WATSONVILLE >> St. Francis High’s football team may not get an opportunity to play in the Central Coast Section playoffs this season, but in some way, they still won a section title. Around town they’ll be known as “Kings of the ‘Ville.”

The Sharks dominated on the line of scrimmage, and rolled to a 56-29 win over host Monte Vista Christian to lock up a share of second place in the Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Mission North Division on Saturday night.

St. Francis, which boats an enrollment of 220 students, was an 11-point underdog, according to calpreps.com’s computer generated predictions. The Sharks weren’t having any of it. They scored on their first five possessions and never looked back.

“We remember what they did to us last year — they walked us off at our house, stormed our field,” Sharks quarterback Javier Fonseca-DaRosa said, “so we just kept that in our mind all season — this is the most important game all season, for sure.”

In addition to St. Francis and MVC, two other high schools reside in city limits, Pajaro Valley and Watsonville, and the Sharks (7-3, 4-2) also earned wins over them this season.

The Sharks finished tied with Alisal (5-5, 4-2) in the Mission North Division behind champion North Monterey County 7-3,, 5-1). The division gets two automatic berths into the playoffs, and the Trojans essentially earned the second spot with their 33-27 win over the visiting Sharks on Oct. 18.

The Sharks ran to set up their pay-action pass with tremendous success against MVC. That’s because the Mustangs were unable to contain diminutive running back Joseph Dayritt, He rushed for 261 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries.

“Joseph runs hard. He has an amazing o-line in front of him,” Sharks coach John Ausman said. “They really set the tone in the game, and we came out and executed the game plan.”

Dayritt exited the game with concussion-like symptoms after being hit in the end zone while scoring his final touchdown with 5:36 remaining.

“Man, he put all his body on the line, as you can see,” Fonseca-DaRosa said. “Every practice, every game, he just gives it his all. I’m so proud of the kid. … In my opinion, he’s the best running back in the league.”

Fonseca-DaRosa threw touchdowns on his first three pass attempts, all to 6-foot-2 receiver Jacob Jimenez, and finished 8 of 11 for 181 yards and four touchdowns. He threw one interception.

Jimenez served as quarterback while Fonseca-DaRosa was sidelined with an injury a few weeks back. Though the old adage is, “It’s better to give than to receive,” Jimenez’s flexing touchdown celebrations would attest that receiving is pretty fulfilling, too.

Jimenez finished with five catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns.

“He’s been my go-to guy all year,” Fonseca-DaRosa said. “When I’m freaking stressed out, I can just throw the ball to him and it’s coming down in his arms. It’s a really good security blanket knowing that if I give him a chance, he’s most likely coming down with the ball.”

Teammate Robert Gomez hauled in a 24-yard touchdown pass.

It was the final game for the record setting MVC duo of quarterback Dominic Pierini and receiver Nico Downie, both seniors.

The Sharks were intent on pressuring Pierini and shutting down Downie and were successful on both fronts. Defensive lineman John Croghan batted down four passes and had a handful of quarterback hurries.

“It’s the last game, we wanted to end it right,” Croghan said. “I think everyone just gave a lot of heart today.”

Pierini’s first five attempts fell incomplete, but he finished with a standard day at the office — another remarkable outing. He completed 31of his 56 passes for 387 yards and two touchdowns.

With Downie serving as a marked man — he was held to five catches for 50 yards — teammate Boston Ashe benefitted with the Sharks’ defensive focus elsewhere. Ashe made 11 receptions for 216 yards and a pair of scores. Max Torres had seven catches for 43 yards.

Torres also rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, and MVC kicker Julian Pizarro booted a 31-yard field goal.

Pierini was emotional after his final home game. He hugged coach Spencer Ferrari-Wood after the game and his teammates, too. He also posed for photographs, documenting his final game in black, white and blue.

The Mustangs quarterback finished the regular season leading the state in passing yards (3,789), a total that broke his single-season passing record for Santa Cruz County from last year (3,057). He is the county’s all-time career passing yardage leader with 8,312 yards. He also holds the county’s single-game mark (486). He also set county marks for touchdown passes in a season (35) and career (77).

“I’m just proud of my guys,” Pierini said. “I mean, I couldn’t do anything I do if they weren’t around. I still think we’re the best team out. I’m so proud of us.”

Pierini has shined in the face of adversity. He has a lot on his schedule trying to balance classwork, athletics, planning to secure his college path, and parenthood. He and his girlfriend have a 7-month-old son, Ezra.

“I’m just blessed to have a great family and a lot of support,” he said. “My girlfriend has really been there for me, telling me to keep doing what I’m doing. Without her, I probably wouldn’t be able to do this. My mom has been amazing, my whole family. It’s a group effort, but me and my girlfriend are stepping up. I’m just very appreciative of everyone around me.”

Downie finished the season with a state-leading 1,620 receiving yards, and 14 TDs. In his career, he hauled in 193 passes for 3,332 yards and 38 touchdowns — the latter two totals are county records.

“He’s a great player and we decided we were going to take him out of the game, and make them beat us with someone else, and we executed our game plan,” Ausman said. “I can’t be more proud of this group of seniors, and this group.”

SLV 21, Pajaro Valley 20

WATSONVILLE — The Cougars won a thriller on Saturday to finish in second place in the PCAL’s Santa Lucia Division and post their first nine-win season since 2010.

Despite their success, the Cougars (9-1, 5-1), who play in the bottom tier of the PCAL equity league, aren’t a lock to make the CCS playoffs with an at-large berth. Champion Stevenson (7-2, 6-0) of Pebble Beach earned the division’s lone automatic berth to the playoffs.

“Our guys feel really good to get to nine wins this season,” aid David Grant, the Cougars’ head coach. “We are hoping to get an at-large spot for the playoffs, but we know it’s gonna be tight. If we don’t make it in, we know that this team has done so much in a short amount of time and they have been a huge boost to our school and to our community. For sure, the future looks really bright for SLV football.”

SLV quarterback Jack Dagan passed for 200-plus yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions. He connected with Winston Wells on a 56-yard scoring pass and Jordan Renteria on a 13-yard touchdown pass as the Cougars rallied from a 14-0 deficit.

The Cougars’ Chase Thomsen had 56 yards rushing, including a 33 yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

“We knew this was going to be a physical game,” said David Grant, the Cougars’ head coach. “I’m really impressed with our team, the way they fought to get back in this game and take the lead.”

Pajaro Valley scored with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter to pull within a point, 21-20. The Grizzlies went for two-point conversion and was stopped by SLV’s defense.

SLV senior defensive tackle Haden Woolworth made 11 tackle, and Jacob Hardin, Olin Bates and Brodie Prater each made 10 tackles. Hardin also had a fumble recovery.

Gonzales 42, Harbor 6

SOLEDAD — Andres Martinez threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Maxwell Falconer for the Pirates’ lone touchdown in the teams’ PCAL Santa Lucia Division and regular-season finale at Soledad High on Saturday night.

The Pirates made four turnovers in the second half that led to 28 unanswered points for the Spartans.

Junior Adrian Canizal made for tackles for Harbor.

The Spartans (6-4, 4-2) finished in third place, and the Pirates (1-8, 0-6) took seventh.