WATSONVILLE — Watsonville needed to play mistake-free football in order to beat Alisal and keep its playoff hopes alive.
That did not happen.
The Wildcatz dropped their third straight Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission division contest on Friday night, losing 45-7 to the visiting Trojans in a must-win game for both teams.
Alisal improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in league play, setting up a crucial showdown next week with undefeated Carmel (8-0, 5-0) that could decide the PCAL-Mission title.
Watsonville fell to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in league play. With two games left, earning a trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs — something the program has not accomplished since 2009 — seems all but unachievable.
The Wildcatz travel to Soledad next week, and close out the regular season at home against Monte Vista Christian. Winning those two games could improve their chances at a possible at-large berth.
“We just have to keep fighting,” said Watsonville senior running back Matthew Barcelo. “It’s up to us to finish out the season as strong as we want.”
Watsonville moved the ball well enough, but mistakes flipped the momentum in Alisal’s way early on. The Wildcatz handed the Trojans a short field on three straight occasions in the first half, and the latter capitalized on all three to build a 28-0 lead at the intermission.
Watsonville did not score until the 3:09-mark of the third quarter. Junior quarterback Oscar Magana tossed a 15-yard touchdown to Barcelo to halt the shutout.
It was one of few highlights of an otherwise frustrating night.
“We came in ready to play these guys, but we just made a lot of mistakes that pushed us back,” Barcelo said.
Barcelo ran for 105 yards on just 10 carries, but did not run the ball in the second half with the team down big.
He turned into a threat in the passing game from the slot, as head coach Ron Myers opened up the double-win offense. He made four grabs for 51 yards and the touchdown.
Magana completed 12 of his 23 passes for 146 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
He completed a pass to five different receivers.
“It’s been in our system for a while but we weren’t able to show it much,” Barcelo said of the passing. “We showed it a lot today.”
Alisal senior running back Dorian Segovia finished with 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He bolted for an 80-yard touchdown on the Trojans’ first offensive play.
Watsonville put together an eight-play drive after the opening score, but came away empty-handed after stalling out at the 5-yard line.
Watsonville junior safety Eric Maldonado made a touchdown-saving interception at the 3-yard line, but the offense went three-and-out and a 30-yard punt gave Alisal great field position.
Five-plays later, Alisal senior Israel Corona zoomed in for a 12 yard touchdown.
Things started to snowball soon after.
Corona picked off Magana deep in Watsonville territory to set up a short touchdown run from senior Anthony Estrada, and a muffed Watsonville punt turned into Segovia’s second touchdown of the day.
Alisal put the nail in the coffin just three plays after halftime, as senior quarterback Julian Renteria hit Corona for a 51-yard touchdown.
Senior linebacker Frankie Hernandez returned an interception 33 yards for Alisal’s sixth touchdown, and senior kicker Abraham Montano booted a 43-yard field goal late in the final stanza.
“We should’ve got points on our first few drives,” Magana said. “We were pushing and pushing, but we couldn’t score.”
Maldonado made another interception in the second half. He also hauled in four passes for 41 yards on offense.
In other Week 9 high school football action:
• Aptos 54, Christopher 7 – Aptos scored 54 unanswered points to remain undefeated, and set up a pair PCAL Gabilan division battles with Palma and Salinas over the next two weeks.
Aptos (8-0, 5-0) hosts Palma (7-1, 4-1) next week, and then travels to Salinas (6-2, 5-0) on Nov. 2.
Mariners senior running back Marcos Reyes scored his 17th and 18th rushing touchdowns of the season, junior linebacker Dre Gomez and senior linebacker Shane Modena each returned an interception for a score and junior Vaughen Holland returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
Senior quarterback Hunter Matys tossed a 44-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Casey Bailey, and also rushed for a touchdown.
Sophomore running back Christian Mendoza also ran for a touchdown.
• Santa Cruz 14, St. Francis 12 – Senior running backs Andrew Seymour and Aaron Soto each scored a touchdown for St. Francis, which came a two-point conversion short of sending Friday night’s PCAL-Cypress game into overtime.
St. Francis, which was playing its first-ever night game on its campus in celebration of homecoming, falls to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in league action.
The Sharks will try to bounce back next week at Monterey.
• Soquel 34, Pajaro Valley 21 – Sophomore running backs Ladis Silva and Martin Gonzales each scored a rushing touchdown, and senior quarterback Max Arevalo hit junior receiver Leonardo Partida for a touchdown pass in Pajaro Valley’s PCAL-Santa Lucia loss on Friday night.
Pajaro Valley (3-5, 1-3) hosts Marina next week back at Cabrillo College.
