The Los Gatos High School football team (10-1) showed its superior depth with six different players scoring touchdowns in a 41-7 first-round Central Coast Section Division II playoff win last Friday over No. 8 Live Oak (9-2)..
Los Gatos, the No. 1 seed, hosts No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep (8-3) this Friday at 7 p.m. Sacred Heart Prep beat No. 5 Bellarmine 27-7 last Friday.
The Wildcats, who are the No. 1 seed, led 14-7 after one quarter before putting the game away with three touchdowns in the second period. Live Oak led 34-7 at the half.
Gian Lagemann and Yost Girvan scored on short runs in the first quarter, then Adam Garwood and Mason Holbrook had touchdown runs in quarter number two. A touchdown grab by Kyle PInkham completed Los Gatos’ scoring in the first half.
The game was tied 7-7 until late in the first quarter, when Girvan scored from the 1. Then Los Gatos scored three TDs in the final seven minutes of the second quarter.
Garwood finished with 130 yards rushing on 20 carries. Girvan completed eight of his 11 passes for 171 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
Defensively, Andrew Korea had 17 total tackles and Jaden Mazzaferro added 12. Jake Ripp added a sack in the victory.
Carmel 62, Saratoga 43
Sixty-five points were scored in the first half alone in this explosion of offense at Monterey Peninsula College last Friday.
Carmel, the No. 3 seed in the CCs Division IV playoffs, held a 34-31 lead at halftime, then outscored No. 6 Saratoga 21-12 in the third quarter. Carmel (6-5) never trailed, although the game was tied at 6-6 in the first quarter after a seven-yard touchdown run by Saratoga’s Hayden Cranz.
In the final game of his outstanding high school career, Saratoga quarterback Payton Stokes completed 27 of his 39 passes for 432 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for threw for a team-high 167 yards and two touchdowns.
Kelly Huesby, a junior, caught a team-high 11 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. Teammates Max Muilenburg (five receptions for 75 yards), Tyler Prowse (five catches, 85 yards) and George Bian (four catches, 94 yards) also had multiple receptions for the Falcons. Saratoga ends its season with an 8-3 record.
Girls volleyball
Los Gatos qualified for the Division II state championship match on Saturday with a sweep of Central Catholic-Modesto on Tuesday in the NorCal final.
The Wildcats (31-9) will play in the California Interscholastic Federation Division II state championship match on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Santiago Canyon College in Orange. Los Gatos’ opponent will be Ontario Christian.
In the NorCal final, the Wildcats (31-9) beat Central Catholic 25-17, 27-25, 25-13 at Los Gatos. Hannah Slover had a game-high 20 kills and Natalie Anthony added 16 kills and 11 digs for Los Gatos. Adrina Tang passed for 39 assists for Los Gatos.
Los Gatos advanced to the final with a 25-15, 25-14, 25-22 sweep of Lincoln on Saturday. Slover had 13 kills and Ella Weider added 10 to lead Los Gatos, the No. 1 seed in Division II, against No. 5 Lincoln. Emily Gouldrup and Anthony combined for 21 digs in the win, and Tang passed for 28 assists for the Wildcats.
In the quarterfinals on Nov. 14, Los Gatos defeated No.9 James Logan-Union City 25-18, 25-17, 25-20. Slover had 16 kills and 19 digs to pace Los Gatos, and Anthony added 11 kills and five total blocks. Lizzy Armstrong served for two aces, and Tang filled the stat book with 32 assists, 12 digs and five total blocks.
James Local defeated Christian Brothers-Sacramento 20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-17 in the first round on Nov. 12. Anthony had 22 kills and Slover added 18. Weider served four aces, Gouldrup had a team-high 24 digs and Tang added 36 assists and 10 digs.
Cross country
Saratoga’s Harrison Dance won the CCS Division III boys championship race at the CCS championships on Saturday at the Crystal Springs course in Belmont. Dance was first by 20 seconds with a time of 15 minutes, 47.41 seconds for the hilly 2.95-mile course. second-place Elliot Daniels Prospect (16:07.06) and third-place Shivam Verma of Saratoga (16:14.29) also qualified for the CIF state championships as individuals.
The state championships will be Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Los Gatos’ Annika Paylor will be competing as an individual at the state championships, as she placed fourth in the Division I girls race with a time of 18:27.9.
Westmont’s Garrett MacQuiddy earned an individual spot in the state championships with a fourth-place finish in the Division II boys race (15:41.99).
Field hockey
Los Gatos advanced to the CCS championship match for the eighth straight year, but fell 1-0 to Archbishop Mitty on Saturday. Los Gatos (15-1-1) shut out Leigh 2-0 and Los Altos 2-0 to reach the final. It was the first time since 2012 that Los Gatos did not win the CCS title or co-title.
Mitty reached the championship match with wins over Homestead (2-0) and St. Ignatius (1-0). Mitty shared the CCS title with Los Gatos in 2017.