Season of Men

APTOS, CA — It took a little longer than expected but Aptos overcame turnovers,
penalties and a 15-minute delay to beat visiting Salinas 17-12 Friday night in both
teams' season opener.
Aptos turned the ball over three times, committed 10 penalties for 77 yards and
overcame some opening-night jitters on offense to notch the win.
“We won,” Aptos coach Randy Blankenship said. “Really sloppy, but that’s going to
happen in the first game of the year. We win with defense and our defense came
through.”
Not to mention some great special teams' play.
Up 7-6 with just over two minutes to go in the third quarter, the Mariners were
forced to punt, but the punt was muffed and Zak Pepperdine recovered for Aptos.
On the following play Aptos quarterback Gavin Glaum connected with tight end
Jason Bonsall for a 40-yard touchdown pass.

“It was amazing -- I almost couldn’t believe it,” Bonsall said. “My senior year - it
was an awesome experience.”
Glaum, a junior, who was making his first start on varsity, overcame a sluggish
first half where he completed only one of his five attempts for 77 yards and an
interception. He finished 7-of-13 passing for 202 yards, two touchdowns and the
one pick.
Glaum also connected with senior tight end Jack Harris for a 23-yard touchdown.
Harris finished with a 100 yards receiving on two catches, while Bonsall added
two for 48 yards and Jack Wolf had a 42-yard reception.
“It was a very fun game; I’m glad I got to be in it,” Glaum said. “We were definitely
tight at first and it started off a little rough getting down (six) in the first half, but
we fought and came back and that’s what we wanted to do.”
Wolf rushed for a game-high 114 yards on 22 carries to lead the Mariners, who
rushed for 178 yards on 60 carries.
The Cowboys got the lone score of the first half when quarterback Matt Castaneda
connected with wide receiver Ryan Jensen for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
Castaneda finished 11-of-23 for 185 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Jensen led the Cowboys with 87 yards on four catches, including two
touchdowns.
“We played hard and had some mistakes and we could’ve played better,”
Castaneda said. “We just have to pick up the tempo and start earlier. Mistakes
happen; it’s the first game (and) we just have to work on it and go from there.”
Salinas went into halftime leading 6-0.
Blankenship said his team's early jitters before the game.
“We were a little tight before the game started -- I can tell,” Blankenship said.
“Sometimes kids try too hard and hopefully they weren’t over-confident, because
Salinas was in the (Central Coast Section) Division I finals last year.”
The Cowboys closed to within 14-12 with under a minute left in the third quarter
when Castaneda connected with Jensen from 59 yards.
Aptos kicker Desmond Mendoza made a 31-yard field goal with 9:43 left in the
fourth quarter and the Mariners defense was able to put the clamps on the
Cowboys the rest of the way.

Defensive tackle Adrian Galindo had two sacks and recovered a fumble for Aptos
while cornerback Tate Stone-Hinds had an interception.
Oscar Sanchez, Jr. had an interception while Andrew Padilla recovered a fumble
for the Cowboys.
The teams endured a 15-minute delay late when the lights went out. With the win
Aptos (1-0) extends its streak to 24 consecutive victories over CCS opponents
dating back to 2012. The skein will be in jeopardy next week as the Mariners host
Mitty at 7:30 p.m. in a huge early season showdown of CCS powers.
The Monarchs unveiled their new-look spread offense in a 45-16 win over Los
Gatos Friday night.
Salinas (0-1) will host Pioneer (0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Mustangs fell to Valley
Christian 54-0.