KING CITY — A little trickery and a lot of size by host Scotts Valley dropped the King City Mustang football to 2-1 in the Mission Trail Athletic League after a 24-0 loss to the Falcons. Scotts Valley created problems for King City with a balanced offensive attack and a strong defensive front.
“It was a good physical game and we held our own defensively until we tired after being on the field so long,” said Mustang head coach Mac Villanueva. “All across the board they (Falcons), had good size and were athletic. Our offense and special teams did not have good games and Scotts Valley surprised us by coming out with some razzle dazzle on offense and even ran a couple of reverses on us. They had a 6’7″ kid that played tight end and outside linebacker that gave us lots of problems.”
The Falcons scored their first points at the 11:13 mark with a flea flicker pass play from quarterback Kyle Rajala to Carson Spence that resulted in a 43-yard touchdown. Rajala’s PAT gave Scotts Valley a 7-0 lead. King City reached the nine-yard line on their next possession and looked ready to make a game of it. On first and nine the Mustangs were stuffed at the line by the Falcons. On second down Mustang quarterback Luis Luna threw the football just a little late and high and the Falcons took over on an interception.
Scotts Valley scored with 9:27 left in the half with a 28-yard pass play to the 6’7” Spence from Rajala to make the score 14-0 after the PAT. Spence used his size advantage over the top on the one-on-one play.
“I feel that if we had been able to score before Scotts Valley added that second touchdown it could have been a different game,” said Coach Villanueva. “We might not have been able to get the win against them but we could have kept it close and given us a little momentum.”
The score remained 14-0 until four minutes in the third quarter when Rajala booted an 18-yard field goal to put the Falcons up, 17-0. In the last three minutes of the game Scotts Valley running back Jamesley Gibling scored on 25-yard run and Rajala kicked third PAT for the final 24-0 score.
Cedric Perez led the Mustangs in rushing with 29 yards on 10 carries. As a team King City rushed for 76 yards on 25 carries. Luna had a 10 of 27 passing performance with 170 yards and two interceptions. Catching passes from Luna were: Luis Briseno (three for 66 yards); Cedric Perez (two for 44 yards); Clay Barbree (two for 32 yards); and Ponch Jimenez (three for 28 yards).
Scotts Valley finished with 190 rushing yards and Rajala was successful on nine of 14 pass attempts for 188 yards.
“Homecoming is this week and we have to bounce back with a strong game with San Lorenzo Valley,” said Coach Villanueva. “Our boys realize we just have to play better this week and prepare for the rest of our league games.”
The Mustangs are 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the MTAL. Scotts Valley is 5-1 overall and 3-0 in league. The King City Broncos were beaten 21-7 in the JV game.
“We played a complete game for the second time this season,” said Bronco head coach Evan Petrovic. “Going into the fourth quarter it was a one possession game. The team is continuing to improve weekly. We are looking forward to playing the Homecoming game next week.”
