When Daniel Hernandez and Juan Luna scored touchdowns in the second quarter during last Friday’s non-league game against the visiting Otay Ranch Mustangs, the Castle Park Trojans had 14 points en route to a 14-7 halftime lead.
But football games are four quarters long, and the Mustangs (4-2) controlled the scoreboard with 24 second-half points to nail down a 31-14 victory. The loss dropped Castle Park to 1-4 on the season.
Anthony Williams scored three touchdowns to lead the Mustangs, who also benefited form a scoring run by quarterback Cody Springsguth and a 22-yard field goal from Andres Burgoin to prevail for their second consecutive win.
Williams carried the ball just five times to rack up 125 rushing yards, including one breakaway jaunt for 71 yards. Teammate David Monday had 15 carries for 106 yards, including one 24-yard bolt, as the Mustangs rolled up 264 rushing yards on 35 attempts.
Springsguth competed seven of 12 passes for 103 yards while Sammy Perez completed one of his two passing attempts for 47 yards (to Angel Mendoza). Chris Martin had five catches for 79 yards while Williams also caught one pass for 20 yards.
The defenses of both teams were kept busy throughout the game. Twenty-one Castle Park players were credited with tackles while 19 Otay Ranch players had stops.
The Mustangs had three sacks —one each by James Adams, Andre Jones and William Bobier — to go with a fumble recovery by Jeremy Zuniga.
The Trojans’ defensive highlights included a sack by Joel Guadaramma and fumble recoveries Aaron Leon and Paul Sierra.
Hernandez rushed 17 times for 106 yards to lead Castle Park while Leon had nine rushes for 33 yards and also caught two passes for 19 yards. Luna completed three of four passing attempts for a modest 52 yards. David Anderson had one catch for 35 yards and also rushed four times for 24 yards. For the season, Hernandez has rushed for 563 yards and four touchdowns.
Otay Ranch kicks off Metro-Mesa League play this Friday with a key contest against the streaking Bonita Vista Barons (3-2-1) at Southwestern College, while Castle Park hosts Hilltop (1-4) in a non-league contest. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.
