St. Helena scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to hold off Sonoma Valley for a 34-28 win in the first round of the North Coast Section Division 6 playoffs Friday night in Napa County.

The second-seeded Saints (11-0) trailed 21-14 at halftime to the seventh-seeded Dragons (9-2) but rallied behind a huge game from senior quarterback Jhony Covarrubias, who passed for 226 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for a season-high 131 yards with two more scores to lead the Saints into the second round.

How it happened

Both teams opened the game with long scoring plays on their opening drives, Sonoma Valley with a 54-yard connection between quarterback Dalan Lopata to Colin Buckley to open the game and St. Helena with a 39-yard run from Covarrubias.

The Saints then forced a turnover on downs deep in their own territory but had their next three drives end on turnovers.

A fumble led to a three-yard touchdown run from the Dragons’ star running back, Cayden Waldrop, to make it 14-7 early in the second quarter.

The Saints fumbled again on their next drive but made another defensive stand at their own goal line, Waldrop coming up a yard short on fourth and goal from the seven. Chuy Ordaz then came up with an interception of Covarrubias and the Dragons got back into the end zone eight plays later on another short plunge from Waldrop to make it 21-7 late in the second quarter.

The Saints got some momentum back heading into the locker room after Covarrubias hit Dean Sommer for a 21-yard score with 26 seconds left in the first half to send the game to the break 21-14.

Out of halftime, the Saints marched down the field with an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive, capped by a short keeper from Covarrubias. The PAT was blocked by Sonoma Valley to retain the lead at 21-20.

The Dragons, however, had a promising drive stall out, stunted by a fumbled snap on third down and short at midfield. They were unable to convert on fourth down and the Saints took advantage.

Covarrubias gave the Saints the lead for the first and last time in the contest with a 37-yard strike to Sommer to make it 26-21 with 1:43 left in the third.

The Dragons turned the ball over on downs again inside St. Helena territory early in the fourth but got the ball back inside their own red zone on an interception from Angello Tellez with about six minutes left in the game.

But again, the Saints’ defense came up with a huge play as Oliver Harvey picked off Lopata inside St. Helena territory to get the ball back with four minutes to go.

Then, Covarrubias broke off his largest run of the game, a 52-yard scramble from midfield that put the Saints at the Dragons’ goal line. He punched in the short keeper a few plays later to make it 34-21 with two minutes left.

The Dragons pulled back within a score as Lopata broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run with 1:24 left, but they opted to pooch kick the ensuing kickoff. The Saints recovered and kneeled out the clock.

Lopata passed for 167 yards on 11-of-25 attempts with a touchdown and a pick and rushed for a score on the night. Waldrop led the offensive effort for the Dragons with 180 rushing yards on 32 carries with two scores.

Covarrubias accounted for 357 of the Saints’ 462 total yards in the game. Sommer had a huge game receiving, hauling in nine catches for 158 yards with two scores.

Key play

Covarrubias’ 52-yard rush that set up the Saints’ final touchdown was the play that iced the game. It was on a key third down and a stop would have given the Dragons the ball back with a chance to take the lead in the closing minutes.

Quotable

“Gritty win. They gave us everything we could handle on defense. They ran the ball really well and they were able to spread it out with their receivers. Their perimeter game was really tough for us to defend. At halftime we were able to make some adjustments with our defensive ends to kind of string out that edge better. But Sonoma Valley, they’re well coached. They battled hard.” — St. Helena head coach Erick Larsen

“He does such a great job. If he sees something the defense is giving him, he has the confidence to check that and that paid dividends for us. He’s a smart quarterback and knows how to get the ball to his receivers. The boys are just playing as a unit. It’s really nice to see.” — Larsen on Covarrubias

“It’s honestly great. Kind of surreal. Can’t believe this is happening. Back in sophomore year, we lost to Ferndale, we were up first half, fell short, but this year is different.” — Covarrubias

Takeaways

This was as gritty and resilient a win as you’ll find, and probably an indication that St. Helena’s close league battles made them a bit more prepared for the playoffs than Sonoma Valley.

The Saints only had two games decided by a touchdown or less than this year, a 41-34 win over Middletown on Oct. 3 and a 28-20 win over Willits on Oct. 31. That’s two one-score games in their final five games of the regular season.

Sonoma Valley, conversely, also had two one-score games this year, but they both came within the first four weeks of the season.

The Saints were simply better equipped to rally from their first-half deficit. It was an ugly first half, too, with three turnovers and an early 21-7 hole, but the late score from Sommer was huge in keeping this game close.

The loss ends one of the best two-year runs for Sonoma Valley maybe ever. The Dragons went 12-1 last year and were NCS Division 5 runners-up and went 9-1 in the regular season this year to capture their second straight league title. It’ll be interesting to see what the Dragons do next year with 22 seniors graduating, including Lopata, Waldrop and most of their standouts on both sides of the ball. Head coach Max Pond has been a revelation these past two years, but it’s hard to see anything but a rebuilding year in 2026.

The Saints, meanwhile, continue their unbeaten season and will be hosts in the semifinals again but have a much taller task in Bishop O’Dowd coming to town Friday. The Saints will need to play a perfect game to have a chance to advance to the section title game.

Up next

St. Helena will host No. 3 seed Bishop O’Dowd (7-4) in the Division 6 semifinals Friday night.