SALINAS VALLEY — King City running back Carson Tidwell was a workhorse last Friday as the Mustangs defeated the visiting St. Francis Sharks, 27-6, at War Memorial Stadium.
The junior piled up 202 yards on 22 carries and scored three touchdowns as King City improved to 3-1 this season.
Mustangs head coach Mac Villanueva is pleased with his team play with just one remaining game before the start of Mission North divisional play.
“It is where I thought we would be (3-1),” Villanueva said. “Although we opened the season with the loss to North Salinas and would have liked to have been 4-0, that game helped us to build on to where we are now. On Friday, we had a really good return of 40 yards by freshman RJ Ayon in the opening kickoff that gave us momentum and a short field. We completed the first drive with a four-yard touchdown by Tidwell and a PAT by Johell Carrillo.”
The game marked the return of kicker and tight end Carrillo, who had been out with an injury. With Carrillo back, the Mustangs gained a big weapon with his kicking leg and as a receiver for quarterback Rocky Vasquez.
The 7-0 score did not last long as the Sharks scored on the kickoff with a 54-yard scoring run by Coy Jordan. On the PAT, King City’s Bengie Bolanos made a huge play by blocking the kicking attempt to help his team hang on to the lead at 7-6.
On their next possession, the Sharks were in position to cut into the lead but Carrillo recovered a fumble to give the Mustangs the ball. The drive stalled out and Carrillo made his presence felt again by kicking a 25-yard field goal that gave his team the lead at 10-6 to end the first quarter.
Carrillo scored the only point of the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal, and King City took a 13-6 advantage into halftime.
The Mustangs then completed the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run and Carrillo PAT in the third quarter, and closed the game out with another 15-yard Tidwell touchdown and Carrillo PAT in the 27-6 Mustang victory.
King City quarterback Rocky Villanueva had a 7-12 passing performance for 53 yards and ran the ball for 15-yards. JC Navarro led the Mustang receivers with three receptions for 24 yards, and Alexander Macias had two receptions for 19 yards.
Carrillo contributed defensively with a sack and fumble recovery, and Nathan Vega finished in double figures in tackles at linebacker.
King City will host Watsonville (2-2) on Friday. Last week the Wildcatz defeated Pacific Grove with two scores in the second half.
GONZALES
The Gonzales Spartans football team dropped to 0-4 in their latest game, falling to the host Seaside Spartans, 21-14. Gonzales trailed 14-0 but cut the lead to 14-7 in the fourth quarter.
“We had trouble all game long being consistent on offense,” said Gonzales head coach Eddy Ramirez. “Dropped passes in a wide-open field did not help at all.”
Gonzales scored their first touchdown of the season on a pass play from quarterback Jordan Askew to Luis Cabada in the fourth quarter on a six-yard play. Cabada then added the PAT kick to cut the lead to 14-7.
Seaside answered the Gonzales score with another touchdown to take a 21-7 lead. With three minutes left in the game, the visiting Spartans then made a good defense play when defensive end Joshua Mariscal stripped the football and Cabada picked up the ball and scored the final Gonzales touchdown from 18 yards out. The PAT by Cabada completed the scoring at 21-14.
Ramirez praised Cabada for his all-around efforts, Ethan Duarte for coming up with a sack and safety Jesus Ruacho for making plays in the backfield.
With a nine-game schedule this season, Gonzales will have another bye this week. The Spartans will next face Rancho San Juan in Salinas on Oct. 10 in Santa Lucia divisional play.
SOLEDAD & GREENFIELD
Soledad Aztecs lost 24-20 on Saturday to the Scotts Valley Falcons in a game played at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz.
The Aztecs (0-4) held a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter, but the Falcons scored with just minutes left in the game to earn the win.
In the first quarter, the Falcons took a 7-0 lead with a short touchdown run. The Aztecs tied the game in the second quarter with an 82-yard touchdown pass from quarterback DJ Valenzuela to Christian Gonzalez. Scotts Valley ended the first-half scoring with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead into intermission.
Soledad took its first lead of the game at 14-10 with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Valenzuela to Daniel Garcia. The Falcons regained the lead at 17-14 at the end of the quarter with a running touchdown.
Soledad took the lead for the final time in the fourth quarter as Garcia scored with a 10-yard run. The lead was 20-17 after a missed PAT. Jake Locatelli scored on a 21-yard run to seal the win in the final minutes for the Falcons.
Soledad will host San Lorenzo Valley on Thursday at 7 p.m. Next week, the Aztecs will host King City in their Homecoming game.
On Saturday, Greenfield lost 20-0 at San Lorenzo Valley to fall to 0-4.
The Bruins will play at Monte Vista Christian on Friday night.
