SOLEDAD,CA -- It was a faulty Friday night for the Alisal Trojans as they fell 34-13 to the Soledad Aztecs. Soledad’s defense capitalized off of Alisal’s turnovers in the first half leading to the their triumph in their last non-league game of the pre-season.
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Soledad improves to 2-1, having scored three times within the first half.
Scoring touchdowns and winning the turnover battle is what Soledad coach Frankie Berlanga hoped for Friday’s game against Alisal. The Aztecs did just that and acquired the win.
Quarterback Eric Martinez quickly connected with Enrique Pacheco for a 43-yard pass to put the Aztecs on the board with a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
Soledad’s diverse quarterback and defensive back, Eric Martinez, stopped Alisal from scoring and recovered one of the three fumbles in the game. The second fumble by Alisal came in the early second quarter in their own red zone when Soledad’s Andre Maturino stripped and obtained the ball which led to the Aztecs' second touchdown of the game. With a quarterback keep, Eric Martinez sprinted to the end zone, leading Soledad to an impressive 14-0 lead over Alisal. Soledad’s Johnny Sanchez scored once more to end the first half at a score of 21-0.
“We stepped our game up to a another level tonight and reached our goal,” said outside linebacker Andre Maturino, who recorded two sacks and one fumble recovery.
In the second half, Soledad’s Johnny Sanchez stormed into the end zone for the last offensive touchdown. Alisal quickly responded by returning a punt 55 yards, but were stopped shy of the 5-yard line by Soledad’s special teams.
“Controlling and securing the ball is the most important thing in this game,” Alisal’s coach Jim Lockwood said.
Soledad’s last points of the game were made in the early fourth quarter by middle linebacker Andrew Hernandez who captured and returned an 85-yard fumble.
“We didn’t want our defense to get tired…” Lockwood said. Alisal didn’t get tired and fought until the last minute of the game until their only points of the game came in the late fourth quarter. Juan Maravillo ran for a 5-yard touchdown and Julio Galeana ended the game by returning the ball 45 yards, scoring off of Soledad’s only turnover in the game.
“They [Soledad] had turnovers and so did we… it was about who capitalized,” Lockwood said. Alisal (1-3) continue its journey into the Pacific Division when it faces Pajaro Valley on Oct. 3.
The Aztecs (2-1) visit the reigning MTAL champions, Pacific Grove, in their first neutral conference game of the season.
