CASTROVILLE >> Before the season started, during North Monterey County High’s first football practice, head coach Juan Cuevas felt the road to a league title would run through Scotts Valley and Alisal.

And why not? Scotts Valley was the defending Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division North champions and Alisal had reached the Central Coast Section Division III title game.

As for his Condors. Well, Cuevas kind of winked and offered a wait-and-see moment.

That moment has come. And while nothing has been accomplished yet in terms of playoffs or a potential title, the Condors have scratched off two obstacles in their path after Friday’s 27-21 win over Alisal.

In North County’s last two games, it has rallied to beat Scotts Valley 14-12 and silenced the Trojans to remain one of two teams still undefeated in the Mission Division North.

“I remember thinking before the season started can we survive our first six games?” Cuevas said. “We’ve done more than that.”

The Condors haven’t been to the postseason since 2010. Owners of the second most league titles in county history, the last time they won a league crown was in 2003 when they were a member of the old Monterey Bay League.

“Let’s not jump too far ahead,” Cuevas said. “We still have four games. One of them (St. Francis) is also defeated. Another is our biggest rival. We have to stay locked in.”

For the all the celebrating in the locker room, it was also an emotional night for North County, as it was cancer awareness night this week.

“It was an emotional night,” Cuevas said. “I’ve had a brother that has dealt with cancer. I have a coach on the staff battling cancer. We shared stories about our loved ones. We channeled those emotions on the field.”

Having battled back from a pair double-digit deficits this year to pull out wins, the Condors seized control of the game from the start when AJ Gomez found Kenji Mellin in the first quarter for the first of their three touchdown connections.

“We felt we could move the ball through the air to complement our run game,” Cuevas said. “We were making adjustments and tweaks on the fly. One of those touchdowns was an RPO — run-pass, option.”

After Alisal (2-4) tied the game at seven, the Condors ran off the game’s next 20 points with Gomez finding Mellin — who didn’t play football last year — for touchdowns of 29 and 40 yards.

“It was about execution on our part,” Cuevas said. “I felt we left 21 points on the board two weeks ago. Other than that one drive, we punched it in. It was a chess match. We kept making adjustments.”

The one drive Cuevas was referring to came in the second quarter when North County had a touchdown called back three times because of penalties, with the drive eventually stalling out.

“Too many penalties on our part,” said Cuevas, whose squad is 4-2 overall. “We have to clean that up.”

North County’s defense set the tone for the offense in the second quarter when Victor Padilla fell on a fumble, setting up their second touchdown.

“They (Alisal) had no energy when we jumped out to a 27-7 lead,” Cuevas said. “Then we made some dumb mistakes and gave them energy back. We have to be smarter when we have a lead like that.”

Gomez finished with a career-high four touchdown passes, finding Leo Cruz from 10 yards out to pad the Condors’ lead to 20 with 2:26 left in the third quarter.

“Having the bye week really helped us,” said Cuevas, whose Condors will host Seaside next Friday. “We got some parts back.”

Jeremy Elledge, Kiki Jacinto and Jayden Durate all had touchdown runs for Alisal, which is 0-4 on the road this fall.

Aptos 34, Palma 31

Three times the Chieftains have had a chance to pull out wins in nail-biters. Two of them have ended in turnovers.

As a result, the defending State Division 4A champion Chieftains are 0-3 in league play for the first time in 45 years after falling to Aptos at Rabobank Stadium, sinking to 3-4 overall.

“We have to pick up the pieces, learn from it,” Palma coach Jeff Carnazzo said. “We need to eliminate the mistakes. We need to use this as opportunity like we did last year.”

This time last fall the Chieftains were 2-5 after being forced to forfeit three games because of an ineligible player. With three games left in the regular season, they might have to win two to ensure a 40th straight playoff appearance.

“I’m not thinking about the playoffs,” said Carnazzo, who was on the last Palma team to not make the playoffs as a player. “I’m just trying to find a way to win a game.”

Palma, which has bye next week, closes the season with games against Hollister, Monterey and Alvarez, with two of them being held at Rabobank, where it is 2-1 this season.

“I just told the kids we have to go back to the fundamentals,” Carnazzo said. “We didn’t tackle well. We need to be able to finish. We haven’t been able to do that. Some of that comes with youth and leadership. We’re searching.”

While there were three ties in the game, the Chieftains didn’t trail until there were seven minutes remaining when Aptos (4-3) took a 28-24 lead.

The deficit was brief as sophomore Eli Dukes rushed for his second touchdown of the game, going over 100 yards rushing with a 20-yard run to give Palma a 31-28 lead with 4:11 left.

Yet, for the third straight game, the defense gave up 30-plus points when the Mariners drove right down the field and scored with 1:17 left.

“Aptos puts pressure on your defense by coming up and snapping the ball,” Carnazzo said. “We practiced it all week. We just didn’t execute it tonight.”

Sophomore quarterback Patrick Driscoll connected with Lucas Milburn on a 60-yard touchdown pass as Palma broke up a 7-7 tie. David Garcia’s 11-yard touchdown run erased a 14-14 tie in the first half.

Seaside 26, Watsonville 17

There was reason for jubilation. A season filled with heartache finally saw the rewards of endless work in practice pay off for the Spartans, who walked off the field for the first time with a win.

“This is a tough rebuild,” Seaside coach Al Avila said. “More than 85 percent of this team were JV players last year. The kids weren’t ready when the season started. We’ve taken little steps each week. That’s what we’ve tried to highlight.”

In its 0-5 start, the Spartans had been outscored 239-56. Yet, for the first time this season, they went into halftime holding a 16-14 lead on Josiah Escort’s second rushing touchdown of the game.

“I’ve been humbled as a coach in the past,” Avila said. “The hardest thing about coaching is how do you get kids believing we can still win. These kids don’t know how to win. We haven’t had much success the last couple of years at the JV level.”

A pick-six by all-league defensive back Keon Ealey in the third quarter stretched the Spartans lead to 22-14. When their defense held Watsonville to a field goal in the fourth quarter, Avila could see that look in his players’ eyes.

“Sometimes you wonder in practice if we’re ever going to get it right,” Avila said. “But you see the progress. There is something there. We started seeing flashes.”

Injuries have crippled the Spartans progress. Two weeks ago, Avila had just 15 players able to practice. Two straight weeks he suited up 20 players before getting 25 in uniform against Watsonville.

Seaside, which closest defeat was by 21 points, celebrated with a purpose, ending a seven-game losing streak that dates back last year, when it dropped its final regular season game and its first-round playoff matchup.

“It felt so good to see the look on these kids’ faces,” Avila said. “We’re just getting better. Does it mean we will win another game? It wears you out. A lot of these kids will be back next year. But we’ll need another big off-season to get to another level.”

Stevenson 59, Santa Cruz 14

The Pirates are again in the hunt for a Pacific Coast Athletic League Santa Lucia Division title, going into their final three games of the season undefeated in league play.

Stevenson, which won the title in 2022, is one of three teams still undefeated in league, joining Pajaro Valley and San Lorenzo Valley, which is 6-0.

“Things will start to shake out,” Stevenson coach Kyle Cassamas said. “Our concern right now is Pajaro Valley. We’re not looking past anyone. We are far from completing the mission.”

The mission Saturday was to play four quarters of football. While the Pirates (4-2) put up a season-high 59 points, Cassamas still believes the best version of his team has yet to show up.

“Last week I asked the kids if they felt we had played a complete game,” Cassamas said. “The answer was ‘No.’ We knew this was something we could improve upon. We wanted to play our best version of football, bring some fun back with it.”

With his core at the skill positions fully intact, quarterback Fin Mink took advantage of his weapons, throwing for 346 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for 85 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown run.

Mink found Derek Diniz for two touchdowns. He also connected with Grady Roth six times for 80 yards and a touchdown, Flint Dickson three times for 85 yards and a score, and Caden Olson on a 32-yard touchdown pass.

“We see how the schedule is shaking out,” Cassamas said. “We moved some people around in different places today. We got a chance to prepare for the future.”

Tono Borgamini provided 61 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Tommy Dayton added a touchdown run, while finishing with 15 tackles on defense.

San Lorenzo Valley 48, Marina 7

Staring at an early deficit, the Cougars warmed to the weather Saturday afternoon in Felton, running off 48 unanswered points to improve to 6-0.

“Moving forward, it’s day-to-day, not week-to-week,” Marina coach JD Dennis said. “The mistakes we make are coming in practice. We have to clean that up first. We weren’t mentally or physically in-tuned at practice this past week.”

Yet, whatever was said in pregame, Dennis needs to bottle that for four quarters as Marina opened the game with a six-play, 80-yard drive, highlighted by Elon Espinosa connecting with Titus Calvera on a 34-yard completion.

Raju David capped the impressive drive when he took a snap out of the “wildcat” formation and gave Marina a 7-0 lead with a 4-yard touchdown run.

However, a turning point in the game came with 10 seconds left in the first half when the Cougars, holding a 14-7 lead, scored on a 70-yard pass. Momentum quickly swung when SLV took the second half kickoff and scored to open up a 28-7 cushion.

“That was like a 14-point swing,” said Dennis, who guided Marina to a school record seven-win season in 2022. “The emphasis in practice has to be about energy. That’s on me. I need to challenge myself as well. We will make some changes.”

Marina will look to snap a two-game skid next Friday when it visits Santa Cruz, which has dropped 19 straight games dating back to 2022.

King City 21, Greenfield 14

The Mustangs snapped a three-game losing streak, keeping its slim postseason hopes alive by ending a two-year losing streak to rival Greenfield.

Trailing 14-7 at the half, the Mustangs controlled the second half, tying the game when Junior Manriquez found sophomore Carson Tidwell on a 61-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.

With the King City defense pitching a shutout in the second half, Alex Macias gave them the lead when he plowed in from 4-yards out with 8:30 left.

The Bruins, who have dropped five straight after a 2-0 start, drove to midfield on their final drive, before Macias knocked a fourth-down pass away with 25 seconds left.

Soledad 48, Rancho San Juan 0

Scoring on their first six possessions, the Aztecs erupted for a season-high 48 points in evening their overall record at 3-3.

Julio Camacho rushed for three touchdowns on Soledad’s first three drives, including a 72-yard run to open the game, while DJ Valenzuela tossed three touchdowns.

The junior quarterback found Alex Boykin on touchdown passes of 14 and 18 yards, and connected with Josh Grover in the end zone, while Gio Gallegos closed the scoring with a 50-yard touchdown run.

The shutout for the Aztecs’ defense was their first this year and first since 2022, when they set a single-season school record for wins with nine in capturing the Cypress Division title.

Having fallen to 0-6, the Trailblazers have now dropped their last 13 games dating back to 2023. Their offensive struggles continue as they’ve been held out of the end zone in five of their six games.