Watsonville's Tony Mora runs against Reno, Nev. (Photo by Eric Anderson)

Midway through the third quarter, the Watsonville High football team led by 21 points and looked like it was going to coast for a fourth straight victory.

But visiting Reno, Nev., rallied and scored a touchdown and added the go-ahead 2-point conversion with less than two minutes remaining in the game to win 35-34 in a nonleague game Friday night.

Asked what he hoped his team would take from the game, Wildcatz coach Tom Sullivan said, “More than anything, you have to play to win and never feel comfortable. I think we got away from just being confident and teetered on being cocky.”

It was the nonleague finale for Watsonville, which will open Monterey Bay League play next week at Monte Vista Christian.

“If you have to learn the hard lessons, you want to learn them in the preseason rather than in league,” Sullivan said.

Wildcatz receiver Nestor Marana said Reno was a quality team, not unlike a squad Watsonville might face if it makes the Central Coast Section playoffs.

“It was exciting,” Marana said of playing the Huskies. “They were pretty good.”

The second half started well for the Wildcatz (3-2), as Reno (2-5) fumbled the ball away on its first play from scrimmage, and Watsonville quarterback Jerry Alvarez hit Josh Garcia with a 20-yard touchdown pass for a 26-13 lead. The Wildcatz added to their lead on their next drive when Alvarez hit Marana with a 24-yard touchdown pass. A successful 2-point conversion made the score 34-13.

Reno, however, quickly got back into the game. On the third play of its ensuing possession, Anthony Hascheff hit Connor Morze with a 44-yard touchdown pass. And after Watsonville failed to convert on fourth-and-1 from the Reno 25-yard-line, the Huskies drove for another touchdown, a 28-yard carry from by speedy and powerful running back Nick Bietz. The extra point made the score 34-27 just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Two drives later, Bietz scored his third touchdown of the night on a 41-yard catch with 1:54 remaining. That made the score 34-33 in favor of Watsonville, and instead of kicking an extra point for the tie, Reno decided to go for two points and the win. Hascheff rolled to his right and found Austin Wood open in the front-right corner of the end zone.

Watsonville was unable to make a first down on its final possession, allowing Reno to run out the clock.

Bietz finished with 172 yards on 17 carries, and had a 49-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. That score came after Alvarez hit Fernando Olivarez with a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to give the Wildcatz a 6-0 lead.

Alvarez put Watsonville up 13-7 with a 43-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, but Hascheff hit Wood with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tie the score. Tony Mora, who had 107 yards on 19 carries, put Watsonville up 20-13 with a 3-yard run.

The Wildcatz missed a chance to score at the end of the second quarter when time ran out when as were at the Reno 1-yard line. They also missed a scoring chance in the second half when Olivarez’s kickoff return for a touchdown was called back due to a penalty.

One game after setting a Santa Cruz County records with 318 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns in a 60-51 win over San Lorenzo Valley, Olivarez finished with four catches for 89 yards and one touchdown. Marana had seven catches for 120 yards.

Alvarez finished 16-28 for 259 yards and three touchdowns. He added 80 yards rushing on eight carries.

“We’re going to have to work harder and get ready for league,” Marana said. “Worry about the next games and hope to improve as an individual and as a whole team.”



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