The Watsonville High boys soccer teams received a well-deserved escort out of town as they headed to Sacramento for the California Interscholastic Federation State Division III championship in Sacramento on Saturday.
The newly crowned Northern Regional champion Wildcatz will face Southern Regional champion Los Alamitos at Natomas High School. Kickoff is slated for 3pm.
Watsonville loaded up into a Discovery charter bus in front of the school on Lincoln Street, then proceeded left onto East Lake/Highway 152 toward Main Street.
The ‘Catz continued to cruise on Main Street past the Watsonville City Plaza before they made a left turn onto Riverside Drive/Highway 129 en route on a three-hour trek to Sacramento.
According to the Max Preps website, the Griffins are ranked No. 123 in California. The ‘Catz this week moved up five spots to No. 5 in the state, and are nationally ranked at No. 19.
Watsonville, which earned the top seed in the NorCal playoffs, is coming off a 3-1 victory over No. 2 University in the regional finals on Feb. 7.
It was the first-ever NorCal championship in the program’s history, and first for longtime Watsonville head coach Roland Hedgpeth—an 11-time Central Coast Section champion.Hedgpeth led the ‘Catz to their 13th section championship following a thrilling penalty kick shootout victory over Mitty in the D-II finals Feb. 28.
