SALINAS — The first offensive play didn’t go as scripted. Moments after turning the ball over, Salinas’ defense was on its heels and staring at a 6-0 deficit after just two plays.
“We put our kids in a poor situation on that defensive sequence,” Salinas football coach Steve Zenk said. “We as a staff owned up to it and took the blame. I knew we weren’t going to fold.”
Humbled by Clovis in its opener, the Cowboys showed their resiliency Friday, coming back from a pair of deficits earlier in the game, then turning to its defense in the fourth quarter to secure a 38-29 win over Valley Christian of San Jose at ‘The Pit’.
“We had a great week of practice,” Zenk said. “We play these teams for a reason in the preseason. We got to see our character. We made some great adjustments during the game.”
Ranked No. 7 in the Central Coast Section after a 41-10 season-opening win over Wilcox, the Warriors were one of five teams from the West Catholic Athletic League to compete in the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs last fall.
Zenk, who is two wins shy of breaking the school’s all-time record for wins of 67, has seen 43 of them come in the Gabilan Division, where the Cowboys will open on the road next week against North Salinas.
“Is two non-league games enough? Well it has to be,” Zenk said. “Usually after two games, we’re still figuring out who we are and what we need to get better at. We’ll look at what we need to improve upon. It may take another game.”
Salinas has faced perennial national power De La Salle and Riordan in a scrimmage, Clovis, who came into this week ranked No. 4 in the Central Section, and CCS ranked Valley Christian.
While Zenk isn’t looking ahead, following North Salinas and a bye week is defending Gabilan Division champion Soquel, who ended Salinas’ reign as six-time champions last fall.
The Cowboys are 43-3 in the Gabilan Division under Zenk, with one of those setbacks coming last year from Soquel, snapping a 13-game league winning streak.
“Lets focus on North Salinas first,” Zenk said. “We did a much better job up front tonight in sustaining our blocks. Our tempo was good. On defense, we did a nice job of eating the blocks.”
That in turn sprung tailback Brandon Palma, who put a highlight reel together against Valley Christian, rushing for a career high 231 yards on 24 carries, producing three touchdowns on the ground.
“Wasn’t that awesome?” Zenk said. “If we get five guys on five guys, our guys will make things happen. Brandon ran hard and ran with his instincts. He is incredibly talented.”
Palma, who had five carries of 10 yards or longer in the first half, erased a 6-0 deficit with a 32-yard touchdown run on the Cowboys second possession.
The Cowboys never trailed in the second half as Palma added touchdown runs of 30 and 23 yards, while catching a pair of passes for 35 yards.
“We went fast tonight,” said Zenk, in regards to the tempo of his offense. “We can go faster. Last week we were playing in the heat. This week we felt we could tire them out on defense, which in turn helped our defense.”
Sophomore quarterback Michael Andrade looked seasoned, completing 12-of-17 for 169 yards, connecting with Jonathan Perez on a 17-yard scoring strike just before halftime to put Salinas up 24-15.
Andrade added a touchdown run early in the first half to put the Cowboys up for good, while connecting with Hovan Lusk and Amari Laing a combined seven times for 85 yards.
While Salinas surrendered 390 yards in offense to the Warriors, the defense sealed the win late in the game when Madden Eubanks intercepted a pass in the final minute. Jackson Silacci-Jensen added a pick earlier in the game.
