4-AA title.

“We had the ability to see the big picture,” Carnazzo said. “You learn from the losses. It’s always the losses that make the biggest difference.”

Once Palma clinched the fourth and final automatic CCS playoff spot in the Gabilan Division with a 3-3 mark, a corner had been turned.

A rematch with Hollister in the CCS Division III playoffs saw Saldate record 176 receiving yards and three touchdowns in a 38-10 rout.

Staring at a 14-point deficit to top-seed Menlo-Atherton and Saldate shadowed, Palma turned to freshman Eli Dukes, who rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense held the Bears to seven points in the second half in a 28-21 win, catapulting them into the Division III finals for the first time since 2011.

With Dukes and Nunes combining for over 400 rushing yards, the Chieftains won their 12th CCS title with a 38-20 win over Alisal, clinching their second trip to the Northern California playoffs.

As had been the case in seven of its last eight games, Palma fell behind early to Hughson on the road, only to see Dukes pile up 172 rushing yards.

Once again a defense, anchored by Cornell-bound Thomas Ducker, Nick Dominguez and Noah Orozco, held Hughson to seven points in the second half in a 31-21 win.

Becoming the first program in the county to play for a state title, extending a season into its 19th week – didn’t mean the mission was complete.

Yet, with a surge that saw Palma rattle off five straight wins seemed like destiny was on their side.

Dukes piled over 200 yards and four touchdowns in the state finals against Mission Oak. Nunes connected with Saldate on a 54-yard scoring strike.

And the defense, which held this team together all season, was at it again with Ryan Sanders recovering a fumble and Cayden Acosta intercepting a pass – both turnovers leading to touchdowns.

Up 42-12 with under six minutes remaining, you could sense a celebration for the ages was in the works.

“Most high school coaches get into it to impact lives,” Carnazzo said. “This journey from 0-5 to state champions – there were so many lessons that these kids will be able to utilize for the rest of their lives.”

Nine weeks after being informed in a team meeting that they were 0-5, the Chieftains persevered with an unthinkable finish.

A section title, a Northern California plaque and a State Division 4-A championship. It wasn’t the preferred path. Yet, it ended with a historic finish that will be remembered for a lifetime.