SALINAS VALLEY — South Monterey County rivals Soledad and King City won their respective football games on the road last Friday night against Greenfield and Everett Alvarez, while Gonzales suffered a loss to Pajaro Valley.
The Aztecs defeated the host Bruins, 28-14, and the Mustangs claimed a 42-28 win against the Eagles in Salinas.
SOLEDAD AND GREENFIELD
Daniel Garcia scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead the Soledad Aztecs to a 28-14 road win against Greenfield.
The Bruins took a 14-7 halftime lead with a running play by Travis Ryan and an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Daniel Nava to Freddy Pajas. Soledad’s lone score was a 20-yard touchdown run by quarterback Christian Gonzales.
“In the first half, Greenfield ran the ball really well and we struggled offensively,” said Soledad head coach Eric Rodriguez. “At halftime, we made offensive and defensive adjustments and got back in the ball game.”
The Aztecs tied the game at 14-14 in the third quarter on a five-yard rushing touchdown by Gio Gallegos. In the fourth quarter, Garcia gave Soledad the lead at 21-14 with a 15-yard touchdown and added an eight-yard touchdown to give his team a two score lead at 28-14.
Soledad had good field position in the second half due to five turnovers by the Bruins.
“We ran the ball well, but it is hard to win when you turn the ball over five times,” said Greenfield head coach Adam Barcenas. “We gave up the ball on a high snap off a punt and then we had consecutive possessions when we fumbled the ball away.”
Soledad was led defensively by Gavino Vasquez at defensive tackle and Daniel Garcia at linebacker. The Bruin defense had good performances by Ken Pajas at linebacker, Angel Hernandez at linebacker and Donny Breeden at defensive tackle.
Greenfield rushed for 140 yards and Ryan led the Bruins in rushing with 115 yards on 22 carries.
Soledad (1-1, 2-5 overall) will host Robert Louis Stevenson at Friday’s Senior Night, and Greenfield (0-3, 0-7 overall) travels to Salinas on Friday to play Everett Alvarez (1-1, 5-2 overall).
KING CITY
King City Mustangs won their sixth straight game to improve to 6-1 last Friday night against Everett Alvarez and are tied with Robert Louis Stevenson at 2-0 in the Mission South Division.
After playing a scoreless first quarter, the Mustangs and Eagles scored two touchdowns apiece in the second quarter to end the half tied at 14-14.
Carson Tidwell began his record-breaking night with a two-yard touchdown run and Johell Carrillo added the point-after attempt for a 7-0 King City lead. The Eagles matched the King City score with a 73-yard touchdown run by running back Jaylen Ward and a PAT by Jacob Gomez to tie the contest at 7-7.
Tidwell thrilled the visiting crowd with a 71-yard touchdown minutes later and the PAT by Carrillo gave the visitors a 14-7 advantage.
The Eagles completed the second half scoring with a 39-yard pass play from quarterback Alejandro Esquivel-Manzo to Ward and a PAT by Gomez for a 14-14 tie.
“In the first half, we turned the ball over twice with two interceptions,” said King City head coach Mac Villanueva. “It became a back-and-forth game, then we took a two-score lead. Alvarez just would not go away and towards the end of the fourth quarter they had the score down to seven points at 35-28. Alexander Macias secured the win for us with a huge interception.”
Tidwell’s one-yard touchdown in the third quarter broke the tie, and the successful PAT by Carrillo gave King City a 21-14 lead. The score was the third of the game for Tidwell. A key play in the scoring drive was a 21-yard pass play from quarterback Rocky Vasquez to RJ Ayon on third and long.
In the fourth quarter, Tidwell’s fourth touchdown of 10 yards pushed the score to 28-14 — Mustangs. The Eagles cut the lead to 28-21 with a 22-yard reception from Esquivel-Manzo to Cash Barrientos, and then Tidwell scored on a 60-yard run to make a two-score lead again at 35-21.
Alvarez kept firing the ball and scored again on a pass from Julian Hansen to Ward of 24 yards, and the Eagles trailed 35-28 with less than three minutes left in the game.
The Eagles were able to get the ball back after slowing down the Mustangs but a pass attempt by Esquivel-Manzo was picked off by Macias for the 73-yard touchdown that completed the scoring at 42-28. Carrillo had four PATs in the second half and six overall.
“It is exciting to be where we are right now,” said Coach Villanueva. “Our goal is still to get better every game we play and to take each game one at a time. For this week we will focus on our game Friday at home with Pacific Grove.”
Tidwell finished the game with 419 yards rushing and scored five touchdowns. Defensively, Benjamin Bolanos recovered a fumble on a squib kick by the Mustangs in the fourth quarter.
GONZALES
At Dick Force Stadium, the host Spartans fell by a 26-7 score to the Pajaro Valley Grizzles. Gonzales had beaten the Grizzlies four straight games before Friday’s game.
“Pajaro Valley is a very good running team and we could not stop them,” said Spartan head coach Eddy Ramirez. “Statistically, it was a bad night for us. We were trailing 15-7 at halftime and we just could not generate enough offense to keep up to them.”
Jorge Uribe scored the lone Gonzales touchdown on a 23-yard run to give the Spartans their only lead of the game. Luis Cabada was successful on the PAT as Gonzales took the 7-0 lead.
Ramirez praised Uribe for his overall play, Jordan Askew at quarterback and Jaden Uribe as a running back. On defense, Joshua Mariscal, Jesus Ruacho and Gabriel Prieto were standouts.
The Spartans are 1-2-0 in the Santa Lucia Division and 1-5 overall. Gonzales will play Thursday against the Marina Mariners at home for their Homecoming Game.
