After suffering a disappointing loss in front of the home crowd two weeks ago, Watsonville High managed to bounce back just in the nick of time.
They opened up Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission North Division play with a 34-18 victory over St. Francis High in front of hundreds of fans celebrating the Homecoming festivities Oct. 2.
Senior quarterback Edwin Cornejo was one of several Wildcat players to join the fun as they thanked the spectators that lingered around late into the cold night at Emmett M. Geiser Field.
“It feels great,” said Cornejo about walking off the field victorious the night before the Homecoming dance. “It’s amazing. Now tomorrow we can go to HOCO and celebrate.”
With the win, Watsonville improved to a 3-3 overall record and are 1-0 in league play this 2026 fall campaign. St. Francis dropped to 0-1 and currently owns a 2-4 overall record.
“We gave them points early that killed us,” St. Francis head coach John Ausman said. “If you make the mistakes, then it’s going to cost you. And that’s what happened tonight. We got ourselves in a hole that we couldn’t get ourselves out of.”
Christopher Sigala came away with the play of the game on defense in the fourth quarter. He stepped in front of a pass attempt headed toward the end zone for an interception that stalled a drive for St. Francis, and possible points on the scoreboard.
“The momentum switches right there,” said Cornejo, who tossed three touchdown passes. “It gives us a better opportunity to win the game and finish off the game.”
Sigala also hauled in one of Cornejo’s two touchdown passes in the first half.
“Coming off an injury, I felt like it had to be a win,” Cornejo said. “Starting off league, we had to have good energy. Hoco game, all that. Just trying to push for that dub [win].”
Senior linebacker Leeandro Serrano also recorded one interception, while the defense recorded three sacks on St. Francis quarterback Max Madrigal.
The ‘Catz bounced back following a 21-14 defeat to Soledad High in the teams’ final nonleague contest scheduled in the regular season.
What it basically boiled down to was that they weren’t able to stay focused, which Watsonville head coach Tyge McSwain believes they did in last week’s win over St. Francis.
“We did some things this week that helped with that in practice,” McSwain said. “We played well tonight. It was a good thing for that first league win. [St. Francis is] a good team, they got some studs over there. They just made a few more mistakes than we did.”
Watsonville got started early when senior running back Mark Flores opened up the scoring with a rushing touchdown in the first quarter.
That’s when things began to go downhill for the Sharks.
On their ensuing drive, the ball was snapped over Madrigal’s head and then recovered by Watsonville senior Jayden Ayala.
The ‘Catz capitalized on the turnover with an 11-yard TD pass from Cornejo to Andrew Aguilar that put them ahead at 13-0 early in the second stanza.
The Sharks were able to stop the bleeding just before halftime. Madrigal called his own number on a quarterback keeper for an 11-yard touchdown run that cut the deficit at 20-6.
Coming out the break, they caught a lucky break when Watsonville’s attempt at a surprise onside kick instead resulted in a 45-yard kickoff return for St. Francis senior Avery Leon.
“[Leon] actually saw it coming, and charged it,” McSwain said. “So, it worked out in their favor. I’ve only seen an onside kick run back twice in my life.”
Despite the early Christmas gift, that’s as close as St. Francis would get, as the turnovers proved to be too costly for them in the end.
Cornejo orchestrated another scoring drive in the third quarter that was capped off with a 30-yard TD pass to Ayala. Junior Noel Navarro put the game out of reach with a rushing touchdown from 1-yard-out in the final stanza.
“It was the composure of the team,” said Navarro about being able to pull away from St. Francis. “We didn’t let mistakes define what we are and what we were doing today. It really let us overcome those challenges and focus on the next step that we needed to take to get the win.”
Navarro broke free for a pair of long runs, including a 45-yard sprint where he was pushed out of bounds at St. Francis’ 3-yard line. One play later, he bull rushed his way into the end zone to cap off the scoring.
“It’s a good trust with me and the coach, knowing that he trusts me to give me the ball again and pull through,” Navarro said. “It’s just a great connection with the coach.”
McSwain is hoping the players continue to ride the wave of confidence they’re currently on, while also taking the idea that they could be resilient when things go wrong.
The ‘Catz’s first year head coach said they can be a “pretty darn good little football team when we don’t beat ourselves.”
McSwain added, “We just want to be good enough to compete. Let the chips fall where they may, but we just want to compete, not beat ourselves. Just compete with everybody.”
Watsonville (3-3, 1-0) will attempt to keep things rolling against Aptos (3-3, 1-0) in the Mission North Division play Friday at 7pm.
Aptos 42, at Monte Vista Christian 7: The Mariners steamrolled the Mustangs in the teams’ PCAL Mission North Division opener in Watsonville on Oct. 3.
Senior running back Anthony Najera finished with a team-best 157 yards rushing and one touchdown on 15 carries for Aptos, which ran wild for a total of 417 yards rushing as a team.
Teammate senior Preston Carvalho had 109 yards rushing, including a 71-yard sprint to the end zone that put the Mariners ahead at 35-7 at the end of the third quarter.
Aptos senior River Cook tallied 95 yards rushing and one touchdown, while teammates Magnus Vitten and Devon Arroyo-Fagin each had one rushing TD.
On defense, junior Johnny Martinez recorded an interception and senior Johnny Stoner recovered one fumble.
MVC senior quarterback Evan Vessey tossed for 212 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Junior wide receiver James Tipton hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass from Vessey in the third quarter. Teammate junior Reece Walker finished with a team-best 12 tackles, while senior Bryson Boles had six tackles and one sack.
Next up, Aptos (3-3, 1-0) hosts Watsonville (3-3, 1-0) in PCAL Mission North Division play Friday at 7pm.
MVC (4-2, 0-1) hosts Scotts Valley (4-2, 1-0) in PCAL Mission North Division play Oct. 16 at 7:30pm.
At Seaside 19, Pajaro Valley 14: The Grizzlies saw a second-half lead slip away as the Spartans scored nine unanswered points en route to a win in PCAL Santa Lucia Division play Oct. 2.
Senior Lucas Ortiz hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Landin Manzi that put PV ahead at 14-10.
But it was Seaside senior running back Josiah Escort who put the exclamation mark after he scored his second rushing touchdown of the evening.
The Grizzly offense was also called for a safety that resulted in two more points for the Spartans—winners of four consecutive games.
Adrian Mendoza-Torres scored in the second quarter for Pajaro Valley, which is currently on a four game losing streak following a 2-0 start just one month ago.
He finished with a team-best 109 yards rushing, while Manzi added 28 yards on the ground.
Next up, Pajaro Valley (2-4, 0-3) hosts Gonzales (0-5, 0-3) in PCAL Santa Lucia Division play Saturday at 12:30pm.
