KING CITY — The King City Mustangs were the only South Monterey County football team with a win last week in the third week of pre-season games.
The Mustangs regrouped after a loss to Palma to improve to 2-1, as they downed the Marina Mariners 49-7 last Thursday at War Memorial Stadium.
Sophomore running back Carson Tidwell scored three rushing touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass, while quarterback Jesus Manriquez Jr. passed for 225 yards with three touchdown passes against the Mariners.
“We had three good days of preparation leading up to our game with Marina and we were able to carry that over into the game,” said King City head coach Mac Villanueva. “We definitely can be better and we know we need to improve upon moving forward.”
The Mustangs wasted little time getting on the scoreboard against the Mariners, as Manriquez threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Tidwell for a score at 9:03 in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead after the PAT by Johell Carrillo.
With 6:49 left in the quarter, Manriquez threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Alexander Macias. The PAT by Carrillo gave the hosts a 14-0 advantage.
Early in the second quarter, Tidwell scored on a 15-yard run for a 21-0 Mustang lead. Marina scored its only touchdown, a 31-yard touchdown pass play, to cut into the lead, but King City closed out the first half with an electrifying 83-yard touchdown pass play from Manriquez for a 28-7 lead.
In the third quarter, Tidwell scored his fourth touchdown on a 14-yard run and Kody Lambert closed out the quarter with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manriquez. Macias completed the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth and Carrillo was successful on all his PAT attempts for the final 49-7 tally.
“We were able to throw the ball with success and follow it up with the run,” said Coach Villanueva. “Carson had a good game rushing for 109 yards and adding 104 receiving yards. Jesus Manriquez Jr. had an efficient night throwing the football, going eight of 12 for 225 yards.”
Defensively for the Mustangs, Kody Lambert had an interception and Nathan Vega recovered a fumble, while Fernando Camacho and Rocky Villanueva had five solo tackles apiece. Pressed into starting duties at cornerback, Benjamin Bolanos came in and played a solid game.
The Mustangs’ final pre-season game will be for the megaphone this Friday at home with Gonzales in the “Little Big Game.”
“Big game next week with the Little Big Game,” Villanueva said. “The game means a lot to our two communities. I know how much each of our coaching staffs respect and appreciate the history of this great rivalry game.”
The game will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium.
GONZALES
On Thursday night at Pacific Grove, the host Breakers outscored Gonzales 28-7 in the first half and never looked back in the 48-14 home win.
The Breakers improved to 2-1 in pre-season and the Spartans are now 1-2.
“We couldn’t seem to get much momentum going this week,” said Gonzales head coach Eddy Ramirez. “We knew Pacific Grove was going to be a tough opponent, especially with a short week to prepare for them and they certainly played like the better team on Thursday.”
Spartans quarterback Ray Blanco matched a Breaker touchdown with a pass for a touchdown to Gabriel Barragan to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter.
Pacific Grove took the lead at 14-7 with a touchdown pass from quarterback Brody Edmunds, then an interception to set up a rushing touchdown for another score. The host team then finished the first half with another rushing touchdown and two-point conversion to take a commanding 28-7 lead.
The Breakers scored three more touchdowns in the second half, and the Spartans concluded their scoring with a fourth quarter touchdown run by Blanco and a PAT by Luis Zavala.
“When you get beat the way we just were, you just have to shake it off and learn from your mistakes,” said Coach Ramirez. “King City is next and they’re on a good roll so we have to regroup and get ready for the Little Big Game.”
Blanco finished the game with a 14 of 19 passing night and rushed for 55 yards. Aaron Hernandez was second in rushing with 52 yards for the night.
Blanco led Gonzales with seven tackles as a defender and Jason Tejeda also shone on defense with six tackles and several assists. Gilbert Amador and Steven Santos also provided defensive support with five tackles each.
SOLEDAD
For the second straight week, the Soledad Aztecs football team scored 13 points in a game; unfortunately, that was not enough this time as the visiting Branham High Wolves scored without anytime left in the clock to pull out a 19-13 win on a Hail Mary pass play.
“Yesterday afternoon we were inches away from achieving the Soledad football program’s first win against a Central Coast Section A League team in Branham,” said Soledad head coach Marc Villanueva. “Branham came into this game having scored 60 points the previous week against a tough Scotts Valley team and losing to Hollister by less than a touchdown. I was very pleased with my team’s effort, resilience and grit. I feel we took a big step forward as a team in preparing for league play.”
According to Villanueva, the Aztec offense and defense came with some strong plays against the Wolves.
“Julio Camacho had another strong game going over 100 yards rushing for the second week, our quarterback DJ Valenzuela made clutch plays helping to sustain drives running and passing,” Villanueva said. “Defensively, Dominick Diaz, Daniel Garcia and Danny Morales had standout games on defense helping contain a very explosive no huddle offense. Benjamin Blas cornerback play stood making plays when needed. I feel while we did experience a loss, our team found a better identity and came together in seeing the level they can play at.”
On the lower level, the Soledad JV picked up their first win with a 54-13 victory. JV running back Christian Gonzales had a standout game rushing for over 200 yards.
The Soledad teams will host the Santa Cruz Cardinals this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
GREENFIELD
The Greenfield Bruins lost its first game of the season by a 28-21 score to the St. Francis Sharks of Watsonville. The loss was the second straight overtime game for the Bruins.
Greenfield fought back after being down 13-0 but mounted a comeback and forced overtime with a three-yard touchdown by Hector Garcia to tie the score at 21-21.
St. Francis scored the winning points in the first overtime period to claim the win.
Quarterback Christopher Morris ran for 57 yards on seven carries and Alexander Martinez rushed for 116 yards on 29 carries to lead the Bruins. Defensive standouts for Greenfield were Naythen Hernandez with nine tackles and broke a pass, Hector Garcia with eight tackles, and Francisco Hernandez with eight tackles.
The Bruins (2-1) will travel to Santa Cruz County on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. game with the San Lorenzo Valley Cougars in Felton.
