SALINAS, CA — It took a career night from Emilio Martinez to keep upset-minded Salinas at bay.
The Palma High sophomore running back ran for a career-high 260 yards and five touchdowns on 36 carries as the Chieftains held off rival Salinas 45-35 to take sole possession of first place in the Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division Friday night in front of an estimated 5,000 fans at Rabobank Stadium.
Martinez was just as lethal in the first half as the second as the sophomore ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns in the first and 136 yards and two touchdowns in the second.
“We scored like four or five times off the same play,” Martinez said. “The offensive line was just opening holes. They were doing a great job and I couldn’t be more proud and honored to run behind that offensive line.”
When Salinas packed the line in attempt to stop Martinez, Chieftains quarterback Jack Richardson burned the Cowboys through the air.
The junior was as efficient as ever completing 11 of 14 pass attempts for 192 yards and a touchdown.
Richardson connected with six different receivers, including Marques Cannon who had three receptions for 62 yards including a 10-yard touchdown and Adrian Valdez, who led the Chieftains with 66 yards on two receptions.
While Richardson was rarely pressured in the pocket, Salinas senior quarterback Zach McDermott had to fight for every one of his career-high passing yards.
McDermott finished with 340 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-34 passing, but Palma picked off three of his passes.
The senior also led the Cowboys on the ground rushing for 100 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries in the loss.
“We played all right but it wasn’t enough to win,” said McDermott. “The three picks I threw were unacceptable, you can’t have those in big games like this.
“I really had a feeling this was going to be the year for us to beat them. It just didn’t turn out that way. Penalties and mental just really kept us from wining today.”
Palma (7-0, 3-0 MBL-Gabilan), which had given up 33 points all season coming into the game, had nothing but praise for what McDermott and Salinas’ offense was able to accomplish.
“They are a good team, a damn good team,” said Palma senior defensive back Joe Coffelt, who had an interception in the win. “(McDermott) made really good reads. He knew where we weren’t going to be and he threw it there. He picked us apart at times.”
Along with Coffelt, Angel Maldonado and Brad Caraccioli had interceptions in the win.
Ethan Aguayo had a game-high 123 receiving yards on six catches for Salinas, while Kevin Crosby also had six catches with 80 yards. Running back Bruce Leighton was held to 36 yards on nine carries but caught two passes for 71 yards including a 58-yard touchdown reception and Josh Olivarria had a one-yard scoring reception in the loss.
“We played good in all three phases, we just couldn’t get over the hump those last few drives,” said Salinas coach Steve Goodbody. “We had our chances and that’s all you can ask for against a good ball club like them.”
Two of Cowboys’ final three drives resulted in McDermott interceptions.
Both offenses were clicking as each team punted just once in the first half. Thanks to a Richardson 10-yard touchdown pass to Cannon with 24 seconds left in the half, Palma went into halftime leading 28-21.
Penalties and emotions weighed heavily for the two rival schools that are located less than a mile from each other.
Palma committed 11 penalties while Salinas committed eight.
In spite of the loss, Salinas (4-4, 3-1) can take solace in knowing its offense scored more points against the Chieftains than they had given up all season coming into the game.
“We can’t hang our head and worry we have to go back to work tomorrow,” Goodbody said. “We have a short week against a very good opponent in Alvarez so we will have to be ready to roll.”
Salinas will host Alvarez (6-1, 2-1), which was on a bye this week, at The Pit on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
With the win, the Chieftains improve their MBL-Gabilan unbeaten streak to 15 games. The last time Palma lost to Salinas was back in 2002 and the last time the Chieftains have lost to league opponent was back in November of 2011 when they lost 13-12 to San Benito.
Palma goes back to work against another dual-threat quarterback and potent offense when it travels to Monterey Peninsula College Friday night (7:30 pm) to take on Carter Aldrete and Monterey (7-1, 3-1). The Toreadores are coming off a 50-21 win over North Salinas.
“This game was completely different than any game we have ever played,” Martinez said of the teams Palma has faced this season. “This one pushed us to our limits and tested our character.”
