LOS GATOS — Los Gatos stopped St. Francis inches short of the goal line.

Then the Wildcats did it again. And then one more time.

As the clock then ticked down to zero at Los Gatos High, the Cats defense improbably sealed a 14-7 win in the opening round of the Central Coast Section Open/Division I playoffs, holding St. Francis running back Kaimani Keanaaina — who had largely been unstoppable in the second half — to 1 yard on his three final rushing attempts.

On the last one, which featured star offensive lineman Garrett Bertsch jumping in to help the Cats reinforce their goal-line, no-gap defense, a herd of Los Gatos linemen and linebackers swarmed the line of scrimmage and stonewalled Keanaaina short once again, then piled on to freeze out the final seconds as the clock ran out on the Lancers’ season.

It was Bertsch’s first defensive play of the season. He and his teammates made it their play of the year.

“I just loved playing with that group of guys at the end, and I wanted to come up big for them,” said Bertsch, who was one of the first Cats to contact Keanaaina on the final play. “It was a group effort.”

Bertsch said Los Gatos had practiced a heavy short-yardage formation in case St. Francis opted to run its own heavy personnel package. Though Keanaaina continually broke out long runs throughout the second half, the Wildcats willed themselves to stop him when they needed it.

Los Gatos will play host to fourth-seeded Palma in the semifinals next week. Palma beat Soquel 28-0 Friday.

The Wildcats (8-3) took the first lead when Callum Schweitzer found Beau Musser for a 3-yard TD pass in the second quarter. The Lancers (5-6)tied the score on a 3-yard quarterback sneak by Drew Cumby.

The Wildcats scored their final points when Schweitzer found Shane Harmer for a 12-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.