Senior Ari Wargon scored five touchdowns as Scotts Valley High School smashed Santa Cruz High School 54-17 on Friday, Nov. 2, to give the team a homecoming victory.
The Falcons (4-5 overall, 3-2 Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League) will conclude the regular season at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10 at Cabrillo College against St. Francis High School (2-7, 1-4).
After Wargon returned the opening kickoff 94 yards and a touchdown, the Cardinals took a 9-6 first-quarter lead after scoring on a 40-yard pass play and hitting a field goal.
But the second quarter would belong to the Falcons.
Wargon rushed for two touchdowns and caught another from quarterback Garrett Johnston — who also gave the Falcons a 34-9 lead heading into halftime when he caught a 35-yard pass from backup Jake Lobo.
In the third quarter, Wargon scored his fifth touchdown on a 5-yard scamper while Ian Howard caught a 31-yard touchdown from Lobo and Jace Hardwick had a 1-yard touchdown run to cap the Falcons offensive output.
The team is on a three-game winning streak outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 165-43.
The Falcons must defeat St. Francis to have any hope for a Central Coast Section playoff berth. They trail both Soquel and Aptos High in the league standings, and are vying for an at-large bid.
Â
San Lorenzo Valley
The Cougars fell to 3-3 in SCCAL play after losing to Aptos High School 59-20 on Friday, Nov. 2 in Aptos.
The loss likely ended the Cougars’ hopes for a CCS playoff bid because they lost to three teams ahead of them in the SCCAL standings.
In the game, Aptos jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the second quarter before the Cougars got on the board when Derek Poetzinger scored on a 13-yard pass from Isaac Newberry. Poetzinger accounted for all the Cougars scoring on the day, notching two more on 1-yard and 2-yard plunges in the third quarter.
However, SLV could not stop the potent Mariner rushing attack, allowing 408 yards on the ground on 62 carries by 13 Aptos ball carriers. Â
Poetzinger finished the game with nine carries for 31 yards and Newberry was 17-for-31 with 250 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
