Watsonville High running back Tony Mora (5) is tripped off by a Piedmont Hills defender during a first-round game in the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs Friday night in San Jose. (Photo by Eric Anderson)

SAN JOSE — The Watsonville High football team’s record-breaking, breakthrough season came to an end with a 25-14 loss to host Piedmont Hills in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs Friday night.

The seventh-seeded Wildcatz (7-4) never led and allowed Piedmont Hills (9-2) to score a long touchdown on its first offensive play, but trailed just 19-14 at halftime and had several drives stall in Pirates territory.

“We played a good team tonight,” Watsonville coach Tom Sullivan said. “The breaks just didn’t go our way.”

The Wildcatz had a long list of accomplishments this season. They won a share of the Monterey Bay League title, which was their first league championship since 1994. Quarterback Jerry Alvarez broke the Santa Cruz County record for passing yards in a season, and broke the single-game record for passing touchdowns in a game with seven. Fernando Olivarez broke the county’s single-season receiving yardage record, as well as the single-game records for receiving touchdowns (six) and yardage (318).

“Tonight we lost,” Sullivan said, “but the season on a whole, we won.”

The Wildcatz were held to a season low in points and lost for the first time by more than six points. Piedmont Hills had an athletic secondary and kept Watsonville from getting many big offensive plays.

And the Pirates certainly made their share of big plays, at least in the first quarter. Running back Derek Stewart rushed for a 75-yard touchdown on the game’s first offensive plays, then rushed for a 78-yard touchdown on his next carry. Two carries later, he rushed for a 38-yard touchdown that gave Piedmont Hills a 19-7 lead with 47.1 seconds left in the first quarter.

Stewart had 196 yards on four carries in the first quarter, and finished with 291 yards on 22 carries. Quarterback Joshua McCain added 98 yards rushing, including an

11-yard touchdown run that was the only scoring play of the second half.

Sullivan said Stewart was the best running back Watsonville had faced this season. He said defenders appeared to have the angle to tackle Stewart on his scoring runs, but the 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior was just too fast.

The Wildcatz responded well from Stewart’s initial touchdown, scoring on their fourth offensive play. After Alvarez scrambled for 35 yards, he hit Olivarez with a 25-yard touchdown pass.

Watsonville also had a quick answer after Stewart’s third touchdown. Starting on their own 27-yard line, the Wildcatz used a series of running plays and a 31-yard pass to Marco Hernandez to get to the Piedmont Hills 8. Running back Tony Mora, who had 108 yards rushing on 21 carries, then dashed into the end zone on the next play.

Alvarez finished 12-23 for 113 yards, and was held to 26 yards after halftime. Watsonville was held to 57 yards of offense in the second half.

“I thought our guys bounced back, fought hard,” Sullivan said. “We just came up short tonight.”



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