APTOS — The Pajaro Valley Grizzlies believe they’ve progressed since the beginning of the season.
Even if their league record might say otherwise.
Pajaro Valley lost a 37-35 heartbreaker to visiting Greenfield on Saturday night at Carl Conelly Stadium to fall to 0-2 in Pacific Coast Athletic League Santa Lucia division play.
The Grizzlies (2-4) led 27-14 early in the third quarter, and 35-28 midway through the fourth, but the Bruins (2-5, 2-1) erased both deficits and junior Jose Hernandez kicked a game-winning 25-yard field goal to hand Pajaro Valley its eighth straight league loss dating back to last year.
“We played with heart, I saw my family fighting out there,” said Pajaro Valley junior running back Carlos Hernandez. “It was a game of inches.”
Hernandez had a career day behind a scrappy performance from the Grizzlies’ offensive line, running for 137 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries.
His 10-yard score gave Pajaro Valley a 35-28 lead, but just two plays later Bruins’ junior quarterback Daniel Morales tossed a 74-yard touchdown pass to Hernandez.
Hernandez missed the ensuing extra point to keep Pajaro Valley up 35-34, but the Greenfield defense made a stop on third-and-short and Morales moved the Bruins down the field to give Hernandez a chance at redemption.
He didn’t miss.
“Good teams make the plays when they have to,” said Pajaro Valley head coach Kevin Cordova. “We didn’t convert on third-and-short. That probably would’ve iced the game for us.”
The Pajaro Valley coaching staff was steaming after Hernandez booted the game-winner through the uprights. Cordova and Co. were screaming for a timeout before the play to ice the kicker, but the officials did not grant the stoppage.
Cordova, who had run out onto the field following the kick, said he was upset with the officiating, but took no credit away from Greenfield’s late-game rally.
“You’ve got to give them credit,” Cordova said. “They made the field goal they had to make. They made the plays to win.”
Morales was 21-of-28 for 278 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He completed six of his eight passes on the game-winning drive, including a pair of clutch strikes on third and fourth down.
Bruins’ senior running back Jaime Soto ran for 115 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.
Morales added 14 yards on the ground on nine rushes.
Greenfield totaled 407 yards of total offense.
The Bruins were also 8-of-10 on third down, and 2-of-2 on fourth down.
“We’ve got to get a lot better defensively,” Cordova said. “I don’t think we’re doing a lot of things drastically wrong. We’re not lining up wrong and giving teams easy touchdowns, but we’ve got to get off the field.”
Pajaro Valley’s senior running back Russel Pablo ran six times for 75 yards and a touchdown, but had only one carry in the second half because of injury.
Hernandez, a 6-foot-1, 202-pound bruiser, picked up the slack. He saw 16 of his 22 touches after the intermission.
“I’m not surprised at all,” Cordova said of Hernandez’s success. “He’s only a junior. He’s got a long way to go.”
Pajaro Valley trailed 14-6 midway through the second quarter, but explosive touchdown runs from Hernandez and Pablo give the Grizzlies a 21-14 lead at the half.
Hernandez’s 8-yard touchdown run early in the second put Pajaro Valley up 27-14, but Soto caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Morales and added a 5-yard touchdown run to stake Greenfield to a 28-27 lead early in the fourth.
Hernandez scored his fourth touchdown of the night with 7:24 left to play, and senior quarterback Max Arevalo hit senior tight end Manny Murillo on a two-point conversion to make it 35-28.
But the Grizzlies’ offense stalled from there, and Greenfield rallied for its second win of league play.
“We played hard all four quarters,” Hernandez said. “We fought. We just came up short.”
Pajaro Valley will try to notch its first league win on Oct. 13 at Harbor.
