APTOS – More than half of the high school football programs in Santa Cruz County saw their first action of the season Saturday night at the annual Jamboree at Cabrillo College. Some of them, Aptos and Scotts Valley, appeared to be in midseason form.
It was a warm-up for coaches, athletes, officials and journalists as each team participated in six 10-minute practice games, three on offense and three on defense. A running clock was used during each session.
Although no points were scored, there were many outstanding performances.
Aptos looked good, really good, and quarterback Joshua Bermio made his first varsity appearance.
The Mariners scored five touchdowns against Santa Cruz. Number 36 scored on a 26-yard run, Bermio scored on a 56-yard touchdown with Scott Catesi, Bermio scored on a 65-yard touchdown, DeSean Gomez scored on a 20-yard touchdown and Dylan Guisado scored on a 46-yard touchdown.
Guisado also scored on a 16-yard run against Scotts Valley.
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Every team, including Aptos, made some mistakes early in the season. Ryan Solorio’s apparent 42-yard touchdown pass on a pass from Bermio was negated by an illegal man penalty further down the field.
The Mariners defense didn’t record a sack, but applied pressure, which led to ill-advised throws. Aptos had a pair of interceptions. Josh Couchman did the same against Santa Cruz and Damian Suchill did the same against SLV.
Keiran McCue landed a big hit against Santa Cruz.
Scotts Valley scored three touchdowns despite one of its better playmakers, veteran receiver/safety Jacob Womack, being ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles tendon in a non-football incident earlier this week.
Second-year quarterback Ryder Quilici impressed with both his throwing and his ability to run.
Niko Smutzer scored on a 4-yard run against Watsonville. Quilici completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jesse Ringel against Watsonville. Ringel powered his way through three defenders and charged across the goal line to score the touchdown.
Eli Velez scored several long runs. His 21-yard touchdown run was canceled by a holding penalty against SLV, but three plays later he scored an 11-yard touchdown.
On defense, the Falcons’ Isaac Currie made a tackle that saved a touchdown against Watsonville’s Anthony Razzo after Razzo caught a 32-yard pass, and Vaughn Chomentowski tripped up Wildcatz receiver Nathaniel Aguilar on a pass play over the middle.
San Lorenzo Valley seemed to have improved significantly. The Cougars scored four touchdowns and had two takeaways.
Justin Griffis scored on a 4-yard run against Harbor, Brodie Prater scored on a 4-yard run against Aptos and Gabe Machado scored on a 1-yard run against Scotts Valley. Alex Aguilar caught a 38-yard pass from returning quarterback Jack Dagan against the Falcons.
Aguilar made an interception against Harbor; and his teammate Jordan Renteria had an interception against Scotts Valley.
Evan Jordan had a sack and forced a fumble against Harbor, and Gio Ricigliano made a sack against Aptos.
Haden Woolworth rammed an Aptos running back for a 2-yard loss, which was probably the biggest hit of the night. Woolworth didn’t try to catch the ball carrier, but given the outcome, he’ll likely get a free pass from his coaches.
Watsonville made it clear that it wants to be a force in league play. The Wildcatz were big, physical and fired up.
Although they only scored one touchdown, they were strong in defense and managed two turnovers.
Alex Barajas-Garcia threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Miciah Davis against Santa Cruz. No. 34’s 34-yard run set up the touchdown.
Jesse Medina recovered a fumble against Harbor and No. 26 recorded an interception against Santa Cruz.
Victor Ramirez and No. 43 made sacks against Harbor. No. 44 landed a hard hit on Pirates receiver Israel Lopez.
After a lackluster performance last year, Santa Cruz has performed better. The Cardinals have some good players at the skill positions. And they are fast, too.
Against Watsonville, receiver Soji Agbelekale caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Neven Ristic, and against Aptos, Adrian Pendergast made an impressive diving catch on a pass from Neven Ristic for a 15-yard gain.
Santa Cruz cornerback Jahmai Douyon recorded an interception on a deflected ball against Watsonville. He had open field in front of him, but the referees blew the whistle after the loss of the ball. Pick-6s are no longer allowed in the Jamboree.
Cardinals linemen Ismael Rivas and Ethan Romanowsky combined for a sack against Watsonville, and AJ DeCosta’s apparent interception was negated by a defensive holding call.
Kudos to No. 42, who was not on the Cardinals’ roster. He finished the game with seven pass catches and had the biggest offensive score when he capped off his 10-yard pass against Watsonville.
Harbor was kept out of the end zone, but only because an offensive penalty negated running back Fausto Gonzales’ 45-yard touchdown run.
The Pirates were chasing the ball on defense, recording a sack, and Pirates linebacker David Quintanilla and lineman Logan Bennett recovered fumbles on two consecutive plays against Santa Cruz.
Quintanilla also had one of the bigger hits, tripping a Watsonville running back the second he received a handoff from the quarterback, causing a 6-yard loss.
