Seniors Trevor Romele and Kyle Todd combined for five touchdowns as the San Lorenzo Valley High football team stomped Harbor High School, 34-7, on Nov. 6 at Harbor.
The win, combined with Scotts Valley High’s upset loss to Aptos and St. Francis’ loss to underdog Santa Cruz last weekend, qualified the Cougars (3-1-2 Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, 4-3-3 overall) for the Central Coast Section playoffs.
If Scotts Valley beats league-leading Soquel High on Saturday, Nov. 14, the Cougars, Falcons and Knights will finish in a three-way tie for the league title. However, because SLV tied Scotts Valley and beat Soquel, the team has enough power points to qualify for playoffs.
(The Cougars won an overtime tiebreaker with Scotts Valley after the teams ended their Oct. 24 game at 17-17.)
Against Harbor, the Cougars had little trouble pushing the ball into the end zone. For a second straight week, Todd broke the 200-yard barrier, this time notching 210 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.
Todd leads the section in rushing, with 1,609 yards, and touchdowns, with 21 on the season.
From the quarterback position, Romele was a force of his own. After Todd scored in the first quarter to make it 6-0, Romele punched in two rushing touchdowns in the second, making the score 20-0.
Harbor scored its lone touchdown of the day in the second quarter, a 3-yard pass from Matt Armstrong to Jake Pruger, to cut the Cougars’ lead to 20-7 at halftime.
The gap was soon reopened, as Todd scored from 14 yards out in the third quarter.
While playing safety, Romele capped the scoring with a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown midway through the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Cougars emptied their bench on both sides of the ball, getting playing time for many of the reserves.
Alex Luera and Luke Roberts also snagged interceptions for the Cougars, who have a bye this weekend before finding out who they will play in the first round of the CCS playoffs.
