KING CITY — At times, all it takes is one or two lucky plays for a team to catch momentum at the right time. That wasn’t the case for Aptos on Friday night as it saw numerous opportunities slip away in a 28-13 defeat to King City in non-league play.
In the second quarter, the Mariners turned the ball over on downs when junior fullback Anthony Najera tripped over his own lineman on a 4th and 1 play, stopping him just short of the line of gain.
Then there was the fumble that resulted in a King City touchdown, while junior quarterback Jared Verdia-Moya tossed an interception that sealed the game for the opposition.
“When you play a good team, you can’t make the mistakes that we made,” Aptos head coach Zach Hewett said. “Ball security is in our control. There’s busted assignments, those are all things that are in our control.”
With the loss, Aptos dropped to a 1-3 overall record this season.
King City kept its unblemished 4-0 record intact, which will now set up a battle of the unbeatens at Monte Vista Christian (4-0) in Watsonville on Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
The Mustangs of Watsonville have outscored opponents 103-15 in four games played thus far.
“We know they got athletes,” King City head coach Mac Villanueva said. “We know they run a really good defense, so we know we have our hands full. It’s going to be a good game, and it’s over there.”
Villanueva said he enjoys the trek up north on Highway 101 and it’s a beautiful stadium, but it’s been 13 years since King City beat MVC on its own home turf.
MVC has also won the previous four meetings between both teams, including a 37-20 victory on Aug. 25, 2017.
“I love going over there, but we don’t have a good track record of playing over there,” Villanueva said. “So, we got our work cut out for us.”
On Friday night, King City jumped to a 14-0 lead on a pair of touchdowns from senior running back Nathan Vega. Vega stepped in for senior star running back Carson Tidwell, who was ready to play but Villanueva ruled him out minutes before kickoff.
“We decided, it’s a non-league game, let’s rest [Tidwell],” Villanueva said. “He could have played, and he practiced all week. But we decided let’s hold him out. We felt really good with our defense.”
The Mustangs had no trouble marching down the field with Vega and teammate sophomore RJ Ayon, who had a huge 47-yard run that set up the first TD in the first quarter.
“It’s really a statement piece because I don’t think [Aptos] thought we were that good,” Vega said. “This one really solidifies that we’re a good team and we’re physical, even with or without our star player. We can still handle it.”
Aptos was gifted with a golden opportunity late in the first half when King City’s special teams unit mishandled a punt attempt deep in its own territory.
The Mariners nearly capitalized on the mistake, but a goal-line stand by the Mustang defense prevented any points from going on the scoreboard.
“They came out [of halftime] fired up, and they took that opening drive almost the whole quarter and marched it down,” Villanueva said. “That’s a potential tying touchdown if we don’t have that goal-line stand. So, that was huge.”
During their first scoring drive, the Mariners were slapped with several penalties that made it more difficult to move the ball downfield.
Still, they managed to orchestrate a 14-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off with Najera’s first rushing TD of the night, and cutting the deficit in half at 14-7.
But, that momentum swing was cut short on the ensuing kickoff as King City returned it to Aptos’ 30-yard-line. Three plays later, Vega rushed in for his third score that put them ahead at 21-7.
“There’s only so many times you can do that,” Hewett said. “Where you save yourself, but then you put yourself in jeopardy again, and you save yourself, and you put yourself in jeopardy again.”
Hewett mentioned they were very efficient when the offense was able to execute their assignments. However, there were just too many costly errors in the end that made it challenging to catch up.
Najera finished with more than 100 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns, including one in the fourth quarter.
“Just mistakes and mistakes, and not finishing drives,” Hewett said. “A little bit unlucky, but that’s why the ball’s not round.”
Next up, Aptos (1-3) hosts Alvarez (1-3) in non-league play on Homecoming Night on Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
