SALINAS VALLEY — In a Santa Lucia Division showdown, the Greenfield Bruins defeated the Seaside Spartans 14-7 on Friday night at the Bruin football stadium.
Greenfield is 4-0 to and leads the Santa Lucia Division with a 4-0 record.
The Bruins entered the game focusing on slowing down Seaside running back Joshiah Escort, who leads the Tri-County area with over 700 rushing yards and has scored 17 touchdowns.
“He’s not really big, but you hit him and he’s still running after the hit,” said Greenfield head coach Adam Barsenas. “He had a little over 100 yards, but we limited him to one score and won the game.”
The Bruins took the lead at 7-0 in the first quarter with a seven-yard touchdown run by running back Travis Ryan and a successful PAT by Anthony Zuniga. The scoring drive was highlighted by a play action pass from quarterback Angel Gonzales to Anthony Perez.
“That pass play really worked as Seaside did not expect us to throw the ball,” Barsenas said. “We had practiced that play to prepare for this game.”
The score remained 7-0 until the seven-minute mark of the third quarter when Escort ran in for a touchdown and tied the game at 7-0 after a PAT. Greenfield responded with the final touchdown of the game with a four-yard run by Angel Gonzales and the second PAT of the game by Zuniga for 14-7 Bruin lead.
In the final minutes of the fourth, the Bruins came through with timely sacks by Ryan and Antonio Hernandez to seal the win for Greenfield.
Angel Gonzalez led Greenfield with 108 rushing yards and a touchdown, while teammate Damian Martinez had 67 yards on 19 rushes. Jacob Chan added eight rushes for 53 yards, and Ryan finished with six rushes for 10 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Angel Hernandez had 12 tackles, including two tackles for losses and one sack; Ken Pajas added seven tackles; and Antonio Hernandez contributed with five tackles with three tackles for losses and two sacks.
This Saturday, Greenfield will play the Pajaro Valley Grizzlies (3-4) at 12:30 p.m.
GONZALES
On Saturday at Pajaro Valley in Watsonville, the Gonzales Spartans lost 28-0 to fall to 0-6 overall and 0-4 in the Cypress Division.
Offensively, Octavio Valdez had a strong game as a running back for Gonzales as he gained 160 yards. Quarterback Jeffrey Schweitzer threw for 45 yards and receiver Jordan Askew had two pass receptions. Askew and Valdez led the team in tackles and they each came up with a fumble recovery. Jesus Lopez contributed with several tackles for losses on his own. Andrew Tejeda stepped in to help out and added five tackles.
“Our guys are trying and the opportunities are there,” said Gonzales head coach Eddy Ramirez. “Our defense was on the field a lot.”
The Spartans will play at Marina this Friday and will host the Harbor Pirates on Oct. 24.
KING CITY
The King City Mustang football team produced over 500 yards of offense and played a stifling defense in a 35-0 Homecoming victory against the visiting Everett Alvarez Eagles last Friday at War Memorial Stadium.
The win was the seventh straight for the Mustangs as they improved to 7-0 and more importantly 2-0 in the Mission-South standings. Head coach Mac Villanueva is elated with the all-around efforts by his team in all facets of the game.
“We scored on five of eight drives,” Villanueva said. “We lost two fumbles, and one was inside their (Eagles) five-yard line. On our last drive we used the first five minutes of the game to run out the clock.”
Villanueva received a dominating performance by the offensive line and consistent hard-nosed play by his defense.
“The whole offensive line played well, but Jacob Lugo really stood out, he had some great blocks on pulling run plays and some good perimeter blocks in our screen game,” said Coach Villanueva. “Rocky (Villanueva) has teams scheming their offense to run away from him. He’s making the most of his opportunities when they come his way. His presence on the field is a big factor in the success of our defense.”
King City took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a one-yard run by Carson Tidwell and a point-after attempt by Bryan Gonzales. In the second quarter, the Mustangs scored in the air with a pass play of 34 yards from quarterback Rocky Vasquez to JC Navarro. The PAT by Gonzales made the score 14-0.
King City completed the first half scoring with a four-yard touchdown reception from Vasquez to Kody Lambert and the third PAT by Gonzales to lead 21-0.
In the third quarter, Vasquez threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Navarro for a 28-0 Mustang lead, and on the last score of the game, Navarro pushed his touchdown total to three with a 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Gonzales converted with PATs on the last two scores.
The rushing attack was led by Tidwell, who gained 164 yards on 25 carries; Navarro finished with 63 yards on four carries; and Nathan Vega added 27 yards on three carries.
Lambert led the receivers with four receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown; Navarro had three receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns; and Rocky Villanueva had one reception for 27 yards. On the defensive end, Vega had two interceptions and Lambert had one.
Rocky Vasquez was 15 of 19 in passing for 257 yards and three touchdowns passes.
“It was a great game for Vasquez,” Coach Villanueva said. “He completed passes at a high rate and distributed the ball to six different receivers. In two weeks, we play Pacific Grove on the road and they have a balanced attack. They have weapons in the pass game and a good running back and a tall quarterback who throws well.”
