The long-awaited clash of Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan division titans is finally here.
Aptos and Palma will meet tonight at 7:30 p.m. on Trevin Dilfer Field in Aptos.
Aptos (8-0, 5-0) has the league’s top offense (48.3 points per game) and defense (9.3 points allowed per game), while Palma (7-1, 4-1) is second in the league in both offense (36.3) and defense (11.9).
“The main goal was to get here, and we got here,” said Aptos senior running back Marcos Reyes. “Now we have to hit that extra gear and finish it off.”
The Mariners, second-place finishers in the now-defunct Monterey Bay League Gabilan division last season, could capture at least a share of the PCAL-G title if they win and get some help from San Benito. The Haybalers (5-3, 4-1) are playing at Salinas (6-2, 5-0) tonight.
Head coach Randy Blankenship said his team will have no time for scoreboard watching. Palma, coached by Jeff Carnazzo, will be the best team Aptos has played this season.
“It’s going to be a big challenge, but we feel like we’re pretty close to peaking right now,” said senior quarterback Hunter Matys. “We have to keep putting in work over the next two weeks, and hopefully we can get what we want out of this year.”
Palma has totaled more than 350 yards of offense in every PCAL-G game since suffering its lone league loss against Salinas in its opener. The Chieftains have lived on splash plays, and last week’s 49-0 win over Alvarez was no different, as three touchdowns went for at least 40 yards.
“They look like the [Kansas City] Chiefs,” Reyes said. “They just have a lot of tools. The quarterback can throw the ball, and he can also run. The running back can cut back and go 100 yards in an instant. They have a lot of receivers. They have a little Tyreek Hill over there. No. 10 can play.”
“No. 10” being junior receiver Jon Jon Berring, who is averaging 14 yards per reception. Junior receiver Micah Olivas, who is averaging 24 yards per reception and has nine touchdowns on the season, is also a threat deep down the field for senior quarterback Grant Sergent, who has 16 passing touchdowns this fall, and has not thrown an interception since last year’s meeting against Aptos at Rabobank Stadium in Salinas.
On the ground, Palma has primarily relied on junior Anthony Villegas. The 5-foot-10, 185-pounder has totaled 933 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.
All of those weapons should make tonight a big test for an Aptos defense that has produced at least 10 turnovers over five league contests.
“This is the best team, overall, that we’ve seen,” Reyes said.
The Mariners’ offense has not been as balanced, but the results have been all the same. Reyes has carried the ball less than 70 times, but has produced more than 700 yards and 18 touchdowns. Junior fullback Josh Powell has also had a solid season on the ground, rushing for more than 400 yards and seven touchdowns on less than 60 touches. And Matys’ mobility has been a valuable wrinkle for an offense that piled up 54 points in last week’s win over Christopher.
Senior center Hayden Mennie said the Mariners’ offensive line would have its hands full with Palma’s front seven, but he likes what he’s seen from his teammates over the last few weeks.
“We’ve finally got the rhythm of our plays back,” Mennie said. “We’ve been repping them over and over, and it’s shown.”
Matys, too, has started to find his groove in the passing game. He tossed his fifth touchdown of the season in last week’s win, and kept his completion percentage above 70 percent for the season. Blankenship said Matys’ emergence in the passing game has been the key to the Mariners’ prolific offense through the first eight games, and could be the factor that swings tonight’s tilt.
“[Opponents] have a lot of problems to deal with,” Blankenship said. “They have to worry about Hunter, because he can run and throw. They have to worry about our split end. They have to worry about our fullbacks. They have to worry about our right halfbacks. I worry about that myself. We can attack a lot of different areas of the field, and the neat thing is [Palma] does it in different ways, but they can do the same thing… It’s going to come down to who’s the last man standing.”
Here is a look at the rest of the week 10 high school football action:
• Watsonville at Soledad; tonight at 7:30 p.m.: Watsonville opened up the offense in last week’s PCAL-Mission loss to Alisal, as quarterback Oscar Magana threw for 146 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions.
The Wildcatz’s junior signal caller will get a few more chances to showcase his abilities tonight in the Salinas Valley against Soledad.
Magana’s performance marked the first time a Watsonville (4-4, 1-3) quarterback passed for more than 140 yards since the 2012 season.
Soledad (1-7, 1-3) has not had the same problem opening up its passing game. Senior quarterback Gabe Florez has passed for more than 130 yards in four games this year, according to the stats kept by mbaypreps.com. Senior receiver Angel Olivas, who has also played some quarterback this season, has been his favorite target, catching 22 passes for 368 yards and four touchdowns.
That one-two punch led coach Eric Rodriguez’s Aztecs to their first win of the season, a 20-14 victory over Scotts Valley, last week.
Watsonville’s loss to Alisal last week was its third straight. Coach Ron Myers’ Wildcatz have not suffered four consecutive losses since 2015.
• M.V.C. vs North Salinas; tonight at 7:30 p.m.: Monte Vista Christian will be happy to return to PCAL-Mission play after suffering its fourth non-league loss last week to Monrovia.
The Mustangs (3-5, 3-1) trailed 20-14 at the end of the first quarter, but could not keep pace with the Wildcats in their 55-28 loss in Southern California.
North Salinas (4-4, 1-3), coached by Ben Ceralde, is also coming off a blowout loss. The Vikings lost 35-6 to undefeated Carmel after giving up nearly 500 yards of offense.
The Vikings allowed the Padres to rush for 297 yards, which is good news for coach Jubenal Rodriguez’s run-heavy Mustangs, who have relied on Daniel Brierley, Scott Tinsley and Quinn Alexander to carry their Wing-T offense.
M.V.C. has averaged 29.8 points per game since their first win of the season against Soledad.
It will be the third consecutive meeting between M.V.C. and North Salinas. The Mustangs have won the last two games.
• St. Francis at Monterey; tonight at 7:30 p.m.: St. Francis will have its hands full with a loaded Monterey team that will be celebrating its homecoming.
The Toreadores (7-1, 4-0) have won four straight, and passed last week’s test against San Lorenzo Valley with flying colors, scoring a 23-17 PCAL-Cypress win over the Cougars behind Tim Byrd’s three rushing touchdowns.
Along with Byrd, coach John Ausman’s Sharks (4-4, 1-3) will have to find ways to stop senior quarterback Evans Charles, and junior running backs Janias Thomas and Azjani McGill, among others.
St. Francis has some offensive weapons of its own. The most explosive being senior Andrew Seymour, who scored his eighth touchdown of the season in last week’s 14-12 loss to Santa Cruz. Seniors Joseph Ramirez (seven touchdowns) and Aaron Soto (four touchdowns) have also been solid contributors for St. Francis, which has been hit with the injury bug over the last few weeks.
Tonight’s game will be the first meeting between the two teams.
• N.M.C. at King City; tonight at 7:30 p.m.: Refreshed following its bye week, North Monterey County will try to notch back-to-back wins for the first time since 2016.
The Condors (4-4, 2-2), coached by Sean Gomes, are two weeks removed from a dominant 21-0 PCAL-Cypress win over Santa Cruz in which Damon Robles and Brandon Ducusin combined to rush for 209 yards and three touchdowns.
King City (4-4, 3-1), meanwhile, is fresh off an offensive explosion in a 49-27 win against Pacific Grove. Dylan Oliveros rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown while also passing for a pair of touchdowns. Three other players also scored touchdowns.
That was the highest scoring output for coach Mac Villanueva’s Mustangs since last season.
Both offenses have been a bit inconsistent throughout the season. King City has been shutout twice and has only scored more than 20 points in three games. N.M.C. is averaging 16 points per game, and has only eclipsed the 20-point mark three times.
Tonight will be the first time the two teams have met since the 2010 season.
• Pajaro Valley vs Marina, at Cabrillo College; Saturday at 6 p.m.: Carlos Hernandez can become the first Pajaro Valley running back since Anthony Cantrell (2013) to notch five straight 100-yard rushing performances if he hits the century mark against Marina.
Hernandez rushed for 110 yards on 18 carries for Pajaro Valley (3-5, 1-3) in last week’s loss to Soquel.
Marina (3-5, 1-3) is coming off its first PCAL-Santa Lucia win of the season. It shutout Harbor, 13-0.
Pajaro Valley’s lone league win was also over Harbor. Coach Kevin Cordova’s Grizzlies beat the Pirates, 45-6, two weeks ago.
Tonight will be the first game between Pajaro Valley and Marina since their preseason battle in 2014. Pajaro Valley squeezed out a 7-6 win in that game.
