OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies (7-4) defeated the Quincy Jacks (5-6) 3-2 in overtime penalty kicks Thursday. Huskies Head Coach Bernie Garza was happy to see his team find a way to win.  

“They showed a lot of heart,” Garza said. “(Quincy) scored some good goals, but I'm proud of my guys with the way they came back.” 

Evenly contested throughout, both teams took turns putting pressure on the opposing defense. The back and forth of the first half resulted in a 0-0 score at halftime. However, in the second half, Othello took a 2-0 lead with about 12 minutes to go. Not hanging their heads, the Jacks bounced back to tie the game in the final 10 minutes of the second half to force overtime. The two teams decided the game with penalty kicks after two short extra periods went scoreless, which saw the Huskies earn the victory.  

Despite the loss, Quincy Head Coach Hector Vaca felt this a matchup of two top end teams in the Central Washington Athletic Conference.  

“We fight till the end, and honestly, I'm not disappointed in any way,” Vaca said. “It's fine, it happens but I think this is a good taste of what's coming. Once district hits, it's a whole new league, so (we’re) not really worried about it.” 

Coming into this game, both teams were in a unique position. After a slow start to the season, the Jacks were off to a hot start in the CWAC with a league record of 4-1. Meanwhile, the Huskies were 6-4 overall but 2-3 in the conference.  

Both teams had a lot to play for and acted like it on the pitch. The first half was dominated by physical defensive play. Though ball control slightly favored the Jacks, the Huskies were battling with Quincy for shot opportunities. On multiple occasions, goal keepers Ramiro Beltran (Quincy) and Giovanni Tapia (Othello) had to make key saves.  

Though both tried their hardest, and came close, neither team could find a way onto the scoreboard as it was 0-0 at halftime.  

Coming out of the break, the Huskies refined their formations to adjust to the Jacks, Garza said.  

“We ended up switching our formation, I'm not going to say what we switched (but) we put more players in the midfield to accommodate them having more players,” he said.  

The first five minutes of the second half seemingly foreshadowed another period of back-and-forth competition. However, the Huskies earned their first goal after an inbound pass ricochet off the top cross bar and landed right at Luis Farias’ feet, who finished the job.  

With about 12 minutes to go in the game, a Quincy foul set up a penalty kick for Orlando Farias, which he scored to increase their lead to 2-0. 

With their backs against the wall, the Jacks turned up the intensity in their attack. Over the following minutes, they were aggressive about pushing the ball up field. This eventually paid off when Brayan Nunez found an opening to put the Jacks on the board with about seven minutes to go.  

The Jacks did not let up from there, as they found another score moments later. Players were packed into the box when Nunez booted a pass over the top, which was placed perfectly for Erick Zepeda to execute the goal with an in-air header, which tied the game 2-2 with two minutes to go in the game. From there, neither could score before time ran out, which sent them into overtime.  

“Credit to them, they scored those two goals, never gave up (with) 10 minutes to go. They weren't easy goals, and we didn't make mistakes; they just made good goals,” Garza said.  

The two teams played a pair of five-minute overtime periods which resulted in zero scores. As a result, they had to decide the game with penalty kicks. Whichever team can make the most out of five attempts wins the third point.  

Each made their first shot, but two consecutive misses by Quincy and four makes by Othello sealed the win for the Huskies. 

With the win secured, Garza was proud of his players for exemplifying a ‘Bend, don’t break,’ mentality.  

“They could have folded and said, ‘Oh, man, it's not our day,’ but they kept on going," he said.  

The Jacks returned home to host King’s Saturday; results of that game were not available at press time. The following game is slated for April 21 when they host Selah at 6 p.m. Though they came up short Thursday, Vaca said the Jacks have experienced tight games like this all season. With that, he has confidence they will bounce back in time for the district tournament.  

“We've been here before,” Vaca said. “We've comfortable playing from behind is what it seems like. It's nothing we've never seen, but it's something that also a learning moment, and I think we'll just hit the chalkboard again and look forward to districts.” 

The Huskies hit the road April 21 to play Ellensburg at 4 p.m. As they reach the final weeks of the regular season, Garza is eager to get back into the swing of things after a recent health scare has required him to take a step back in recent weeks.  

If you ask him, there’s nothing that could stop him from being there to support his players.  

“That the old saying, ‘I'll die for them,’ I'm living proof of that,” he said. “I was here at the game against East Valley, and I shouldn't have been here, but I was, and then they scored a goal, and they came over here and hugged me, and that means everything... there's nothing I wouldn't give for these guys to win and to be part of it.” 

BOX SCORE: 

QNCY: 0-2-1: 2 

OTHL: 0-2-4: 3

    The Jacks’ Brayan Nunez takes a shot on goal as Samiel Marroquin (5) applies the defensive pressure.
  

    The Huskies’ Julian Garcia (10) boots the ball over the box during their game against the Quincy Jacks Thursday.
  

    Jose Garcia (20) advances the Jacks attack against the Othello Huskies with Ethan Wilhelm (16) on his heels.
  

    The Huskies’ Guillermo Chavez (20) tracks down the ball during their game against the Quincy Jacks Thursday.
  

    The Jacks’ Ramiro Beltran (1) makes a save after a Husky player took a shot on goal during their game Thursday.