Jacks best East Valley in double OT

QUINCY – The Quincy Jacks earned a 1-0 victory over East Valley on Tuesday evening in the second round of the District 5 2A Tournament, moving them on to the next round. 

“I’m feeling good,” said the Jacks’ Erick Zepeda. “Our momentum is up and that’s going to help us a lot.” 

The teams played hard defensively throughout the game, with Jacks’ Romauldo Sandoval coming up with multiple key saves at the goal. The teams went scoreless into overtime, and it wasn’t until the last few minutes of double overtime that Brayan Nunez made a pass that Zepeda hit off his head into the goal for the win. 

“It was one of the last plays and everyone was tired, so we had to make the most of it,” said Nunez. “I saw Erick in the back and just a good ball in, that’s all we needed.” 

Quincy head coach Hector Vaca said the team was in survival mode going into the game Tuesday. After their loss Saturday to Othello, they put themselves into the perspective that their next loss would mean the end of their season. 

“We’ve been in these kinds of games before; this is nothing new to us, but the boys responded really well,” said Vaca. “They came out and fought.” 

The coach said their ability to play together as a team is what ultimately won them the game. He said D’Aundre Aguilar and Jesus Carillo had really stepped it up for the team when they needed it, along with the key saves by Sandoval and the final score from Nunez and Zepeda. 

The Jacks' next game of the tournament will see the winner move on to the district championship while the loser moves on to the third-place game. With the game coming up Saturday, they will spend some time getting the team healthy again and bringing back some players who have been out. 

“Right now, just trying to make sure that the boys are healthy and taking care of their knocks,” said Vaca. “It was a hot game, it was hard, so I’m sure there’s a couple guys that are going to have some knocks.” 

Zepeda and Nunez said the team is ready to continue its push through the postseason and has found renewed confidence with a victory over East Valley. 

“We had a lot of doubts coming into the season, new team, new league,” said Nunez. “Just improving every day and I feel like we’ve shown that we’re supposed to be here.”

    Brayan Nunez’s pass to Erick Zepeda gave the Jacks their victory over East Valley.
  

    Ken Morales makes an attempt at the goal for the Jacks with a high jump kick.
  

    Jacks’ Daniel Mendoza brings the ball back towards the center of the field after competing for possession along the sideline.
  

    Sergio Hernandez uses his footwork to outmaneuver an East Valley player.
  

    Romauldo Sandoval made multiple important saves throughout the game as goalkeeper for the Jacks.