WATSONVILLE — The Watsonville High Wildcatz did something they had not done all season.
They beat themselves.
Watsonville’s perfect start came to a screeching halt in a 14-0 loss to the Irvington High Vikings of Fremont on Friday night.
The deflating defeat in front of a packed house at Emmett M. Geiser Field brought an end to the Wildcatz’s three-game winning streak, which was the program’s best start to a season since 2003, when the dynamic running duo of Shawn Benjamin and Efrin Lomeli helped Watsonville (3-1) win six straight to open the season.
“That’s a pretty good ball club that we played and we just made too many mistakes,” said Watsonville head coach Ron Myers. “The penalties cost us tonight.”
The Wildcatz committed a half a dozen penalties for 66 yards and all six were costly. Their first two infractions stopped a pair of promising offensive drives in the first quarter, while a pass interference and an offsides penalty in the second quarter extended an Irvington (3-1) drive that eventually culminated in a go-ahead, 3-yard touchdown from senior running back Dalton Evans with 6:49 left to play in the half.
And when it wasn’t with penalties, the Wildcatz shot themselves in the foot with dropped passes and a trio of fumbles, which put them behind the sticks and forced Myers to forgo his usual smashmouth style of play.
Watsonville had just 56 yards on the ground and ran the ball only five times in the second half.
Senior quarterback Isaac Baltazar completed nine of his 18 passes for 96 yards as the Wildcatz tried to fight their way back into the game late in the fourth quarter.
A 37-yard connection between Baltazar and senior receiver Jorge Tinoco, who caught seven passes for 103 yards, brought them inside Irvington territory. But Vikings sophomore defensive back Damian Stone hauled in an interception with 1:38 left to hand Watsonville its first bit of adversity this season.
“That’s life,” Myers said. “Things go well? You humble up and move on. Things don’t go well? You toughen up and move on. We’re moving on. The only thing that counts is the next play. This one’s done. We can’t do anything about that.”
Evans finished with 149 yards rushing on 29 carries and added another score early in the fourth quarter to give the Vikings the two-touchdown lead. The 6-foot, 195-pound bruiser could not be stopped after the intermission, as he crashed forward time and time again, wearing down Watsonville’s normally stout front seven and churning the clock.
“The second half, I think that they came out and they thought they were ready but they weren’t conditioned,” Evans said of Watsonville. “They kept cycling guys and cycling guys. Our guys fought.”
Members of the Mission Valley Athletic League in the North Coast Section, the Vikings knew very little about the Wildcatz heading into Friday’s contest, which, according to the Pajaronian records, was the first meeting between the two programs.
Coached by Ross Eddings, Irvington only knew Watsonville liked to run the ball.
“We watched film and we said, ‘oh crap, they run a goal line offense all the way down the field. How are we going to stop this?’” Evans said. “We just went to work in practice and figured it out. We found a game plan, went through with it and it worked.”
Watsonville’s offense looked effective enough during its opening possession. The three-headed backfield of seniors Evan Delozier and Johnny Bravo and junior Matthew Barcelo gobbled up chunks of yardage but the eight-play drive stalled after a penalty and a dropped pass on third down.
The Wildcatz settled for a 42-yard field goal attempt, which fell several yards short of its mark.
Watsonville never found its rhythm offensively after that drive, as it struggled with execution throughout, something that has been foreign to this year’s team during its hot start.
“We’ll do better,” Myers said. “It’s a great practice game. I thought that was a good test for us. We were in there with a really good, tough team. Our kids played tough.”
Watsonville will start its Monterey Bay League Pacific division season back at Geiser on Sept. 22 against North Monterey County High.
