APTOS >> Aptos High’s Damian Suchil scored on a 19-yard run with 2:08 left and the Mariners football team avoided being shut out for the first time since 2017 on Friday.

Powerful Salinas was relentless with its uptempo, no-huddle passing attack — which it adhered to for the duration of the game, even with a running clock in the fourth quarter of their 56-7 blowout in Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division action.

Aptos, coming off a 34-31 win over youth-laden Palma, the defending CIF Division 4-A state champion, was unable to slow the juggernaut Cowboys.

“We really struggled to open the game,” Mariners coach Zach Hewett said. “They had a really good game plan for just kinda doing their deal, but when they really started to go uptempo, that really did a good job of taking our players out of the game in the sense, they got stressed, and they got fatigued.”

The Cowboys (6-1, 4-0), ranked eighth in the Central Coast Section by maxpreps.com, let the Mariners and their fans know they were in for a long night on their opening drive. They marched 87 yards on 13 plays for the early lead.

Salinas capitalized on a blocked punt and short field to go up 14-0, and led 35-0 at the half.

“If you take a look at how we opened the game, it’s tough to say how we could’ve done it worse,” Hewett said.

Salinas was successful on a pair of fourth-down plays on their first two scoring drives. The Cowboys started in Aptos territory on two of their scoring drives, but proved a longer field was no problem for their quick-strike offense.

Aptos (4-4, 1-3) was given the option to play with a running clock at the outset of the second half, but declined.

Salinas, one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the Gabilan, finished with 582 yards on offense.

Quarterback Rico Maturino, who sat out last week’s win over Monterey with an ankle injury, completed 23 of 33 attempts for 378 yards and four touchdowns. He threw a pair of interceptions to Moises Torres and Casey MacConnell.

MacConnell has five interceptions on the season.

“We need to work harder during the week to be prepared for this, and this running offense,” MacConnell said. “Definitely the no-huddle was an issue because we were all tired. I don’t think we prepared quite enough for that.”

Emarrcis Turner was Maturino’s primary target. The senior receiver made 12 receptions for 253 yards and one touchdown.

“That’s my guy,” Maturino said. “I’ve know him since seventh grade; we’ve had that chemistry since Pop Warner. I love him to death. He’s my guy. … He’s just so smooth off the ball and his IQ is off the charts. He’s been in the game so long, he’s just a straight athlete.”

Receiver Brady Ballesteros, tight end Madden Eubanks, and running back Dayven Marquez also had touchdown receptions for the defending Gabilan champions.

Marquez also had 10 carries for 101 yards and a touchdown. Teammate Brandon Palma rushed for three touchdowns.

The Cowboys finished with 27 carries for 191 yards.

Kyle Healy replaced Maturino in the fourth quarter and completed 2 of 4 passes for 13 yards.

The Mariners finished with 289 yards on offense, including 254 rushing on 46 attempts.

Junior running back Gavin McDonald was a bright spot for Aptos. He finished with 108 yards rushing on 15 carries. Teammate Dylan Guisado ran for 71 yards on 11 carries.

Ryan Solorio started at quarterback for Aptos but gave way to Joshua Bermio late in the third quarter.

Aptos looks to rebound next week, but it’s a short week. The Mariners play at Everett Alvarez (2-5, 0-3) in Salinas on Thursday at 7 p.m.