After suffering a heartbreaking loss to Alisal last week, St. Francis was aiming to bounce back against Scotts Valley in what was a rare Thursday night “home” game at Cabrillo College.
The only thing was they would have to do it with several key injuries going against their favor, including two-way player Javier DaRosa-Fonseca who was out with a fractured fibula he suffered last week.
Junior running back Joseph Dayritt and his teammates came together in a true moment of solidarity to help lead the Sharks to an 18-14 narrow victory over the Falcons in Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division–North play Oct. 24.
Dayritt rushed for 157 yards on 33 carries and scored all three touchdowns on the ground for St Francis.
“This win meant a lot because we have so many injured guys, and we worried we were going to be complacent,” Dayritt said. “We pushed through and united and played all four quarters as a team.”
Dayritt cashed in his first touchdown run at the end of the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead after the failed extra point attempt.
The Sharks’ special teams unit had its struggles throughout the night which included the missed extra point attempt and a failed 2-point conversion attempt. They also missed a 30-yard field that hit the crossbar.
“We just kept fighting, we kept pushing through,” Dayritt said
Scotts Valley took the lead in the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run by senior Eli Velez, making it a 7-6 score with 8:24 left in the second quarter. The scoring drive was set up thanks to a huge 28-yard run by Vaughn Chomentowski who moved the chains on a 4th-and-nine play.
Velez finished the night with 156 rushing yards on 29 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
“We had some guys that couldn’t play this week and we said let’s roll with the punches and go.. our guys stepped up,” St. Francis head coach John Ausman said.
Scotts Valley, which has also been plagued with injuries of its own, tried not to let it affect the game. They took a 14-6 lead going into halftime after Velez crossed the goal line for his second touchdown run with just under two minutes remaining in the first half.
Trailing 14-12 early in the fourth quarter, the Sharks had a chance to take the lead. But the 30-yard field goal attempt hit the crossbar and gave Scotts Valley back the ball with a chance to put it away.
Instead, Dayritt gave St. Francis an 18-14 lead with a huge 12-yard run, breaking three tackles to make his way into the end zone with 2:52 remaining in the game.
That was plenty of time for the Falcons to march down the field as they got down to St. Francis’ 34-yard line. Ryder Quilici tossed the ball into the corner of the end zone, but the Sharks’ defense came up with a big interception to take over possession with 40 seconds left in the game.
“We were united and we played all four quarters of the ballgame at our own pace, and I loved it,” Dayritt said
After the interception, Jacob Jimenez took a knee to seal the victory for St Francis.
“It was just that mentality of guys playing for each other. To witness that is a cool thing.” Ausman said
Up next, St. Francis (6-2, 3-1) plays at North Monterey County (5-3, 3-1) on Nov. 2. Kickoff is slated for 12:30pm.
Scotts Valley (3-6, 2-3) plays at Alisal (4-4, 3-1) in the teams’ regular season finale Nov. 8 at 7:30pm.
Prep Football Week 9 Scoreboard
Thursday (Oct. 24)
Aptos 23, at Alvarez 22
St. Francis 18, Scotts Valley 14
Friday (Oct. 25)
At Monte Vista Christian 42, North Monterey County 23
Saturday (Oct. 26)
Pajaro Valley vs. Gonzales, 12:30pm
San Lorenzo Valley vs. Santa Cruz, 12:30pm
