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Los Altos would have won the SCVAL’s El Camino Division championship with a win Friday. But Cupertino, with a fourth-quarter touchdown, pulled out a 17-14 victory. As a result, Los Altos, Cupertino and Gunn finished in a three-way tie for first place, all at 5-1 in divisional play.
Where does that leave the El Camino Division’s automatic qualifiers into the Central Coast Section playoffs?
The coaches were unsure immediately after Friday’s game and planned on meeting Saturday, along with Gunn coach Jason Miller, to hash it out prior to Sunday’s CCS seeding meeting.
The El Camino Division gets two CCS qualifiers. Since the three co-titlists all went 1-1 against each other, power points will determine who gets in and who stays home.
“The guys played their hearts out,” Los Altos coach Dave DeGeronimo said. “I’m going to apply anyway and see what happens. They deserve it.”
Cupertino (9-1) played well defensively Friday, shutting down the Los Altos ground game throughout. The Pioneers led 10-0 at halftime and outgained Los Altos 180-37 over the first two quarters.
Los Altos (7-3) took the second-half kickoff and drove for a touchdown, a 1-yard run on fourth down by Zach Fagin.
Then the Eagles forced a punt, and took the lead on a 65-yard pass from Jimmy Flynn to Cole Rafferty. After lining up split to the left side for most of the game, Rafferty lined up wide right on that play with three other receivers trips left. Flynn hit Rafferty in a seam over the middle and the standout receiver took it all the way.
The 14-10 lead stood until Cupertino went on a 47-yard, six-play drive that culminated on a 5-yard touchdown run by Ricky Hernandez with 6:54 left.
The Eagles tried to respond, but fell short. Taking over on their own 34, Rafferty came up with a 40-yard reception against a double team and caught a 13-yard pass from Flynn on a third-and-17 play to bring up fourth and 4 from the 19. A 36-yard field-goal attempt missed, and Cupertino was able to run out the clock.
Rafferty had four catches for 132 yards and also had an interception.
“He’s sensational as a receiver and defensive back,” DeGeronimo said. “He bailed us out of a lot of situations. I like our chances on 50-50 balls.”
After a rough start in which two of his first four passes were intercepted, Flynn finished 10 of 20 for 212 yards.
“His ability to stretch the field vertically was the difference in our winning season,” DeGeronimo said of his sophomore quarterback.
