SALINAS >> It wasn’t judged as a tune-up to next week’s Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division showdown with Soquel High. It wasn’t used as a measuring stick among two high school football powers from two different sections.

As odd as it was to play a nonleague game nine weeks into the season, Salinas didn’t prepare any differently during the week and clearly didn’t hold back in unleashing its arsenal of offensive weapons in beating Arroyo Grande 32-24 Friday.

“I didn’t care that it was a nonleague game,” Salinas coach Steve Zenk said. “Our goal is to try and get better each week. Our focus the last few weeks has been finishing and playing four quarters of football.”

With the exception of what Zenk called a two-minute lapse, the Cowboys achieved their goal in improving to 7-1 on the season, with the attention turning immediately toward Soquel next Friday at “The Pit.”

“I started thinking about Soquel 30 seconds after this ended,” Zenk said. “I have watched all seven of their games on film. But we’ll take a look at our film first and see what we need to get better at on Monday.”

Owners of the past six Gabilan Division titles, Salinas will go into its showdown with Soquel — 32-6 winners over Monterey — riding a six-game winning streak, leaving Zenk one win shy of 100 for his coaching career.

Salinas’ only setback this year came in a Week 3 nonleague game to Central Section power Clovis, which is 7-1 and ranked No. 3 in their section in their division.

“I think we got better tonight at the things we wanted to improve upon,” Zenk said. “We were playing an Arroyo Grande team that plays tough, physical football.”

The Eagles came into the game 7-1 overall and undefeated in league play. Last year Arroyo Grande was 9-2. It’s currently ranked No. 7 overall in its section and No. 2 in its division.

Coming off a season-high 56-point uprising in beating Aptos, the Cowboys showed off their arsenal through the air with Rico Maturino tossing touchdowns to Brady Ballesteros and Emarrcis Turner.

Turner, arguably one of the more explosive players on offense and defense in the Gabilan Division, also took a sweep 30 yards for a touchdown.

The senior receiver finished with 13 catches for 127 yards, the second week in a row he has had 12 or more receptions for Salinas, giving him 53 on the season.

“We wanted to be balanced on offense,” Zenk said. “We have a tendency to go with the hot hand. I also wanted to see us do a better job with our blocking and tackling.”

Zenk checked those boxes off as Salinas’ offensive line opened holes for a running game that chalked up 193 yards with Deyvan Marquez and Brandon Palma combining for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Since returning from an ankle injury, Maturino has thrown for 590 yards and six touchdowns in Salinas’ past two games, engineering an up-tempo offense that scored on four of its first five possessions in the first half.

Maturino, who has shown no signs of battling a high ankle sprain, opened the game by completing his first 18 passes, finishing 23-of-26 for 236 yards.

Special teams also provided production as kicker Matteus Mariscal kicked a pair of field goals, doubling his total from the first seven games of the season.

Aptos 23, Alvarez 22

Seconds away from a historic win, a shot at redemption for Alvarez High after giving up 62 points to Aptos last year was foiled by a last-second field goal.

With the understanding that the playoffs are still a realistic goal, the Eagles left it all on the football field Thursday, only to walk off heartbroken after a 37-yard field goal as time expired.

“I let the kids talk after the game,” Alvarez coach Ben Newman said. “The kids are hurting. But there is the understanding that we’re still in the playoff hunt. The talk is ‘it’s not over.’”

The Eagles (2-6), who have dropped five straight games, will finish under .500 overall for the ninth consecutive year. The last time they posted a winning record came when they were in the old Pacific Division in 2014.

Yet, while Alvarez is still searching for its first Gabilan Division win, closing the season with wins over Hollister — which it defeated last year — and Palma would vault them into the postseason.

“The math is pretty simple, we have to win our final two games,” Newman said. “No one is blowing us out, which the kids see. That’s keeping their spirits up. We’re competing. But this was gut wrenching.”

Alvarez, which has dropped nine straight Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division games and is 4-20 in the past four years in the upper division, has now lost two games by a single point this year, and another by a touchdown.

The Eagles, who led four different times during the game, were ready to celebrate with 1.9 seconds left when Jaylan Ward picked off a pass along the sidelines, only to have it ruled incomplete.

“The official said he didn’t have full possession,” Newman said. “I told him he had two feet in bounds. It’s on film. He just walked away.”

Moments later jubilation was met with heartache when the Mariners kicked their first field goal of the season to improve to 2-3 in the Gabilan and 5-4 overall.

When Manny Marquez booted a 30-yard field goal with 52 seconds left, Alvarez had retaken a 22-20 lead — its first lead over an opponent with a winning record in the fourth quarter since falling in overtime to 2022 state champion Atascadero.

“I pulled everyone together and said we have a minute left,” Newman said. “The game isn’t over. We have to stop them. Obviously, we weren’t able to finish it.”

On the heels of what Newman called the team’s best week of practice, Alvarez built a 6-0 lead on a Ramon Garcia 5-yard scoring run, and a 12-7 advantage in the third quarter on Edgar Chavez’s 8-yard touchdown run.

When Abel Bailon connected with Aiden Jones on an 11-yard scoring strike, the Eagles went back up 19-14 before Aptos countered in game that featured eight lead changes.

Monte Vista 42, North County 23

Staring at a double-digit deficit in the second half is nothing new for the Condors. Earlier this fall they were down 19-0 in one game and 12-0 in another, before rallying for wild wins.

Yet, the loose and relaxed attitude that head coach Juan Cuevas speaks of never found that fire in falling from the unbeaten ranks in the Mission Division North.

As a result, there is a three-team battle for the league title as St. Francis, Alisal and North County are all 3-1 with two games left. The Condors will visit St. Francis next Saturday.

“I’ve been around football long enough,” Cuevas said. “Maybe we were too loose. I take full responsibility. I mixed up the defense and tried to give (Monte Vista) a different look. Instead, we spotted them 21 points.”

Still, when North County found itself staring at a 21-point deficit, there was no head-dropping or finger-pointing, particularly after it rallied for 15 points to turn it into a game before the Mustangs answered with two quick touchdowns through the air.

“We need to look in the mirror and see where we need to get better at and improve upon,” said Cuevas, after North County fell to 5-3 overall. “That was the message. We have two games left. If we win them both, we win the league.”

The Condors, who have already surpassed last year’s win total and have improved in the win column in each of the past three years, haven’t won a league title since 2003 and haven’t been to the postseason since 2010.

Lurking in the shadows is Monte Vista Christian, which has thrown its name into the title chase hat, sitting just a game back, with a matchup looming in two weeks against St. Francis

The Condors has no answer to the Mustangs’ potent passing attack as quarterback Dominic Pierini threw for 437 yards and six touchdowns, with highly touted receiver Nico Downie catching 11 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

Through eight games, Pierini has thrown for over 3,000 yards, while Downie is among the state leaders in receiving yards with 1,478 to go along with 12 touchdown catches.

Touchdown passes from AJ Gomez to Kenji Mellin and Jacob Reed got the Condors to within 13 midway through the third quarter, only to see Pierini answer with two more touchdown passes of his own.

Gomez finished with three touchdown passes for the Condors, giving him 16 on the season, with Mellin catching two touchdowns.

Alisal 50, Seaside 7

On the heels of a goal-line stand as time expired two weeks ago, the Trojans followed that up with a season-high 50-point uprising in moving into a tie for first place in the Mission Division North.

The bumps and bruises that Alisal absorbed in the preseason are beginning to heal up, while its confidence level is resurfacing as it has won three of its past four games to jump back into the playoff chase.

“Our guys never got complacent and played until the clock hit double zeros,” Alisal coach Francisco Estrada said. “Our job is not finished, and the boys understand that.”

Having set a single-season school record for wins last year with 11, the Trojans have won just two league titles in their 58-year football history, the first coming in 2003 when Estrada was the team’s quarterback. Their last title came in 2019.

A pair of rushing touchdowns from both Jayden Durate and Caleb Gabriel staked Alisal (4-4 overall) to a 29-0 cushion over the Spartans, who fell to 1-7 this season.

Kiki Jacinto and Jeremy Elledge added touchdown runs, while Carlos Zamora returned an interception for a touchdown, the second time this year Alisal has recorded a defensive touchdown.

“We’re taking it week by week, but being in the driver’s seat and controlling our destiny with two games left feels good,” Estrada said. “It was a great team win tonight.”

Josiah Escort was a bright spot for Seaside with a touchdown. His brother Julius had a kickoff return for a touchdown called back.

King City 34, Rancho San Juan 0

Looking to inject some life into the offense, the Mustangs put the ball into the hands of Carson Tidwell, who rushed for a season-high four touchdowns.

The sophomore tailback, who is closing in on 1,000 rushing yards for the Mustangs, has rushed for 13 touchdowns this year, and has two touchdown catches.

“I was pleased with how the team rallied around our sophomore quarterback,” King City coach Mac Villanueva said. “He did a good job of running the offense.”

Villanueva was speaking about Rocky Vasquez, who made his debut behind center.

“I just felt our senior (quarterback) was putting too much pressure on himself and not having fun playing the position,” Villaneuva said. “He was willing to play wherever we needed him. He’s athletic. So he started him at receiver tonight.”

The Mustangs (4-5 overall) intercepted three passes — two by Fabian Herrera, while Alex Macias added an interception and touchdown run. Sophomore Rocky Villanueva finished with 12 tackles.

The shutout was the first for King City in 24 games when it blanked Watsonville in 2022. The Mustangs have a bye next week before closing the season, hosting Soledad.

Soledad 21, Greenfield 14

The Aztecs have a heartbeat in their quest to return to the postseason, improving to 5-3 on the season after rallying to beat Greenfield.

Soledad, which has won three straight Mission Division South games since a season-opening loss to Carmel, sits just a game out of first place at 3-1.

Staring at a 14-7 deficit with 3:36 left, the Aztecs tied the game with 1:17 left when DJ Valenzuela connected with Josh Grover on a 7-yard scoring toss.

A defensive stand forced a Greenfield punt, when Gio Gallegos eluded a couple of defenders and darted 65 yards to the end zone with 28 seconds left for the game-winning touchdown.

Julio Camacho added a touchdown run for Soledad early in the game to stake them to a 7-0 halftime lead. It will close the season with games against North Salinas and King City.

Greenfield was bumped up to the Mission Division South after capturing the Santa Lucia Division title last year — the program’s first football title. It has dropped its past six games after a 2-0 start.

AJ Martinez scored both touchdowns for the Bruins, who host Carmel next Friday before closing the season at Rancho San Juan.

Gonzales 28, Pajaro Valley 13

Wins over Marina and Harbor in their final two games will enable the Spartans to improve in the win column for a fourth consecutive season.

Staring at a 6-0 deficit in the first half, Gonzales ran off the game’s next 28 points, with Tony Garcia scoring two touchdowns, one being a 78-yard scoring strike from Ray Blanco.

A blocked punt gave the Spartans a short field in the third quarter, where Juan Luis Arriola capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

A play that has been in the Gonzales’ playbook all year was unleashed in the fourth quarter when he called for a fake punt, in which lineman Jacob Hernandez tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Barragan.

Hernandez, who starts at center for Gonzales, is considered the Spartans’ third quarterback.

Trinity 40, Anzar 26

Eli Robertson accounted for five touchdowns, and added three interceptions as the Warriors erupted for a season-high in points.

Robertson accounted for 265 yards in total offense, adding a rushing touchdown for Trinity, which improved to 3-4.

Daniel Dirkes threw for 236 yards and five touchdowns, connecting with Robertson four times and Brady Ramones for six.

Ramones had a monster game on defense with a career-high 15 tackles, while Dirkes deflected a pair of passes.

Marina 49, Harbor 36

After scoring just 74 points in their first six games, the Mariners have produced 98 points in their past two games.

This time Marina made 49 points stand up in knocking off the Pirates for its first Santa Lucia Division win, improving to 2-6 overall on the season.

Donovan Mabane, who set a school record for rushing yards last week with a PCAL-best 322 yards, had touchdown runs of 75 and 45 yards for Marina.

Raju David added two more touchdown runs for the Mariners, while Denzel Garvin rushed for a touchdown and was on the receiving end of an Elan Espinosa touchdown pass.

Espinosa added a touchdown pass to Caleb True, who was a demon on defense with a pick on Harbor’s ensuing series, leading to another Marina touchdown and a 42-22 cushion in the fourth.