KING CITY — With visiting St. Francis of Watsonville working on keeping the King City running game in check, the host Mustangs relied on some timely passes from quarterback Dylan Oliveros and a pair of turnovers to down the Sharks, 14-7, on Homecoming night last Friday.
Oliveros threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Isaias Gonzalez in the fourth quarter, as the Mustangs improve to 2-0 in the Cypress Division of the Pacific Coast Athletic League.
“St. Francis was a lot more physical team than we expected,” said King City head coach Mac Villanueva. “On defense they did a really good job against our run and that meant we had to throw the ball. The game film we had on St. Francis really did not show us how good a team they are. They have small numbers but were able to keep us off balance with that winged T and a good defense.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Sharks scored the first points of the game on a 41-yard run by Devin McLeod and added the point after attempt by Andrew Seymour for a 7-0 lead. Toward the end of the second quarter the Mustangs stopped the Sharks on defense and put together a drive that ended with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Oliveros to Gonzalez. Jonathon Toledo added the PAT and the Mustangs went into halftime tied at 7-7.
The third quarter was stalemate as neither team was able to get points on the board. John Michael Soto then made the play of the game as he recovered a Shark fumble and returned the ball 30 yards for a first down with just minutes left in the contest. Oliveros then led the team down the field with runs of his own and runs by Valdez. The drive ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Oliveros to Gonzalez that put King City ahead, 13-7. Toledo then added the PAT and the Mustangs led 14-7 with less than six minutes to play.
A final defensive stand by King City gave the host the ball with under four minutes in the game. The Mustangs kept possession of the football and sent the Sharks down 14-7 in their league debut.
King City improved to 2-0 in league and 3-2 overall. St. Francis is now 0-1 in league with a 3-2 overall record.
“Our entire defense played well across the board,” said Coach Villanueva. “We ended the game with fumble recoveries by John Michael Soto, Luis Briseno and Dylan Oliveros.”
King City ran for 128 yards with Valdez leading the charge with 80 yards on 18 carries. Oliveros passed for 125 yards on a 15 of 22 passing night that included two touchdowns and one interception. Gonzalez led King City four receptions for 58 yards and two touchdowns and Briseno caught five passed for 35 yards. Caesar Chavez had four receptions for 23 yards and Valdez caught two passes for nine yards.
