Anthony Najera has been consistently productive in the backfield for the Aptos High football team during the 2026 fall campaign.
A workhorse-type of player that head coach Zach Hewett can rely on no matter the situation.
The senior running back came through, yet again, as he tallied 250 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns to help the top-seeded Mariners defeat No. 8 Carmel, 43-35, in the Central Coast Section Division IV quarterfinals Friday evening.
“It’s tough playing the role that he does in our offense because he gets the crap kicked out of him sometimes,” Hewett said. “He’s got five, six guys working on him, and then he just keeps plunging. And then he rips an inside trap for that long run.”
Najera had several long runs, including a 44-yard sprint to the end zone on the first play of scrimmage to start the third quarter. He added a 53-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
“It’s been a while since he’s gotten loose,” Hewett said.
Having all of that attention on Najera has allowed Hewett to use his other two weapons in seniors Preston Carvalho and River Cook.
Carvalho finished with 175 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdowns, including his seventh from 50-yards or longer this season.
Cook had a bit of a muted game with 50 yards rushing on 10 carries. But, he still managed to score from 10-yards-out that put the Mariners ahead at 33-21 with 0:39 remaining in the third stanza.
“They make my job so easy,” said Aptos junior quarterback Jared Verdia-Moya, who threw the ball once the entire night. “Just hitting those big runs makes the whole offense a lot better. It gets everybody excited. They’ve been doing that all year, just nothing new to us.”
Verdia-Moya completed his lone pass attempt to senior wide receiver Ryan Murphy, who dove for an all-important 29-yard catch that kept a critical drive alive late in the game.
“Just before the play, [Murphy] said, ‘Look up the seam,’ and that he was going to be wide open,” Verdia-Moya said. “That’s what I did and he was wide open, so I threw it.”
Teammate Devon Arroyo-Fagin added a 1-yard score in the second quarter, while kicker Matthew Huizar added a 32-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.
Carmel sophomore quarterback Sam Sibley played exceptionally well in just his second start under center this season. He finished with 225 yards passing, four touchdowns and one interception.
“We have amazing seniors this year. It’s such a heartbreak to see them go,” Sibley said. “We just wanted to do more, and we just came up short in the end.”
Peter Spencer was his go-to receiver for most of the evening. He had five receptions for 70 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a nice 26-yard catch over a pair of Aptos defenders in the end zone.
The Padre stud wideout also received a lateral pass from Sibley during a kickoff that he returned 75 yards for a TD, cutting Aptos’ lead at 43-35 with 2:21 remaining in the contest.
“If it comes to me, I throw it,” Sibley said. “It worked and it’s just a little bit of trickery that shows the genius of our coaching staff. I really just appreciate everything they’ve done for us.”
Carmel’s onside kick attempt on the ensuing kickoff, along with a miraculous comeback, was a little short. They finished with a 5-6 overall record, and placed fourth in the PCAL’s Gabilan Division with a 3-4 record in league play this season.
“I’m really just proud of how they fought till the end,” Carmel head coach Golden Anderson said. “We were down to an onside kick that usually goes our way, and it just didn’t today.”
The Padres played mistake-free football for most of the evening. One of their biggest blunders, though, came on their opening drive when Sky Becker coughed up the ball deep in Aptos’ territory.
Then in a blink of an eye, the Mariners were set up in the red zone following a massive 60-yard run by Najera. Carvalho capped off the drive with the first of his two rushing touchdowns.
“The two times they punted, we turned around and punted, which in a game like this we can’t do,” Anderson said. “We had two turnovers. The fumble was a big explosive play that ended up being a turnover, and the interception.”
Next up, PCAL Mission North Division champion Aptos (8-3) hosts No. 5 Christopher High (7-4)—runner-up in the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mount Hamilton South Division—in the semifinals on Nov. 20 at 7pm.
Both teams were league foes at one time when the Cougars were members of the PCAL Gabilan Division until 2021. Aptos defeated Christopher, 38-7, in the CCS D-II quarterfinals the following year.
“I’m excited because they’re going to be a tough team where it’s going to be very similar to Carmel,” Hewett said. “They’re going to put pressure on us with what they can do on offense, and they play very aggressive defense. Once again, we’re gonna have our work cut out for us.”
