FELTON >> It wasn’t the nearby towering redwoods speaking as a light breeze rustled their branches. It was personnel along San Lorenzo Valley High’s sideline saying “no” under their breath as Cougars quarterback Jack Dagan rolled out right and looked to make an ill-advised throw into the end zone among a sea of Scotts Valley defenders.

Dagan made the pass on the 3rd-and-12 play from the 17-yard line. His intended target didn’t make the catch. That’s because receiver Riley Johnson had a beat on it and made a leaping reception for the go-ahead touchdown with 7:24 remaining in the rivals’ nonleague game Saturday.

Those naysayers, the players on the sideline and hundreds of Cougars fans went bonkers.

The Cougars made another defensive stand, earned a coveted first down on offense, and kneeled on the ball twice to help secure a hard-fought, 14-7 victory, their first over Scotts Valley since 2017.

“I’m feeling great, finally beating Scotts Valley,” Johnson said. “We haven’t beat them on varsity in like seven years. It’s a great feeling. Honestly, like walking into the game today, I was so nervous. I had some doubts we were going to win, but we put it all on the field and had a great day.”

The Cougars enjoyed every moment of their sun-kissed victory. They received a raucous applause after they thanked their fans for their support, and lineman Haden Woolworth stayed at midfield after his team met and pretended to make a snow angel in the scorching synthetic turf field.

Dozens of fans greeted coach David Grant with handshakes and high-fives as he made the trek from the field to the team room on campus to meet with his players after the game.

“We’ve got some guys who have been on varsity for three years and it shows,” Grant said. “That’s what makes me feel good as a coach right now: to see the energy in our program. To see these guys respond in a big game — Scotts Valley is a rivalry game. They’re a very physical team — and for us to come out and get this ‘W’ was huge.”

With its cherished victory, SLV improved to 3-0 for the first time since ’16. The Cougars have also have wins over South San Francisco, the defending Central Coast Section Division V champion, and Gunderson of San Jose.

They’ll look to extend their streak on Saturday against visiting Greenfield (2-1) at 12:30 p.m.

It was another tough loss for the Falcons (1-2), the defending Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division North champions, who were coming off a 60-35 loss to Branham of San Jose after beating Santa Cruz in their opener. SLV competes in the bottom tier of the PCAL, in the Santa Lucia Division.

The Falcons are hoping to get back on track against a considerably more formidable opponent next week. They host Soquel, the defending CIF Division 4-AA state champion, on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Knights compete in the PCAL’s top tier, the Gabilan Division.

“Tough loss, but, obviously, we’re going to bounce back next week,” Falcons quarterback Ryder Quilici said. “We got a good opponent, Soquel. We just gotta get ready for them. Move forward.”

SLV marched 70 yards on nine plays for its game winning score. Johnson wasn’t the only Cougar delivering late-game heroics on the drive. Receiver Jordan Renteria made a leaping catch for a 31-yard gain along the right sideline that made Dagan’s scrambling and downfield heave worthwhile.

Diminutive sophomore running back Justin Griffis ran with authority and finished with 96 yards on 24 carries. He gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter with his 2-yard scoring run, which came a play after Johnson’s big interception and return.

“He’s a tough dude, man,” Grant said of Griffis. “He packs a punch, I’ll tell you that. We saw that in the jamboree, man. He runs hard, he has a low center of gravity, and the dude is friggin’ strong, man. We saw it in the weight room in the spring. As a freshman, I think he did (squatted) 350 pounds almost 10 times. I knew for sure, ‘This guy is ready for varsity.’ “

Scotts Valley knotted the score at 7-all in the fourth quarter. Senior running back Eli Velez scored on a 1-yard run to cap a seven-play, 53-yard drive, which was aided by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct infraction against the Falcons for celebrating a big tackle.

Velez finished with 118 yards rushing on 23 carries. The Falcons finished with 115 yards rushing on 28 attempts, and 27 yards passing on three completions.

SLV finished with 149 yards rushing on 41 attempts, and Dagan completed 6 of 18 passes for 77 yards.The Cougars also lost a fumble that was recovered by the Cougars’ Ollin Bates.

Gabe Machado, Grady Cloyd and Dominick Aguilar also had solid showing on defense for the Cougars.

“They were moving fast,” Quilici said of the Falcons. “They came out emphatic; they wanted the game more than we did.”

Falcons linebacker Jesse Ringel had 10-plus tackles and batted down a pair of passes.

North Salinas 47, Santa Cruz 7

SANTA CRUZ — The Cardinals paid tribute to their late teammate Kalden Tsering, who took his life on Wednesday evening, by playing in his honor throughout Saturday night’s nonleague game.

Santa Cruz canceled practice Thursday. The players voted to play the game to honor Tsering’s rather than cancel it. North Salinas agreed to push it back a day to accommodate the grieving Cardinals.

The Cardinals, wearing decals on their helmets to pay tribute to Tsering, sprinted onto the field for warmups while carrying his No. 25 jersey. And three team captains brought it with them to the coin flip.

Tsering, also a standout goalie on the soccer team, was first-year football player. Santa Cruz took the field with 10 players, leaving Tsering’s cornerback spot vacated. North Salinas was flagged for a delay of game as the crowd cheered during the gesture and the Cardinals declined the penalty.

“We wanted it more like of a celebration of life, especially given the type of kid Kal was,” said Sergio Escobar, the Cardinals’ first-year head coach. “We felt that was better than a moment of silence. Kal was always so nice, just a fun-loving guy, and super positive.”

Escobar said his top priority was for the Cardinals to enjoy themselves on the field.

“Yeah, we wanted to win, but this game was about more than the outcome. I wanted an outlet for my players. We needed to turn some of this negative energy into something positive and move forward from it.”

Escobar thanked North Salinas coaches and players for their heart-felt contributions. The Vikings gave a bouquet of flowers to Tsering’s mother, who spoke to the crowd during pregame ceremonies, as did Santa Cruz Prinicpal Michelle Poirier.

On the field, the Vikings were big, physical and dominant.

“We had a tough time getting them off the field,” said Escobar, of the Vikings’ offense.

Quarterback Neven Ristic produced the Cardinals’ lone touchdown with his 7-yard scoring run in the first quarter.

Sophomore running back AJ DeCosta was a workhorse for Santa Cruz with 15-plus carries and three receptions.

Santa Cruz (0-3) plays at Soledad (1-2) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.