NEWARK, CA - To say Granada was opportunistic is an understatement, as the Matadors capitalized on numerous Newark Memorial mistakes in a 42-0 non-league victory Friday night.
Granada (2-2) struck quickly with an interception by Jason Silva on Newark’s 30-yard line, giving Granada excellent field position. Two downs later, running back Casey Soltis scored the first touchdown fewer than four minutes into the game.
Granada running backs Soltis and Silva were instrumental in the victory. Soltis scored twice with his touchdown reception in the first quarter and a rushing touchdown in the third. Silva helped Granada on both sides of the ball with an early interception and an offensive touchdown.
“That interception was key," Soltis said. "It set the tone for the rest of game and started us off well. It’s all about capitalizing on the mistakes.”
And capitalize it did. Four of Granada’s six touchdowns were a result of mistakes made by Newark. Granada had one interception, two huge punt returns, and took advantage of a Newark fumble (Newark’s punter muffed the snap and Granada's Colton Paynter picked up the loose ball and returned it for a touchdown).
It was an outstanding night for Granada’s special teams. Newark just wasn’t able to keep up, as Granada returned a punt to Newark’s 20-yard line, leading to its third touchdown in the first quarter.
“This shows teams can’t make mistakes around us -- we’ll take advantage of them, putting numbers up on the score board," Granada defensive end Michael Watson said.
Although Granada only scored one more touchdown after halftime, Newark (2-2) was not able to rebound from its huge deficit. Granada’s dominating defense overpowered Newark, squelching its ground attack and batting down passes.
It was a frustrating loss for Newark coming off two consecutive wins.
“We can take this loss as a sign we won’t just be handed this year's championship, we need to work harder," Cougars right tackle Tristan Mosier said.
On the other side, Granada was jubilant.
“Tonight’s win feels really great," Granada linebacker Riley Draa said. "It was a great win everyone contributed, everyone played hard and all our practiced showed out on the field. This shutout was our goal, we go for a perfect game all the time and today we got it."
Newark Memorial meets Irvington next week, while Granada heads to San Ramon to face California.
