The red sunset filled the Friday evening sky above Salinas High Stadium, and Hollister High’s sea of red, its populous football team, was trying to do the same on the field.
It trailed to Salinas High’s football team early but found all sorts of ways to close within striking distance.
And then the Cowboys found their scoring touch, denying the Haybalers.
If there was ever a bounceback win Salinas High needed, it probably was Friday night’s victory.
The Cowboys welcomed Hollister to The Pit and sent them packing with a 39-16 decision.
It was the start of Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division play for both teams, Salinas the defending co-champion. But it also was the first time the two teams have met since last year’s Central Coast Section Division I final, won by Hollister.
Salinas improved to 3-2 overall.
Hollister, which got off to a roaring start, has lost two in a row and fell to 3-2.
Salinas’ offense, which was held in check by Milpitas last week, found a way to get through Hollister’s defense this week.
But it started with a defensive stop early in the fourth quarter.
Hollister faced a third down at Salinas’ 19-yard line.
Quarterback Hunter Raquet searched the field for someone until Salinas’ Andrew Padilla graced his presence and wrapped him for a nine-yard loss.
Hollister went for it on fourth down, and got one yard. Salinas got the stop it needed.
The quick-working Cowboys started at their 27-yard line and got to Hollister’s 48-yard line on four plays. The fifth play was a Matt Castaneda 48-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Jensen, boosting the home team’s lead to 24-16 with 9:15 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Haybalers went back to work. But it was a short shift, two plays, as a bad toss was recovered by Salinas at the 5-yard line.
The Cowboys also went on a two-play drive after that, but that resulted in six points, as Jack Schuler ran it in to give Salinas a 30-16 lead.
All of the momentum was back on Salinas’ side. The Cowboys defense forced a three-and-out-and-safety.
Salinas got the ball after the safety and went one-and-touchdown, as Castaneda found Jensen a third time right down the middle for a 54-yard touchdown pass.
Castaneda finished with 226 yards passing, throwing three touchdowns, all to Jensen.
The early moments of the game had the feel of a shootout.
Salinas needed four plays to get on the board. That fourth play was a 36-yard run by Schuler that put Salinas ahead 7-0.
The defense forced Hollister to go three and out, and the offense went right back to action.
On the first play Salinas got the ball back, Castaneda found Jensen for a 50-yard touchdown connection. Salinas celebrated going ahead 14-0 on Hollister with less than three minutes evaporated from the clock.
Hunter Nye broke free for Hollister’s first score, a 49-yard run between the hash marks for a touchdown. Nye broke free from two tackles before sprinting past everyone.
The teams settled down, with both defenses taking control.
It was a short punt that set up Salinas’ next score.
The Cowboys got to start at Hollister’s 27-yard line. They went 13 yards before Sebastian Magana-Garcia booted a 32-yard field goal to boost Salinas’ lead to 17-7 with 1:37 remaining in the second.
Hollister started at its 20 and was on the brink of letting the clock go. But Kyle Cameron sped down the right sideline and put Hollister at its 15-yard line with a minute left.
Salinas denied the Haybalers at the 3-yard line and Hollister tried for a field goal. Well, they were going to try the field goal until the ball was badly snapped and rolled to Daniel Hopkins who looked for someone to get open. Robert Gaspar was open and Hopkins threw it to him.
The defenses again set the tempo early in the third quarter.
With 3:35 to go in the third, Salinas was at its own 15-yard line and got four yards on three plays. The punt was blocked by Tyler Biersdorff, and the ball rolled into the end zone, with three Hollister players hoping to save it from going out of bounds. A Hollister player swept his left arm around the ball, but the ball already kissed the back endzone line, marking a safety and two points for Hollister.
The Haybalers were within 17-16 with 1:50 to go in the third quarter, and they got the ball back. They marched all the way to Salinas’ 19-yard line, where Padilla and the Cowboys got the stop they needed to turn the tide back their way.
Jensen finished with 164 yards receiving. Schuler had 61 yards rushing.
Nye led Hollister’s run game with 111 yards. Cameron totaled 96 yards.
Game Box
Salinas 39, Hollister 16
Salinas 14 3 0 21 – 39
Hollister 7 7 2 0 – 16
First quarter
S – Schuler 23-yard run (Magana-Garcia kick) 10:42
S – Castaneda to Jensen 50 yards (Magana-Garcia kick) 9:34
H – Nye 49-yard run (Hernandez kick) 5:40
Second quarter
S – Magana-Garcia 32-yard field goal 1:37
H – Hopkins to Gaspar 3 yards (Hernandez kick), :16
Third quarter
H – Safety (blocked punt out of end zone) 1:50
Fourth quarter
S – Castaneda to Jensen 48 yards (Magana-Garcia kick) 9:15
S – Schuler 4-yard run (blocked kick) 8:34
S – Safety (snap out of end zone) 6:40
S – Castaneda to Jensen 54 yards (Magana-Garcia kick) 6:23
First downs: Salinas 9, Hollister 11
Third-down conversions: Salinas 4/10, Hollister 4/14
Fourth-down conversions: Salinas 2/3, Hollister 1/3
Fumbles-lost: Salinas 0-0, Hollister 1-1
Penalties: Hollister 3/35, Salinas 9/90
Rushing
Salinas: Schuler 11/61, Castaneda 7/20, Walker 1/14, Jensen 1/-2, Schmuckle 5/20, Green 1/11
Hollister: Cameron 9/96, Nye 23/111, Gonzalez 4/14, Raquet 13/-9, Schwall 3/9, Cabada 1/-5, Lopez 1/9, Sotelo 1/3, Green 1/1
Passing
Salinas: Castaneda 14/21/0 for 226 yards
Hollister: Raquet 3/7/0 for 28 yards; Hopkins 1/1/0 for 3 yards
Receiving
Salinas: Crosby 4/31, Jensen 5/164, Smith 1/6, Rivera 3/23, Smith 1/2
Hollister: Gaspar 1/3, Schwall 1/4, Hopkins 1/10, Gonzalez 1/14
