SALINAS VALLEY — Four touchdowns by Carson Tidwell and a smothering defense earned the King City Mustangs a 28-0 win over Greenfield last Thursday and a ticket to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The win snapped a 19-year playoff drought for King City.
“We have been close many times to get into the playoffs and have had some good players and teams,” said King City head coach Mac Villanueva. “This is a special group of players that have played football with each other for many years. This week’s game at home with Stevenson will not only determine the Mission-South championship but could give us a higher seeding in the playoffs.”
A win over the Stevenson Pirates on Thursday, Nov. 6, would be the first football title for King City since the 1983-84 school year.
Last Thursday at Greenfield, the Mustangs scored the first touchdown of the game at the 4:40 mark of the first quarter with a five-yard Carson Tidwell run. Johell Carrillo then kicked the PAT to put the visitors up 7-0.
The game was close until the third quarter, when Tidwell ran for a 79-yard touchdown run. Carrillo added his second PAT for a 14-0 King City lead.
Tidwell scored again in the third quarter, padding the lead to 21-0, with an 18-yard touchdown and the PAT by Carrillo. The Mustangs concluded the scoring in the final quarter as Tidwell ran for a 31-yard touchdown. Carrillo’s fourth PAT made the final 28-0 score.
King City had a total of 295 yards, including 246 rushing yards by Tidwell.
Mustang quarterback Rocky Vasquez was 5-of-8 passing for 24 yards and had one interception. Kody Lambert led King City with two receptions for 13 yards and played an exceptional game at cornerback.
Travis Ryan led the Bruins with 130 yards on 33 attempts. Ken Pajas had seven tackles and one interception, and Angel Hernandez added six tackles.
Greenfield is 0-9 overall and 0-5 in the Mission South Division and will complete the season with a home game on Friday, Nov. 7, against Rancho San Juan.
King City enters the final regular season game with an 8-1 overall mark and is 4-0 in the Mission South. Stevenson has a 9-0 overall record and is 4-0 in the Mission South.
SOLEDAD
The Soledad Aztecs won a road game last Friday in the Mission South Division, beating the host Pacific Grove Breakers, 28-6. Soledad improved to 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the Mission South.
The Aztecs opened the contest with an interception of 30 yards for a touchdown by Erik Sandoval. Marcos Negrete was successful with a point-after attempt to give Soledad a 7-0 lead. The Breakers scored on a touchdown pass play to Andrew Nimri in the second quarter but missed the PAT, leaving the score at 7-6 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Soledad quarterback DJ Valenzuela recovered after nearly slipping on a pass play and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Garcia. A PAT by Negrete gave Soledad a 14-6 advantage.
Soledad was not through scoring in the quarter as Gio Gonzales scored on an 18-yard run. The PAT by Negrete made the score 21-6. In the fourth quarter, Valenzuela led the Aztecs down field and ended a drive with a four-yard touchdown to make the final score 28-6 after the Negrete PAT.
Garcia led the Aztecs with 89 rushing yards. Soledad finished with 260 yards on offense.
On Friday, the Aztecs will complete the regular season in Salinas against the host Everett Alvarez Eagles.
GONZALES
In Santa Cruz County last Friday, Jorge Uribe had two receptions for touchdowns, Jaden Uribe scored on a pass play and quarterback Jordan Askew had a rushing touchdown in the 29-18 win at Harbor.
The Spartans began their scoring with a 35-yard rushing touchdown by Jorge Uribe in the first quarter. After a touchdown and missed PAT by the Pirates, Gonzales concluded the first half scoring with a field goal of 27 yards by Luis Cabada for a 10-6 lead.
Jorge Uribe increased the Spartan lead with a five-yard pass reception from Askew, and a Cabada PAT made the score 17-6 in the third quarter.
The Pirates scored a touchdown to conclude the third quarter scoring to cut the Spartan advantage to 17-12. After the eight-yard reception by Jaden Uribe from Askew, the Spartans missed on a two-point conversion attempt. Harbor kept fighting back and had the deficit down to five points at 22-18 after scoring another touchdown, but the Spartans secured the win with a 12-yard run off an option by Askew for the final 29-18 Gonzales win.
“We received some solid defensive play from Jesus Ruacho and Nelson Cisneros,” said Gonzales head coach Eddy Ramirez. “Jesus Maciel came up with three tackles and had two important sacks towards the end of the game. We finish the season against a very good passing team in Santa Cruz, they also have a tough running back. They are undefeated in the division, but we would like nothing more than to get a win at home.”
Gonzales is 3-5 overall and 3-2 in the Santa Lucia Division. On Friday, they will host the Santa Cruz Cardinals, who have a 6-2 overall record and are 5-0 in division play.
