Pajaro Valley senior Isaias Villasana wanted nothing more than to keep the momentum they had built prior to their bye week two weeks ago.
It was all systems go as the Grizzly two-way player finished with three catches for 147 receiving yards and hauled in a pair of touchdowns in Thursday night’s 26-0 shutout win against Rancho San Juan.
“Gotta thank the coaches for setting us up, and I thank the players for executing,” Villasana said. “Great win.”
With the win, PV improved to 4-1 in Pacific Coast Athletic League Santa Lucia Division play. They currently own a 5-4 overall record, securing a .500 overall record for the first time since 2013.
They have a chance to set a program record for wins in a season in the regular season finale at home against Marina (5-2, 2-2) on Nov. 8 at 12:30pm.
Bentio Lara-Alvarez was extra thankful to his offensive line for consistently opening up the running lanes, including on his 64-yard rushing touchdown just before halftime.
The Grizzly senior finished with 83 rushing yards on 11 carries. He also surpassed 1,000 rushing yards in a season for the first time in his career with one game remaining in the 2025 fall season.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” Lara-Alvarez said. “As a little kid, I’ve always thought about running the ball, being like Marshawn Lynch, and getting this 1,000 yards. It’s an amazing feeling, especially in an away game, too, with all my teammates. It’s like a family out here.”
PV head coach Casey Neligh was expecting Lara-Alvarez to return as a solid player on defense. But this season the senior two-way player let his inner “Beastmode” come out.
“[Lara-Alvarez] just turned into a monster, and that pays a major tribute to the 1,000-pound club,” said Neligh, referring to Lara-Alvarez’s ability to lift a combined 1,000 pounds in the bench press, back squat, power clean and deadlift.
Neligh added, “The way that these guys work together in the off season is really what it boiled down to.”
Neligh said coming off a bye week helped the players get healthy and put in the extra time to watch film.
“Preparation creates confidence,” he said. “And these guys have supreme confidence coming into this game on how they were going to execute. And we played three phases of football tonight: offense, defense, special teams.”
PV came out of the gate with some trickery by kicking an onside kick and recovering the live ball.
“That just set our tone, and that just made us way more hype,” Lara-Alvarez said. “That just made us want to play and beat these guys as best as we can.”
Moments later, they capitalized on the turnover when sophomore quarterback Landin Manzi connected with Villasana for a 38-yard TD to open up the scoring at 6-0.
“The way that [Manzi] commands that offense, he speaks like he’s an upperclassman,” Neligh said. “He is just a workhorse, and we’re so proud of him.”
In the third quarter, Manzi completed a quick pass to Villasana who then took it 81 yards into the end zone for their second touchdown of the night, extending the lead at 18-0.
“The coaches, they saw that when we go into trips, it’s going to be wide open, and we just have to execute,” Villasana said. “I just have to run and do what I gotta do. Great throw by the quarterback and great run by me.”
PV delivered the final blow with a well-orchestrated 98-yard drive that was capped off by Adrian Mendoza’s 2-yard rushing touchdown. He finished with 104 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Lucas Ortiz added two more points on a spectacular juggling catch for the successful 2-point conversion attempt.
The defense also played a major role in assisting with the win as the Grizzlies recorded their first shutout in league play this season.
Villasana made the defensive play of the night late in the fourth quarter by batting down a pass near the goal line, preventing Rancho San Juan from putting up any points on the scoreboard.
“We work everyday and getting a shutout means everything to the defense,” Villasana said. “Second half went amazing. A couple of big plays happened, but we stood up at the goal line and we got that stop, and got that goose egg.”
PV had a bit of a rude awakening following a 44-19 defeat to Santa Cruz in the teams’ PCAL Santa Lucia opener on Sept. 27.
Since then, the Grizzlies are on a four game winning streak.
“I think it was a wake up call knowing that we could possibly go to the playoffs for the first time,” Villasana said. “We had to play as a team, nothing selfish, and that’s what we’ve been doing these past couple of weeks.”
PV has a slim chance of qualifying for the Central Coast Section playoffs following the loss to Santa Cruz, which was recently crowned Santa Lucia Division champion and earned the lone automatic bid in the division.
“If we were to make it, that’s such a big accomplishment,” Lara-Alvarez said. “That’s just something that we got to keep on going and give it to the JV guys. We got to keep the program going. Not just this one year, but for the future.”
Weeklys Prep Football Scoreboard
At Hollister 24, Aptos 6: The Mariners remain winless in PCAL Gabilan Division play following a loss to the Haybalers on Thursday night. Aptos (1-8, 0-7) hosts North Salinas (4-5, 2-5) in the teams’ regular season finale on Nov. 7 at 7:30pm.
Saturday
St. Francis (4-4, 2-1) vs. Monte Vista Christian (4-4, 1-2), 12:30pm
Watsonville (3-5, 1-2) at San Lorenzo Valley (6-2, 3-0), 12:30pm
