The Aptos High football team took an unexpected week off in the middle of the season.
But the Mariners showed little signs of rust in a 49-19 win over Christopher High on Friday in Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division action.
Senior Dre Gomez finished with a pair of touchdowns for the Mariners, who had six players score a touchdown.
Junior running back Alex Rosas broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run, while senior Josh Powell bulldozed his way into the end zone from 25 yards out.
Rosas had 63 yards and a touchdown on just four carries.
Sophomore quarterback Nick Forbes also looked sharp to start the game, completing 5-of-7 pass attempts for 139 yards in the first half. His lone mistake of the night was an interception he threw deep in the red zone.
The Mariners picked up right where they left off from their impressive win against Alvarez High on Oct. 11.
Christopher junior quarterback James Goodrich fumbled on the first play of the game. Senior Kevin Avalos recovered the loose ball for Aptos.
The Mariners capitalized with a touchdown drive capped off by Gomez. They went on to score 28 straight oints and built a 42-13 lead going into halftime.
The special teams unit was also heavily involved. Aptos junior Adam Candelario recovered a fumble off of a muffed punt.
In the second quarter, Christopher coach Tim Pierleoni decided to punt the ball on 3rd down and 18 from their own 5-yard line. However, the call backfired.
Aptos junior Andrew Manning returned the punt for a 20-yard touchdown just before the halftime.
The Mariners improved to 4-1 in league play and are tied for second place with Palma High (6-2, 4-1) and San Benito High (5-3, 4-1) in the standings.
The Haybalers lost, 41-14, to Carmel High (4-4, 2-3) on Saturday. Salinas High (7-1, 5-0) is the last undefeated team in the PCAL-Gabilan.
Up next, the Mariners have a meeting against the Chieftains at Rabobank Stadium in Salinas on Saturday at 7 p.m.
St. Francis 35, Greenfield 18: The Sharks went on the road to beat the Bruins on Friday night in PCAL Santa Lucia division play.
St. Francis High senior Joey Garibay finished with 77 yards and two touchdowns on three receptions.
“(Garibay) had some big catches for us,” said St. Francis coach John Ausman.
Garibay had a 20-yard touchdown catch from junior quarterback Davin Avila in the third quarter. He also recovered a fumble to set up a touchdown drive that put the Sharks ahead, 28-18, with 6:14 left in the game.
St. Francis improved to 3-1 in league play and currently sits in second place in the division behind Pacific Grove High (5-3, 4-0).
The Sharks still have a shot at a league title but it is a very long shot. They would need to win their final two games and have the Breakers lose their last two.
“PG’s in the driver’s seat,” Ausman said. “All we can worry about is next week and control what we can control.”
Avila connected with senior Lawson Orradre on an 11-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
The QB completed 10-of-24 pass attempts for 158 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Orradre finished with 46 yards and a touchdown on six carries along with three receptions for 12 yards and the touchdown.
“The guys were resilient and battled back,” Ausman said.
The Bruins took their first lead of the game, 18-14, with 11:43 to go.
But the Sharks regained the lead shortly after on Orradre’s 16-yard touchdown with 8:04 left.
Avila put the nail in the coffin with his second touchdown pass of the second half.
“We made some big plays that got us deep in (Greenfield’s) territory,” Ausman said. “We took advantage of some things they were doing towards the end of the third quarter.”
Sophomore Garrett Lee was 5-for-5 on extra point attempts.
Up next, the Sharks (5-3, 3-1) will have their homecoming game against Stevenson School (5-2, 3-1) at Watsonville High on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“We get one more opportunity this week to get better and play football,” Ausman said. “So, let’s go do it.”
Pacific Grove 42, Pajaro Valley 0: The Grizzlies lost to the Breakers on Friday night in PCAL Santa Lucia division play.
It’s the third time this season that Pajaro Valley has been shut out—twice on the road. The Grizzlies (1-7, 1-3) will play against Marina at Monterey Peninsula College on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
San Lorenzo Valley 35, Watsonville 6: The Wildcatz lost to the Cougars on Saturday afternoon in PCAL Santa Lucia division play.
San Lorenzo Valley High took a 14-0 lead going into halftime and never looked back.
Watsonville High (2-6, 0-4) will play at Gonzales High (5-2, 2-1) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
