SANTA CRUZ — With their first league title since the program’s inception in 2006 within sight, the St. Francis High Sharks came tantalizingly close to completing a furious comeback but ultimately fell to the Santa Cruz High Cardinals, 21-14, on Friday night in Mission Trail Athletic League Coastal division action.
With time ticking late in the fourth quarter, St. Francis junior running back Andrew Seymour blew through the left end of the line for a 60-yard rush, which set up a bruising 6-yard touchdown by senior running back Carson Cuzick, narrowing the score to 21-14.
Junior Abel Martinez recovered the ensuing onside kick but the Sharks (7-2, 4-1) didn’t accomplish much with the possession, and turned the ball over on downs back to Santa Cruz (4-5, 4-1).
But St. Francis got one more shot at the win courtesy of a botched Santa Cruz punt.
With the ball on the 45-yard line, a minute left and no timeouts remaining, Santa Cruz’s defense stood tall and made a dent in the Sharks’ playoff hopes.
“It was a heck of a finish,” said St. Francis head coach John Ausman. “I think you really see the true character of a team when there’s adversity and I’m proud how our team continued to battle. They never gave up and I love every one of them.”
A victory would have earned the Sharks the MTAL-Coastal division title and clinched a berth to the Central Coast Section playoffs, which would’ve been the program’s first since 2009.
The stakes were equally as high for Santa Cruz.
With the victory, Santa Cruz now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over St. Francis for the MTAL-C’s automatic playoff spot and can clinch a share of the league title with a win over Harbor High next week.
“I think I need some blood pressure medication because it got way, way too interesting at the end,” said Santa Cruz head coach Jesse Trumbull. “These were two good teams and neither wanted to give it up. It was a battle to the end. It was awesome. It’s high school football.”
The Cardinals started hot, scoring on the first drive of the game. Senior halfback Johnny Soto rushed for 59-yards and the opening score. Soon after, Soto scored his second rushing touchdown to up the lead to 14-0.
“In the first half, I think we got outcoached,” Ausman said. “We kept battling and in the second half we had plenty of opportunities, but we need to capitalize on those.”
The Sharks got on the board with seven minutes to go in the first half, thanks to a 45-yard pass connection between senior Derric Estrada-Haro and tight end senior Cory Parker, which set up a 7-yard rushing touchdown by junior Devin McLeod.
Santa Cruz soon avenged the score. Senior quarterback Abram Soriano was on the money, connecting three times with junior running back Dean Shimel for 64 yards, ultimately setting up a 4-yard rushing touchdown by senior halfback Adrian Flores.
“I just had to trust my linemen and wide receivers like Dean (Shimel) and Henry Campion, who are super talented guys,” Soriano said. “I just needed to get the ball to them and they’ll make plays.”
Aside from the scoring drive in the second quarter and the late-game heroics which unfolded, St. Francis’ offense was on ice. The Sharks’ were at their chilliest late in the third quarter following an interception of an Estrada-Haro pass by junior defensive back Jeremiah Elmore.
“We asked them to do a little bit too much and I would have preferred the offense to eat up some clock so we wouldn’t need to be in those situations, but when we needed them the defense rose to the challenge,” Trumbull said.
For St. Francis, playoff hopes may be all-but extinguished but a co-championship is still within grasp next week against the Soquel High Knights.
“It’s the worst,” Ausman said of losing out on an outright division championship. “We’re not going to sugarcoat anything. We were playing for a championship and they were too. When you come out on the losing end of that, it’s going to hurt, especially when you invest so much energy into it. It’s hard.”
