WATSONVILLE — If it was indeed St. Francis High’s final game of the season, it was a rousing send-off to an historic one.
Junior Andrew Seymour caught a touchdown pass, ran for a score, returned a kickoff to the house and made a pair of interceptions to help the Sharks clinch a share of the program’s first-ever league championship with a 42-7 win over Soquel High on Friday night at Emmett M. Geiser Field in Watsonville.
The senior night win also gave the Sharks the program record for wins in a single season. St. Francis completed its regular season with an 8-2 record and 5-1 Mission Trail Athletic League Coastal division finish, good enough to share the league title with Santa Cruz High.
“Everyone realized that the seniors, this meant a lot to them,” Seymour said. “It’s the first banner ever won in school history and we could tell they wanted it. Some of our seniors got a little emotional before the game. Everyone took a step up today.”
St. Francis High running back Andrew Seymour talks about the Sharks’ 42-7 title-clinching win over Soquel. #RPsports pic.twitter.com/Ucq4FVSqFN
— Tony Nunez (@Tony_Nunez) November 11, 2017
The Sharks will now apply for an at-large bid to the Central Coast Section playoffs at Sunday’s seeding meeting but the odds will be stacked against St. Francis, which missed out on the league’s lone automatic CCS berth with last week’s heartbreaking loss to Santa Cruz.
“It’s an outside chance,” said St. Francis head coach John Ausman, “but one can only hope.”
Senior running back Carson Cuzick scored a pair of touchdowns in the first half to stake the Sharks to a 14-0 lead at the break.
Seymour returned the second half’s opening kickoff for a score and St. Francis rolled to a 42-0 lead before Soquel (4-6, 2-4) senior quarterback Miguel Del Real tossed a long touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to halt the shutout.
“I’m sad it’s over but we ended it on a good note,” Cuzick said.
St. Francis High senior running back Carson Cuzick talks about the emotional senior night win over Soquel. #RPsports pic.twitter.com/RBGKpND2Pq
— Tony Nunez (@Tony_Nunez) November 11, 2017
Junior running back Justin Parker also ran for a touchdown and senior quarterback Derric Estrada-Haro tossed a touchdown pass to Seymour.
