The San Lorenzo Valley High Cougars completed an undefeated Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League schedule with a win over Harbor High and face Menlo School of Atherton in a first round playoff matchup on Saturday.
Meanwhile, valley rival Scotts Valley tied Aptos High, 26-26, but fell in an overtime tiebreaker, eliminating the Falcons from the CCS playoffs.
It was the second SCCAL tie for the Falcons, who also tied Soquel High back on Oct. 1. The game versus Aptos would have stayed a tie except that the Mariners (3-1-2 in league) and the Falcons (3-1-2 SCCAL) were already tied going into the game. By winning the tiebreaker, Aptos took sole possession of second place and eliminated Scotts Valley from playoff consideration.
Scotts Valley finished the season 3-1-2 in league, 3-5-2 overall after a tough preseason schedule. Receiver Stephen Doub finished second in the SCCAL with 792 yards receiving on 49 catches. He scored six touchdowns.
For San Lorenzo Valley (9-1-1, 6-0 SCCAL), Nick Lipperd scored two first-half touchdowns and Luke Roberts caught a three-yard score at the end of the first half to give the Cougars a 20-6 halftime lead they would not surrender.
In the second half, Jonny Cooper scampered for two scores and James Connelly nailed a 38-yard field goal to give the team an easy victory heading into the postseason.
During the regular season, Cougars receiver Nick Gorman led the league with 832 yards receiving and 12 touchdown catches, and Lipperd ran for 1,073 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior offensive lineman Sebastian Tumbale was awarded the annual No. 21 Maze jersey in honor of David Maze, a Cougar football player who was killed in a drunken driving accident before the season in 1997. He follows Clay Christensen, who won the award in 2009.
