Editor’s note: Welcome to Lookout’s high school sports coverage. Our coverage is made possible by our members. Please become a member here today. Thomas Frey, an alum of Cabrillo College who has covered high school sports locally, will lead our coverage. His column — rounding up the week and looking forward to the next — will run each Monday. He’ll also profile an athlete of the month. We welcome your input — email [email protected] and [email protected] (with high school sports in the subject line).

Soquel High School won the first section title in school history Saturday night in San Jose, beating Gilroy’s Christopher High School 28-0 to capture the Central Coast Section Division II crown.

The Knights had won six total games in the three seasons before NFL veteran and Soquel alum Dwight Lowery took over as head coach in 2018. He won seven games in his first season and has an overall record of 34-15.

And now he’s done what even he couldn’t do as a player: Hoist up that cherished trophy that will belong to the school for eternity.

Senior Jordan McCord III started off the scoring in the first half on a 67-yard touchdown run. The game was 7-0 at halftime before the Knights went on a tear. Senior Braylon Noble scored on a pair of touchdown runs and junior Tyreis Lundy added on with a touchdown score of his own.

The Knights (11-2) will continue their season at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a California Interscholastic Federation Regional Football Championship Bowl Game by hosting 12-1 Casa Roble High School of Orangevale in the NorCal final. A win and Soquel would advance to the Division 4-AA state championship game on either Dec. 8 or 9.

Cross-country

Seven local schools sent runners to Fresno to compete in the CIF state cross-country championships Saturday, and two finished in the top 10.

The Division IV boys race included a combined 14 runners from Santa Cruz High School and Scotts Valley High School. The Cardinals finished 11th as a team and Scotts Valley was right behind them at 12.

For Santa Cruz, junior Eli Fitchen-Young finished fourth in the race, while senior Kees Van Der Meer took 31st and juniors Emiliano Villarreal and Alan Lee, sophomore Julian Hendricks and freshmen Owen Fitchen-Young and Nico Van Der Meer rounded out the pack.

Senior Ben George was the top finisher for Scotts Valley, placing 32nd. Seniors Mason Lantz, Eli Granados, Spencer George and Alex May, sophomore Aaron Weiss and freshman Jackson Stull all crossed the finish line shortly after.

Scotts Valley also sent its girls team to Fresno, where the Falcons finished eighth as a team. Senior Ashyln Boothby took sixth and sophomore Ava Decleve was 15th. Senior Diana Alivov, junior Violet McCutchen, sophomores Jenni Brownfield and Dylan Turzak and freshman Hanna Shehorn all finished strong for Scotts Valley.

Also in the Division IV girls race was Santa Cruz High School junior Heidi Green, who took 59th.

Monte Vista Christian School qualified as a team for the Division V boys race. The Mustangs took 20th and the top five finishers on the squad are all slated to return next season. Junior Justin McCullick finished 29th and was followed by junior Bradley Orlando, sophomore Gavin Beckmen, Conor Gilliam and Elisha Kieft, senior Mario Gonzalez and freshman Luciano Guerra.

Also in Division V, junior Jack McNulty of Pacific Collegiate School finished 133rd.

In the Division V girls race, Monte Vista Christian junior Kylie Brunelli was 49th and freshman Kenzie Culberton of Mount Madonna School was 90th.

In Division I, junior Katelynn Ruiz of Watsonville High School finished 55th.

Junior Evie Marheineke, a Santa Cruz local who attends Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, finished seventh.

Senior Evan Niles of Aptos High School finished 136th in the Division III boys race. In the Division III girls race, sophomore Maya Schiro was 64th and senior Rachel Hoops took 117th.

Boys basketball

San Lorenzo Valley High School has started the season 1-1 after defeating Pacific Collegiate School last Monday, 72-57. The next day, the Cougars fell to Monte Vista Christian School 77-42. Junior Jimmy King had 13 points for San Lorenzo Valley and junior Noah Steiger had 10 points.

For Monte Vista Christian, juniors Dom Pierini and Nico Downie successfully transitioned from the football field to the basketball court by combining for 27 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 steals and 3 blocks. Senior Bryce Brogan and Jack Ryan combined for 23 points as the Mustangs improved to 2-0.

Watsonville High School defeated North Salinas High School 58-41 on Tuesday as sophomore Maximus Aceves led the way with 16 points and 5 steals. Junior Andre Martinez had 11 points and fellow junior Nate Aguilar had 8 points and 12 rebounds.

Harbor High School took down Pajaro Valley High School 55-50 on Wednesday.

Girls basketball

Aptos High School is 1-1 after defeating Capuchino High School 47-35 on Tuesday. Freshman Gabby Wickham paced the team with 18 points and dished out 4 assists. Senior Laurel Southall had 14 points, sophomore Abby Sherwood cleaned up the glass with 12 rebounds and contributed 9 points. Defensively, junior Berkeley Ashby had 5 steals.

Boys soccer

Monte Vista Christian School got off to a stellar start by winning its season opener 15-1 over Trinity Christian School. Senior John Silva and sophomore Patrick Tracey both had hat tricks; senior Trent Hendricks and sophomores Jonathan Pizarro and Salyur Patel each had two goals.

Aptos High School started 1-0 after defeating Ceiba College Prep 7-1 as senior Eddie Alvarez had a career day, finding the back of the net for six goals. Nicolas Topete also scored for the Mariners.

Girls soccer

Local teams have yet to begin.

Pop Warner

The Santa Cruz Pop Warner 10U Seahawks are headed to Florida to play in the Pop Warner Super Bowl. Led by quarterback Parker Quilici, running backs Jordan Sijher, Tony Gills and Jaxson Seadler, the offense averaged 25 points per game. Defensively, the squad gave up just four touchdowns all season, led by Chris Roger, Rykker Salisbury, Jaxson Highland and Alex Jimenez.

The 11-0 Seahawks will play their first game in Orlando on Dec. 3 and their second game on Dec. 6. If they win, they advance to the championship game held at Camping World Stadium on Dec. 9 and all games can be watched on FloSports (subscription required).

Alumni

Natalia Ackerman from Aptos High School is off to a great start this season for the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo women’s basketball team. The senior is a defensive wizard, blocking three shots in her most recent game, last Tuesday against Seattle University, while scoring 12 points. Against Stanford on Nov. 16, Ackerman recorded two steals, after going for 12 points three days earlier at Call.

This week in history

Nearly 15 years to the day before winning the section championship as head coach of Soquel High School, Dwight Lowery recorded his first career NFL interception as a member of the New York Jets on Nov. 30, 2008, against Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos. Cutler, who would go on to play in the Pro Bowl that season, threw the ball into the end zone and Lowery got in front of it and stopped the drive with the interception. In 2010, Lowery intercepted Cutler again.

Lowery recorded 17 interceptions in a career that spanned from 2008-16 with the Jets, Jaguars, Falcons, Colts and Chargers. Notable quarterbacks he intercepted include Andrew Luck, Carson Palmer, Brett Favre, Andy Dalton, Matt Ryan and Philip Rivers.

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