Grant High ‘creates history’ as longtime football coach Alberghini wins record 282nd game
Mike Alberghini is slowed by a sore back and the rigors of 53 years of coaching, 31 of those as head coach for the Grant Pacers.
He doesn’t fume at referees nearly as much as he used to, but he still can coach up a game, fire up the troops and savor the sweet taste of success. The coach has also handed out more game balls than he can recall over a record run of success in Del Paso Heights, but on Friday, Alberghini was the man of the hour.
After Grant stunned host Capital Christian with a furious second-half rally and made a late stop to cap a chaotic spring season of COVID-19 postponements and cancellations with a 35-32 victory, the Pacers celebrated like they haven’t in several trying, long seasons. Then it was a moment for the beloved old guy known as Coach Al. Athletic director and assistant coach Carl Reed told the fired-up Pacers, “We gave you a challenge to get to 282, and the game ball goes to Coach Al!”
The players erupted, and engulfed Alberghini, who raised the ball in triumph. His 282nd victory, all at Grant since he became head coach before the 1991 season, makes him the winningest coach in Sac-Joaquin Section history, passing the retired Mark Loureiro, who stepped down following the 2017 season with small-school powerhouse Escalon.
The backdrop sound was of Grant fans singing, “Paaacers” or shouting, “Pacer4Life”, which matches the popular theme on Grant T-shirts, and director James Van Buren’s nationally acclaimed drumline set a nice sound throughout.
“From the bottom of my heart, I’ll remember this night forever,” Alberghini said after the game, surrounded by players past and present, many who shouted, “We love you, Coach Al!
Celebrating a program
He told his team, “You created history tonight. It wasn’t about Mike Alberghini. It’s about you. You showed this week and this season what Grant football is all about with all the adversity. I can’t tell you how good I feel. You have now won more games as a a program than anyone else in section history.”
There was a bit of confusion coming in as to how many victories Alberghini had. The Bee reported his win total as 279 entering the 2019 season, and Grant won a single game that fall to make it 280. Last week’s last-second defensive stop to beat Franklin made it 281.
Cal-Hi Sports, the decades-long prep record book and online site, had Alberghini for 276 wins entering Friday, but Reed and Alberghini said they went over their total and are sure of it.
This much we do know: This was Alberghini’s hour, his night, his season, his career. This victory resonates as much as any over a remarkable career that includes seven section titles and the historic 2008 CIF State Open Division championship, the triumph that put this section firmly on the state football map and stamped the coach as an all-time great.
Alberghini is so beloved that Grant’s stadium bears his name. The game ball will now bear his name, and he’ll find a place to display it at home amid hugs from wife Mary.
Before the game, Alberghini admitted that he was weary, saying he will decide in the coming weeks if he will return for a 54th year of coaching in the region. He’s been tied to Grant football for most of that stretch. The players are like his sons, the coaches, too.
“I’m at a place where I wanted to be, and I’m proud,” Alberghini said. “I’m 75, and at some point in life, there’s not a lot of air left in the tank.”
A dominant Pacer for life
Grant towered in leading the area in victories in the 1990s and 2010s but Grant struggled in recent seasons with declining roster numbers in hitting a down cycle after owning that cycle for so long. The bottom was in 2019, with just one victory.
“We started so well with 20-something straight playoff teams, but the last couple of years, our knees buckled, and we lost games, and it was humbling. It was tough,” Alberghini said. “But that’s life. You find a way to overcome it.”
Victories never meant as much to Alberghini as much as molding the lives of young men, and coaches. His coaching staff includes a host of one-time Pacers stars, including Reed, Christian Kinsey, Syd Thompson and Devan Cunningham. Amid all the wins and title seasons, Alberghini suffered mightily, too, including losing a beloved Grant Pacer J.J. Clauvo in 2016 to gun violence before a playoff game. When scores of area players and coaches came out to support the coach and program for a playoff opener that season, he was moved to tears.
He had more tears Friday, for all the right and wonderful reasons. Alberghini was touched by the effort of a team that has just eight seniors.
Pacers junior quarterback Peni Kaufusi dazzled with his arm, legs and will to win this one. He fired a 42-yard touchdown to Kyrell Goss-Pruitt for Grant’s first score after trailing 16-0, had a 21-yard touchdown run, set up Kamari Hunt’s 7-yard score with a 66-yard run inside the 10, and then won it with a 20-yard pass to Donovan Laban who then zig-zagged the rest of the way to cap a 74-yard touchdown with 1:16 to play.
All of this offset the tremendous efforts of Capital Christian’s Anthony Garcia, who passed for 291 yards and three touchdowns, two to Kanye Clark. This is how long Alberghini has been around: He was the defensive coordinator at Grant in the mid 1980s when Garcia’s father, Aaron Garcia, set regional passing records. Aaron is now Capital’s offensive coordinator and athletic director. Anthony is a 6-foot-3 junior and a fast-rising national recruit.
Said coach Garcia, “Coach Al’s done so much for that school and that community and football around here in general, and for guys like me. I knew how to play but I didn’t know how to coach, and he taught me when I was an assistant there with him. What a great win for him.”
Reed, the Pacers’ classy coach and AD, said that this sort of season and effort could vault Grant again.
“We went 2-0 this spring, and with all we’ve gone through, the delays, the tough times, the hard year (in 2019 with one win), these two wins feel like the biggest we’ve had since the 2008 state championship season.”
Said Alberghini in a light moment, “You can say we went undefeated!”
Friday scores
Waterford 47, Denair 14
Turlock 49, Pitman 7
Rio Linda 20, Foothill 6
Rocklin 31, Whitney 3
Central Catholic 22, Buhach Colony 18
Casa Roble 27, Pioneer 21
Granite Bay 47, Del Oro 7
Grant 35, Capital Christian 32
Los Banos 31, Ceres 24
Christian Brothers 54, Del Campo 14
Tracy 54, West 8
Natomas 38, Florin 0
Livingston 35, Gustine 13
Gregori 34, Enochs 0
Escalon 48, Sierra 14
Linden 57, Franklin 7
Hilmar 36, Golden Valley 0
Stagg 49, Chavez 10
Roseville 48, Bella Vista 22
Lincoln-S 28, Edison 7
Monterey Trail 55, Antelope 19
Woodcreek 28, River Valley 14
Sheldon 34, Pleasant Grove 17
Folsom 54, Oak Ridge 21
Vacaville 58, Wood 20
This story was originally published April 17, 2021 at 3:13 AM.