The Watsonville High football team is off to one of its worst starts in a decade following a 34-10 loss to Alisal High in nonleague play Thursday night.
Barring the shortened 2020 Covid-19 season, it’s the first time the Wildcatz begin the fall campaign with two consecutive losses since 2016.
It was the same year they started 0-3 and lost the Belgard Kup to rival Pajaro Valley High in a 3-0 defeat at home.
“Basically, we have to change the way we go about our process,” Watsonville head coach Tige McSwain said. “Right now, we’re lacking a little bit in team leadership, and so we have to change the way we do things before the game if we expect the game to change.”
McSwain said that change started for them the very next day with players watching film and fine tuning everything else before the start of league play in October.
In last week’s season-opener it was penalties that haunted Watsonville in its 23-7 loss to Santa Cruz High. McSwain believes Thursday night was just a lack of execution that held them back throughout the evening.
“As soon as we stop beating ourselves, maybe we can compete a little bit,” he said. “We moved the ball on them, scored a couple times…We have guys that can make plays, we just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The Trojans scored on their opening drive as they marched down the field 80 yards for a touchdown. Senior quarterback Freddy Torres scored the first of his four rushing TDs on their ensuing drive that gave them a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
“We played tempo, so we went quick,” Torres said. “Getting the defense off balance.”
Watsonville quickly responded with a 5-yard rushing touchdown on the quarterback keeper by senior Edwin Cornejo, cutting the deficit in half.
The defense also came alive with a big stop on a third down play. However, a muffed punt by junior Christopher Sigala gave the ball right back to Alisal on Watsonville’s 18-yard line.
Three plays later it was Torres again with the keeper as he rushed his way into the end zone for his second TD of the half, extending the lead at 20-7 going into the break.
“He has really good vision, he knows how to read his blocks,” Watsonville senior linebacker Leeandro Serrano said. “He knows where the hole is, where the gap is and just hitting those holes at immense speed, it’s hard to stop that.”
Torres caught a break in the third quarter when he fumbled the ball and Serrano recovered it near their own goal line.
However, the officials awarded the ball back to the offense. Torres scored on the very next play and the Trojans never looked back.
“We felt pretty good,” Torres said. “It was a short week, three days of practice, so we all had to be locked in. Everybody came together, and it was good.”
The ‘Catz made an attempt to stay alive with a 37-yard field goal near the end of the third quarter. But the special teams unit added to the evening’s woes when a pair of rushers were called for roughing the kicker during a punt in the final stanza.
“We gotta fix all those things,” Serrano said. “We can’t have those little mistakes. Those little mistakes can have big outcomes. And who knows? Had we had those two plays back, the game could have been way different.”
Serrano believes the only way to bounce back from these past two weeks is to hold each other accountable, stay disciplined and start the week off strong—exactly what their head coach echoed during his postgame speech.
“It all starts at practice,” he said. “Everybody wants to come up, show up on gameday thinking everything’s gonna be easy as is. But it all starts at practice.”
Next up, Watsonville (0-2) plays at North Monterey County (1-1) in nonleague play on Sept. 11 at 7:30pm.
Pajaro Valley 53, at Evergreen Valley 0: Junior quarterback Landin Manzi used his legs to help the Grizzlies crush the Cougars in nonleague play Thursday night.
Manzi finished with 274 yards rushing and four touchdowns on nine carries, while teammate Adrian Valadez had 63 yards rushing and a pair of TDs on 10 carries.
Andrew Chavez tallied 75 yards rushing and added one score on four carries for Pajaro Valley, which is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2015.
Next up, Pajaro Valley (2-0) plays at Independence High of San Jose in nonleague play on Sept. 11 at 7:15pm.
Girls flag football
Watsonville 12, at Pioneer 0: The Wildcatz continue their hot start following a shutout victory against the Mustangs in nonleague action Wednesday evening.
Junior quarterback Aaliyah Arellano connected on 10 of 19 pass attempts for 91 yards and one touchdown for Watsonville, which improved to a 3-0 overall record this season.
Freshman quarterback Zoe Saldana completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 70 yards and one score, while sophomore wide receiver Yoselin Delgadillo led with nine receptions for 59 yards.
Watsonville’s defense proved suffocating throughout the contest. They were led by freshman linebacker Laisha Zamora-Martinez with six flag pulls, while senior linebacker Evelyn Hernandez-Najera added four more.
Next up, Watsonville (3-0) hosts King City in the teams’ Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division opener on Sept. 8 at 5:45pm.
Girls volleyball
Monte Vista Christian 3, San Lorenzo Valley 0: The Mustangs improved to a 3-0 overall record following a sweeping nonleague win over the Cougars in three sets 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 on Thursday night.
Junior outside hitter Jessie Ingram led the charge with 10 kills, six digs and a pair of aces, while junior outside hitter Norah Rondia contributed four kills, four digs and three aces for MVC.
Teammate senior libero Gia Johnson recorded a team-high 12 digs to go along with two aces, and senior setter Macy Freitas finished with 12 assists and a pair of aces.
The Mustangs were coming off another sweeping win against St. Francis in three sets 25-12, 25-18, 25-21 during nonleague play on Tuesday.
Ingram finished with 10 kills, nine aces and eight digs, while Johnson contributed three digs and a pair of aces.
Sophomore right side Sophie Cartagena tallied six kills, one block and one dig for MVC.
MVC head coach Hunter Zeng said in an email that the opening two weeks of the preseason provided valuable insight into the team’s growth and identity.
“We’ve got work to do as we prepare to play the Pacific Grove Breakers on Wednesday, but are seeing moments of organized, systematic play and competitive fire that I hope continues through the rest of the season,” he said.
Next up, MVC (3-0) hosts Pacific Grove (1-1) in the teams’ PCAL Gabilan Division opener on Sept. 9 at 6pm.
