Scotts Valley High football team continues to roll following a 35-13 win over San Lorenzo Valley in non-league action on Sept. 9.
With the win, the Falcons improved to 3-0 this season, while the Cougars dropped to 1-2 following back-to-back losses in the preseason portion of their schedule.
“We were expecting to win,” said Scotts Valley junior linebacker Jess Ringel. “We’re on to Soquel now, we’re worrying about them.”
Scotts Valley will attempt to keep its unblemished record intact against Soquel High on Thursday at 7:30pm. Game results were not available prior to this publication’s deadline.
“We’ve been waiting for this game all year,” Ringel said. “We’re coming with our best stuff on Thursday night.”
The Falcons had all their hopes and dreams of an undefeated season ruined by the Knights following a 21-3 loss in the teams’ Mission Division opener in 2022.
Soquel (2-1) was a former Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League rival before both teams joined the PCAL in 2017, which means there’s still some friendly animosity between both schools.
“They’re excited as it is, we don’t have to pump this up,” Scotts Valley coach Louie Walters said. “We’re not going to gauge the success of our season by winning or losing to Soquel. We want to win, get it. But it’s a non-league game.”
Walters said they’re trying to improve each week and even though they have a small roster, the Falcons are slightly better because it’s basically the same group returning minus a couple of starters.
The Falcons lost linebacker Nicolas Arcangeli and quarterback Cole Leonard due to graduation.
Junior quarterback Lucas Ringel took over for Leonard and has done a nice job in doing so. He completed 6-of-10 pass attempts for 175 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in last week’s win over SLV.
“Lucas Ringel had another year under his belt and he’s playing really well at quarterback,” Walters said. “He worked hard in the offseason, so he’s gotten better.”
Out of the 12 quarters the Falcons played this season, Ringel has been under center in just six of them.
Yet, he’s still putting up some impressive numbers by completing 8-of-12 pass attempts for 244 yards, seven touchdowns and the one interception he threw against SLV.
“I think he learned how to be a leader from Cole Leonard, he’s doing a much better job of being a leader this year,” Walters said.
Senior receiver Quinn Turowski finished with three receptions for 138 yards and caught two of those touchdown passes, giving him six on the season. Junior receiver Jacob Womack had the third TD reception and also recorded one interception on defense.
Walters said the offensive production all starts with the big guys in the trenches. Senior lineman Lorenzo Gonzalez, Marshall Dodge, James Bullock and Brody Robbins started last year but got stronger over the offseason.
“If someone would ask me what is our strength? I would say, the guys in the trenches,” Walters said.
On the defensive side, sophomore Gabriel Dodge recorded a pair of quarterback sacks, while fellow teammates seniors Niko Iles and Jack Parker each had one sack.
Jess Ringel has also been an integral part of Scotts Valley’s defense, which posted a 35-0 shutout win over Gonzales in the season opener Aug. 26.
“It’s just our speed and our physicality, we rally up to the ball,” he said. “We play with high energy and we take conditioning really seriously in practice. I think that plays a big role in our success on defense.”
Iles bulldozed his way for 35 yards on seven carries and one touchdown and teammate senior Lukas Murphy finished with 27 yards on three carries and one touchdown. Junior running back Eli Velez had 46 yards on four carries.
The Falcons had a 28-0 lead going into halftime and never looked back once in the rearview mirror en route to their third straight win to begin the young season.
SLV got on the scoreboard late in the game when Chase Thomsen scored a 4-yard touchdown run and junior quarterback Jack Dagen snuck his way into the end zone that made it 35-13.
Dagen completed 14-of-20 pass attempts for 152 yards and one interception, while Thomsen had 26 yards rushing on six carries and the one score.
Senior receiver Dominic Chiechi finished with four receptions for 46 yards receiving and junior Dom Aguilar had four receptions for 27 yards
The Cougars play their preseason finale at Watsonville High (1-2) on Friday at 7:30pm.
Scotts Valley begins PCAL Mission North Division play with a home game against St. Francis High (1-2) of Watsonville on Sept. 30 at 2pm.
San Lorenzo Valley kicks off its PCAL Santa Lucia Division season in Felton against Pajaro Valley High (0-3) on Sept. 23 at 12:30pm.
“I want to get a [CCS] championship,” Ringel said. “I think this team, this is the year to do it with Scotts Valley. I think we can really get a ring this year.”
