SALINAS VALLEY — South Monterey County football teams are battling for playoff consideration as the last few weeks of the regular season approach. Critical games are coming up for all four local schools.
SOLEDAD
The Soledad Aztecs are in a third-place tie in the Mission South with Robert Louis Stevenson after whipping the North Monterey Condors, 49-22, last Friday at home.
Soledad scored points on the ground and in the air in the convincing win over the Condors. Quarterback Calvin DeShazo passed for 132 yards and threw one touchdown pass and ran for 18 yards on four carries. Aaron Dominguez led the Aztecs in rushing yards with 77 yards on 11 carries and scored a touchdown, and caught one pass for four yards. Daniel Garcia rushed for 40 yards on 13 carries and scored four touchdowns and had three receptions for 46 yards, and scored on a 70-yard interception.
Also coming up with receptions were Julian Velasquez (two receptions, 45 yards); Ayden Raso (three receptions, 10 yards); Nathaniel Flores (one reception, 10 yards and one touchdown); and Pedro Morales (two receptions, 16 yards).
“We lined up well on both sides of the ball against North County. The goal is to take that No. 2 spot for our division,” said Soledad head coach Eric Rodriguez. “We play at Stevenson on Saturday and we know they can score as they have a good passing attack.”
GONZALES
At Marina High School, the Gonzales Spartans backed themselves up all night in the 23-7 loss to the host Mariners. Multiple penalties hurt the Spartans’ chances of mounting scoring drives.
“Penalties were our biggest enemy as they killed any momentum we were building throughout the games,” said Gonzales head coach Eddy Ramirez. “The longest unpenalized run was a 12-yard dash by Jonathon Chavez.”
Quarterback Jeff Schweitzer was able to complete 11 passes for 96 yards, one of which was a 22-yard touchdown pass to Santiago Cuevas for the lone score of the night for the Spartans.
Jordan Askew had the longest reception with a 31-yard, over-the-shoulder catch in traffic. Askew also had a busy night on defense with six tackles, including one tackle for a loss, and an interception. Jonathan Valdez added six tackles of his own, with two of them for losses. Andrew Tejeda was active all night on the defensive line and recovered a fumble.
Gonzales is 0-7 overall and 0-5 in the Santa Lucia Division. On Friday night, the Spartans will celebrate Senior Night at home.
GREENFIELD
The Greenfield Bruins lost 14-13 on Saturday against host Pajaro Valley in Watsonville to fall into a three-way tie for first place in the Santa Lucia Division. The Bruins are 4-1 in the division and 5-2 overall.
“We led until the last seconds when Pajaro Valley scored the winning points,” said Greenfield head coach Adam Barsenas. “Uncharateristic penalties put us behind the chains and we punted and got some calls against us on big third and fourth downs on Pajaro Valley’s final drive. We had to play more disciplined and we didn’t. We own the tiebreaker as we beat Marina and Seaside who are tied with us for first. Those two teams will play each other this coming Friday. We just have to play Lynbrook in San Jose in a non-league game and get back and win our last two division games.”
Damian Martinez ran for 86 yards, had three receptions for 22 yards and scored a touchdown. Angel Gonzalez passed for 125 yards and had a rushing touchdown.
On defense, Angel Hernandez had 10 tackles and forced a fumble and Cody Hernandez forced a fumble. Julian Paniagua also had a fumble recovery.
KING CITY
The undefeated King City Mustangs return to action this Friday with a road game at Pacific Grove after a bye week. King City is 2-0 in the Mission South and 7-0 overall, while the Breakers are also 2-0 in the division and 4-3 overall.
