Huskies best Quincy in first round of CWAC tournament

QUINCY – The Othello Huskies came out on top against the Quincy Jacks, winning 4-2 in the first game of the Central Washington Athletic Conference Tournament for both teams.  

“I feel so excited,” said Huskies’ Jose Cabrera.  

Cabrera scored all four goals in the team’s win Saturday, putting him up to 23 goals scored for the season. The final score of the game came from a kick he had made from the 40-yard line that was encouraged by the Huskies’ head coach Bernie Garza. 

“I had more places to score from, but I just couldn’t do it, so I was like you’ve got to do it,” he said about his mindset when shooting the final goal. 

“I’ve never seen a goal like that in my life ... in my 33 years of coaching,” said Garza. “I just said to shoot it because I knew it was going to rebound, but I never thought he was going to score, I knew he could, but that was far away.” 

Garza said that Cabrera won the Central Washington Athletic Conference MVP and has been nominated for player of the year. The team remained dominant on offense throughout the game and kept up a solid defensive performance. 

This season, Garza said he has been most proud to see the team’s grit in showing up in games such as this, which their season depends on. Their last loss to the Jacks prior to this game hit the team hard and was on their minds as they went into the match Saturday. 

“We lost to Quincy nonleague at home in a penalty kick, then we lost to them over here in a shootout and I told them the third one was the charm, and we were going to beat them,” said the coach. “We were on a mission to kind of right our wrong of losing here and we did that.” 

With this win, the Huskies will move on to the semifinal bracket to face the winner of game five in the bracket, giving the team a weeklong break before their next game. The Jacks will play a must-win game against East Valley to move on to the semifinal bracket. 

“They wanted it more than us and they shot four goals on us,” said Jacks head coach Hector Vaca. “Props to Othello, they came out and played and we didn’t.” 

The Jacks have a short time to prepare for their next game as they regroup to continue their push to earn first place and move on to the state tournament. Vaca said he will be working with the team and coming up with some strategies for their upcoming game. 

“We just have to get back to it Monday and try to figure out where we messed up and go from there,” he said. 

The Huskies want to continue their offensive push they’ve been keeping up on after having scored about 29 goals in the past four games, these last few games, said Garza.  

“We’re on a roll, so we’re just going to work on getting healthy and then just have to work on controlling that midfield and passing more,” said the coach. “We’re doing good with the offense, now we just have to work on our midfield possession of the ball more.” 

The Huskies prepare for their next game at home Saturday at noon and the Jacks play at home against East Valley today at 5 p.m. 

    Johndel Garcia makes a jump to stop the ball midair to gain possession for the Huskies before Jacks’ Sergio Hernandez.
  

    Jacks’ Erick Zepeda competes with Huskies’ Asaph Alfaro for the ball in the midfield.
  

    David Salmaron defends the goal and prepares to pass the ball to his teammates on the other side of the field.
  

    Guillermo Chavez (20) stands by while Carlos Huaracha (18) makes a strong kick to the opposing side of the field.
  

    Jacks’ Jose Garcia runs along the open sideline.