WATSONVILLE — The offside flag flew. And flew. And flew. And flew again.
But when it didn’t, Watsonville High made sure to take advantage of its chances.
The Wildcatz found just enough cracks in Pajaro Valley High’s high defensive line and cruised to a 3-0 win over their youthful rivals in Thursday night’s Monterey Bay League Gabilan division match under a steady drizzle.
Pajaro Valley (1-11-1, 0-5) played its backline near midfield, and dared Watsonville (8-3-2, 2-1-2) to play the long ball into the final third. The Wildcatz were called offside seven straight times over the first 30 minutes, but were not discouraged and kept attacking.
Jose Villanueva finally got behind the Pajaro Valley defense and gave Watsonville the lead in the 31st minute.
Erik Herrera smashed in his ninth goal of the season in the 40th to make it 2-0 at the half, and Alex Gonzalez added the final goal during the 78th, scooting it between the legs of the Pajaro Valley keeper for his first score of the season.
“They gave us a huge amount of room to run and we took advantage of it with speed,” Villanueva said.
The Pajaro Valley defense and keeper Josue Ruiz held tough for the majority of the night, but could not keep a cap on the explosive Watsonville offense.
Moved up to varsity a couple days before Thursday night, Ruiz finished with eight saves. He is just one of several new faces for the Grizzlies, who started three freshmen and had two others see time on the pitch.
Hector Gonzalez helped produce Pajaro Valley’s best opportunities, but his brilliance wasn’t enough to make up the difference.
“It’s a lot of youth,” said Pajaro Valley head coach Juan Roman. “The guys that have played varsity before — the guys that have been here — they tried to do the best they could. We’re young. I’m happy with our freshmen, but it’s going to take some time to develop.”
Ruiz had a pair of one-on-one saves during the game’s opening 20 minutes, and the Grizzlies backline forced Watsonville into numerous frustrating offside calls, several of which drew groans and whistles from the dozens braving the persistent precipitation to see the cross-city rivals battle.
But Villanueva, playfully called “wheels” by his teammates and coaches, perfectly timed his run, sped behind the defense and put Watsonville up 1-0 in the 31st by lofting the ball up and over the keeper.
It was a sign of things to come.
Watsonville’s midfield kept Pajaro Valley’s backline busy with several precision long balls. Despite being called offsides nearly a dozen times, the Wildcatz finished with 12 shots on goal.
Three of them found their mark.
“They were holding us in the trap in the first half — they played it pretty well,” Gonzalez said. “We have to be patient and confident when we make our runs.”
Watsonville will complete the first round of its MBL-Gabilan division season on Tuesday in a monumental matchup against San Benito High, the last unbeaten team left in the league.
The game is set for a 6:45 p.m. start back at Emmett M. Geiser Field.
Gonzalez said the two teams have shared some fun back-and-forth trash talk over social media throughout the season after Watsonville eliminated the Balers in the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs last year.
At the moment, Gonzalez said, San Benito has the trump card in the war of words.
The Wildcatz would like to change that.
“They’re in first, and right now they’re shutting me up,” Gonzalez said. “We have to respond. We have to respond.”
