After more than two decades of meeting each other on the gridiron, it just wouldn’t be a classic rivalry game between San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley without a little drama.
Especially those thrilling moments that can determine an outcome.
Thus was the case last week as the Falcon defense came up with a goal line stand to beat the Cougars, 14-10, in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission North Division action Oct. 3.
Scotts Valley extended their win streak to two straight, while improving to a 4-2 overall record this 2026 fall campaign. It also puts them at 1-0 in the PCAL Mission North Division standings.
It’s the second consecutive week they won in walk-off fashion after scoring on the final play of the game to defeat North Monterey County High, 21-20, in nonleague play Sept. 26.
Scotts Valley head coach Louie Walters said the players have now figured out how to play all four quarters. Unlike the losses they suffered to Santa Cruz and Stevenson where they had huge leads in both games.
“The last two weeks with walk-off wins were big for the program,” Walters said. “I have the utmost respect for the SLV community, the football players and their coaches. So, it was a good win for us.”
SLV dropped to a 1-5 overall record, and are 0-1 to begin league play.
“It’s always a tough game,” SLV head coach Dave Grant said. “I just always look at the Scotts Valley game like it’s going to be decided by a touchdown or less. That’s been the case the last three years.”
The Cougars won the previous two meetings, 14-7 in 2024 and 13-7 in 2025, but the Falcons snapped that streak this year.
“I give Scotts Valley credit, they freaking fought hard and they edged out,” Grant said. “I was super impressed with our guys the way they fought to get back down. We felt like we could punch this in, but looking back it’s like, man, we just need maybe 15 more seconds.”
Scotts Valley, which is 6.4 miles away from SLV’s campus, now leads the series at 15-9-1 dating back to 2002.
Prior to the game, SLV changed its usual start time of 12:30pm back one hour because of the forecasted high temperatures set for that afternoon.
According to the National Weather Service website, they recorded a temperature of 76 degrees at kickoff just before it reached 95 degrees at 3pm.
“The heat was definitely a factor for both teams, but I thought the officials did a great job of stopping the game a bunch of times so the kids could hydrate,” Walters said. “It was the hottest game I’ve ever coached in my career.”
Grant agreed with his counterpart, saying that the hot conditions were still tough for both squads despite having practiced in the heat days leading up to the game.
“Both teams, we’ve got a lot of guys playing both ways,” Grant said. “Both teams were battling, we took extra water breaks, had the big mister fans going on the sidelines. That made a big difference.”
While players battled the heat by squirting water on their cleats, they also struggled to put up any points in the first half as the game went scoreless going into halftime.
It wasn’t until the third quarter when Scotts Valley got on the scoreboard first. Ben Luckey hauled in an 80-yard pass from senior quarterback Bryce McDonnell for the touchdown, putting them ahead at 7-0.
SLV quickly responded, and pulled ahead for the first time in the game with a field goal by senior Kolby Handley and a 15-yard rushing touchdown from junior Jesse Fulkerson in the third stanza.
Scotts Valley recaptured the lead in the fourth, though. McDonnell marched the offense down the field on a 98-yard drive that was capped off with a 20-yard TD pass to Nick “Pickle” Acton.
SLV may have come up a little short, yet Grant was proud of the effort from his players. He was also impressed that there weren’t any turnovers and minimal penalties.
“It was just a clean, hard-fought game, and I think that says a lot about how much for both teams like, hey, we care about this game,” Grant said. “It’s not one of those rivalries where the kids hate each other. It’s local bragging rights.”
Scotts Valley is currently in a bye week, which Walters believes came at the perfect time so they can let some bodies heal, and catch their breaths before the final stretch of the regular season.
Next up, the Falcons (4-2, 1-0) play at Monte Vista Christian (4-2, 0-1) in PCAL Mission North Division play Oct. 16 at 7:30pm.
“We’ve always had good games with Monte Vista,” Walters said. “The new coach [Joe Sturdivant] does a great job down there, and we know they’re going to be physical. We’re just going to try and match our physicality with them.”
SLV (1-5, 0-1) plays at St. Francis (2-4, 0-1) in PCAL Mission North Division play Saturday at 12:30pm.
Grant is optimistic about closing out the season strong, especially since the Cougars have been one or two plays away from turning defeats into victories.
“We’re not losing these games because we’re playing sloppy or lack of effort,” Grant said. “We just gotta focus on [St. Francis], get a win on Saturday, and then just take it one week at a time from there.”
Girls golf
Scotts Valley 184, at Harbor 227: Jess Ervine earned medalist honors to help the Falcons secure a victory over the Pirates in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play at DeLaveaga Golf Course on Oct. 1.
Ervine shot a match-best 31, highlighted by a birdie on the opening hole. Teammate Zoe Robbins finished close behind after she shot a 32 , followed by Lizzie Goldfield (34), Camille Zwerling (41) and Hazel James (46).
With the win, the Falcons improved to a 6-1 overall record this fall season.
Olivia Strusis-Bregante shot a team-best 44 for Harbor, which dropped to a 2-5 record.
Teammate Hope Schwartz shot a 46, followed by Felicia Fernandez (47), Izzy Tartaro (47), Tealia Bassouamina (48) and Riley Angell-StClair (49).
Girls volleyball
Santa Cruz 3, at Scotts Valley 1: Junior Riley Kilpatrick tallied a team-best 17 kills and 10 digs in the Falcons’ loss to the Cardinals in SCCAL play Oct. 1.
Teammate senior Ava Dumesny had 26 assists and three aces, while Zoe Norris added nine kills for Scotts Valley, which dropped to 2-5 in league play this season.
Next up, Scotts Valley (4-9, 2-5) plays at Aptos on Thursday at 6:30pm.
