San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley unofficially kicked off the 2024 football season at this past weekend’s Santa Cruz County jamboree at Cabrillo College.
Both teams joined Aptos, Harbor, Santa Cruz and Watsonville high schools for an evening full of scrimmages in front of a packed house at Carl Conelly Stadium on Aug. 24.
Scotts Valley along with Aptos were already in midseason form as both teams stole the show.
“The kids like it, it’s exciting for them,” Scotts Valley head coach Louie Walters said. “They’re burnt out hitting each other.”
Scotts Valley senior Niko Smutzer earned his gold star for the day following a pair of long runs, including a 30-yard sprint past Watsonville’s defense and one touchdown.
One Falcons player who didn’t see action was senior Jacob Womack, who tore his Achilles tendon during a passing drill outside of practice. The Falcons star receiver/defensive back will miss the remainder of the season.
“[Womack] worked so hard and he trained so hard to get to the next level, and now he had this happen. Just a fluke accident – kids his age usually don’t tear an Achilles [tendon],” Walters said.
Walters still allowed the starters to dabble in some of the action Saturday night. But he also made sure to give others time on the field as well.
“Our thing for the jamboree is always about everybody’s playing,” he said. “We want to evaluate every kid and we want to get out healthy, that’s for sure.”
Harbor’s offense had a couple of big runs against Santa Cruz’s defense, and SLV senior quarterback Jack Dagan drove his team down the field with a pair of nice-looking tosses against the Pirates.
Prior to taking the field, Watsonville head coach Manny Contreras reached out to his players via text message to get them pumped up for the final dress rehearsal before the new campaign begins this week.
“I did a simple little message and talked about how we’re able to go hit another colored jersey,” he said. “But the thing that I want to know is are we able to block. How are we as far as just being physical up front?”
The jamboree gave the first-year Wildcatz skipper a chance to gauge how far along players have improved since the first day of practice. It also gave Contreras a sneak preview of what to expect from fellow Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division–North foe Scotts Valley.
So far, the Wildcatz looked impressive after taking on Harbor, Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley.
One noticeable improvement is the offensive line, especially with junior Lisandro Pantoja, a towering left tackle, leading the way. He did a great job Saturday evening of protecting junior quarterback Anthony “Tino” Razo on the blindside.
In return, it gave Razo time to connect with senior receivers Nate Aguilar and Patrick Miller-Brown on a couple of nice throws. Senior running back Alex Arevalo had his legs churning to power through for first downs to keep drives alive, as well.
“I think Scotts Valley is the team to beat, and Santa Cruz, they’re going to be tough no matter what,” Contreras said.
Weeklys prep football – Week 1
Thursday (Aug. 29)
Aptos vs. The Kings Academy, 7:30pm
Friday (Aug. 30)
Harbor vs. Del Mar, 7pm
Watsonville at Greenfield, 7pm
Monte Vista Christian at Piedmont Hills, 7:15pm
Scotts Valley at Santa Cruz, 7:30pm
Soquel vs. Los Gatos, 7:30pm
Saturday (Aug. 31)
Pajaro Valley vs. Lynbrook, 12:30pm
San Lorenzo Valley vs. South San Francisco, 12:30pm
St. Francis vs. King City, 12:30pm
