WATSONVILLE — After seven seasons of falling short, Watsonville High finally finished with a winning record.
A Central Coast Section playoff berth, however, will have to wait for another season.
Watsonville lost 41-14 to the undefeated Monterey Bay League Pacific division champion Gilroy High Mustangs on Thursday night at Emmett M. Geiser Field.
The Wildcatz finish the regular season at 6-4 overall and 3-3 in league play.
Unless a handful of teams do not submit their papers for an at-large bid to the CCS league office during Saturday’s seeding meeting, Watsonville’s season has come to an end.
“With six wins, us having enough points to get in? It can’t happen. Not with six wins,” said Watsonville head coach Ron Myers.
The Wildcatz could have given themselves a better chance with another victory over the Mustangs but Gilroy jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and never looked back en route to sole possession of the MBL-P title, the program’s first championship since 2008.
“I don’t have any words that can describe this feeling right now,” said Gilroy head coach Jubenal Rodriguez, who received a celebratory Gatorade bath from his players after the win. “The staff and the kids worked really hard for this. They’ve earned everything.”
Having not beaten Gilroy since 1997 and struggling against the upper half of the teams in the MBL-P, Watsonville knew it had its work cut out for it on Thursday night. The Wildcatz’s defense kept it close through three quarters before the dam finally broke in the fourth.
Four turnovers from their offense only hampered their upset bid.
“Throughout the game we felt like we were in it but mistakes and mistakes kept piling up,” said Watsonville junior running back Matthew Barcelo. “That’s why they came out with the win.”
Barcelo ran for 129 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, while senior Evan Delozier added 40 yards on 10 totes and junior James Sandoval totaled 47 yards on eight touches.
Senior quarterback Isaac Baltazar completed eight of 13 passing attempts and hit senior receiver Jorge Tinoco for a 45-yard score.
Tinoco made five grabs for 86 yards and the one touchdown.
Watsonville’s smash-mouth offense moved the ball between the 20s well enough but couldn’t finish off drives with scores.
They turned the ball over in the red zone three times and had a 13-yard touchdown run from Delozier erased by a holding penalty in the second half. The score would’ve cut the Gilroy lead to 13 points early in the fourth quarter.
Instead, Gilroy’s defense made a stop on fourth down and its offense marched down the field on a game-sealing nine-play scoring drive.
Gilroy senior running back Christian Rodriguez ran for 94 yards and three touchdowns and junior running back Joseph Barnes crashed ahead for 165 yards and two scores.
Junior quarterback Brandon Weiler completed 11 of 18 passes for 112 yards and hit senior receiver Max Pierce for a 23-yard touchdown.
Senior defensive back Braulio Rodriquez made three interceptions.
The offensive balance and defensive playmaking bodes well for the Mustangs’ hopes of a deep CCS playoff run. Gilroy will find out who it plays and where at Saturday’s seeding meeting.
“We’re going to enjoy this one this weekend but come next week 10-0 is in the past,” coach Rodriguez said. “A new season starts.”
A new season, in some respects, also begins for Watsonville, which will graduate several starters from a team that began the year on a three-game win streak but then alternated between wins and losses the rest of the way.
Myers said he plans to return for his fifth season of his second coaching stint with Watsonville.
“I think I still have energy,” Myers said. “We’re just at the point we’re you can feel the thing rolling. Now’s not the time to say, ‘OK, I’m, done.’”
