The news that the Scotts Valley Police Athletic League Peewee Falcons won P.A.L.’s 12-team San Jose Football Conference championship in early December was hailed by more than the young players and their parents.
Scotts Valley high football coach Louie Walters cheered the news, and with good reason: The recent success of the school’s football program, which has won at least a share of four straight SCCAL championships, owes a lot to the skills local youngsters learn in Scotts Valley’s youth league.
“P.A.L. has proven to be a great feeder system for us,” Walters says. “Now, you’ve got 150 kids in Scotts Valley playing football and learning the game before they get to us.”
Just as quickly as Walters points to the P.AL. teams’ importance, Peewee Falcon coach Jim Danels cites the high school’s success as helping his program.
“The high school winning like they are brings a lot more kids out for P.A.L.,” he said. “Everybody loves being associated with a winner.”
The sport of football is indeed on the move in Scotts Valley. The 10-year-old high school’s Falcon Club, which supports campus athletics, recently hosted its first hall of fame induction, and several former players showed up as Walters was inducted among the first honorees.
Alumni have helped out in other ways, too. Walters called in a couple of Falcon stars from 2006 and 2007 — running back Kyle Hardwick and offensive lineman Kevin Nice, now playing for Cabrillo College — to give the varsity team a pep talk before this year’s do-or-die game against Soquel, which the Falcons won. And recent graduate Noel Abundis was a key assistant for Peewee Falcon offensive coordinator Mike Bradley this year.
“The kids respect Noel more than us old folks,” Danels says. “They love him.”
Arguably the best example of the P.A.L.-SVHS football synergy is this year’s Falcon junior varsity team, which finished 9-1 as it outscored opponents 348 to 78, including four shutouts. Essentially the same squad went undefeated as the school’s freshman team last year, and the year before that, as the Midget Falcons, they played in the P.A.L. championship game.
“They’re a pretty tight group,” JV coach Brad Tompkins said. “They’ve all played with each other for a while and know what’s going on.”
The JV team’s three co-MVPs this year were Collin Corbella, a tailback and safety; Alex Benko, a speedy fullback and defensive lineman; and Ryan Wortman, the team’s tight end and outside linebacker. Leading them all was the team captain, quarterback Jack Pasquini, a high-percentage passer who threw for 15 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
Tompkins said a big part of the team’s success was its line on both sides of the ball, which was larger than that of most opponents, averaging more than 200 pounds. Patrick Marigonda, Tyler Marshall, Joel Claassen and Spencer Fogelquist formed the squad’s core line strength both offensively and defensively, with Marigonda winning the team’s lineman MVP honors.
In addition to their size, Tompkins praised the athletes’ knowledge of the game and athletic skills, pointing to hand-eye coordination and “hands” on par with his team’s skill position players.
“Coach Walters is really excited about these linemen coming up,” Tompkins says. “He was asking about them all year in such a way that he clearly wanted to bring them up.”
While Walters did call up a dozen players for the varsity team’s playoff game against Carmel, sophomore lineman Patrick Flebbe played on the varsity team all year.
The only minor blemish on a stellar season saw the JV Falcons fall about 1½ feet shy of victory against Valley Christian, a powerhouse of Northern California prep football, known for its ample recruiting budget.
Trailing 18-13 with a fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line with 15 seconds left, the Falcons were stopped just short of the goal for their only loss of the season.
They played with a vengeance the rest of the way, reeling off six straight victories and outscoring their remaining opponents 252-32.
With the young talent coming up, next year promises to be a memorable one as the Falcons aim for an unprecedented fifth-straight SCCAL championship.
“(This JV team) is a gifted group of kids, but they’re going to have to work hard,” Walters said. “We saw this year that with our success, teams are bringing their best game against us. This new group has to be ready for that.”
