GONZALES — The undefeated San Lorenzo Valley Cougars scored 16 points in the final nine and a half minutes of the fourth to defeat the Gonzales Spartans, 22-8, at Alisal High School.
With the loss, the Spartans fell to 1-2 in the Santa Lucia Division with a 3-4 overall record, while the Cougars are now 3-0 league and 7-0 overall.
“We knew going into the game that Gonzales would be a tough opponent and that their quarterback (Ray Blanco) is a good player that could create problems for us,” said Cougars head coach Dave Grant. “At this point of the season, every game will be a battle. We fell behind early in the second half, but our team can recover and score points and play strong defense.”
Gonzales head coach Eddy Ramirez praised his team and the play of San Lorenzo Valley.
“It was a close game, hard fought until the end,” Ramirez said. “SLV is a team that fought us for four quarters. Congrats to them on their win. I felt our team gave a good effort and we had a good game plan. Things just did not go our way.”
The game was scoreless until the final four minutes, when Cougars quarterback Jack Dagen scored an eight-yard touchdown to give his team a 6-0 lead. Riley Johnson kicked the point-after attempt for a 7-0 San Lorenzo Valley lead.
With time running down and the Cougars in possession of the ball, Spartans quarterback and defensive back Ray Blanco came up with an interception that gave Gonzales a first and 10. The half ended seconds later as the Spartans took a knee to run out the clock.
During halftime, Gonzales High seniors Alejandro Anguiano and Kaylee Camacho were named the Homecoming King and Queen, respectively.
Early in the second half, Blanco called his own number and ran for 35 yards deep into Cougar territory. The Spartans had stopped SLV on a fourth-down play previous to the run by Blanco.
With 4:25 remaining in the third quarter, Ely Cisneros scored a two-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 7-6. Gonzales elected to go for the two-point conversion and Cisneros ran the ball in to give the Spartans an 8-7 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Gonzales made a defensive stop on the Cougars and were stopped themselves a few minutes later on a fourth and inches run by Cisneros that fell short.
SLV then used the running ability of Justin Griffiths and Dagen to get into Gonzales territory. The drive ended on a short touchdown by Dagan. The Cougars added to the lead with a two-point conversion run for a 15-8 lead.
On their final possession, SLV came up with a huge passing play for 70 yards from Dagan to Jordan Renteria. With less than 2:30 to play, SLV completed the game scoring with a three-yard touchdown run by Johnson and a PAT for the final 22-8 score.
Griffiths led the Cougars with 123 yards on 15 carries, and Dagan scored two touchdowns. The Spartans’ Cisneros and Blanco ran for 70 yards apiece, and Blanco threw 90 yards.
Gonzales has road games with Pajaro Valley on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and another road game on Nov. 1 at Marina, before hosting a “home” game at the Pit in Salinas on Nov. 9.
