Santa Cruz High’s football team snapped its scoreless streak in a 40-20 nonleague loss to visiting Scotts Valley to open the 2024 season Friday.

The Cardinals, who were held scoreless last season, produced their first touchdown since Oct. 14, 2022.

“I was happy with our boys’ effort,” said Sergio Escobar, the Cardinals’ first-year head coach. “They didn’t quit.”

The Falcons, the defending Pacific Coast Athletic League Mission Division North champion, jumped out to a 20-0 lead at the half. They finished with 350 yards rushing and 439 yards on offense.

Running back Eli Velez had 17 carries for 190 yards and three touchdowns.

Sophomore Ryder Quilici was 4-of-5 passing for 89 yards and one touchdown. Senior tight end/linebacker Jesse Ringel, the Mission North Defensive Player of the Year last season, had a 40-yard touchdown reception for the Falcons.

“That’s a grown man out there and he played like it,” Escobar said of Ringel.

Falcons’ two-way lineman Khaliel Milhouse (6-foot-3, 290 pounds) can add running back to his résumé. He shined on the tail end of a hitch-and-pitch trick play and, later, scored on a 12-yard run. Cardinals fans know Milhouse well. His dad, Lawan, is the boys basketball coach at Santa Cruz.

Running back/safety Niko Smutzer scored on a 5-yard run on offense and recorded an interception on defense. Cole Robbins scored on a 40-yard run for the Falcons.

Cardinals quarterback Neven Ristic passed for 135 yards and led his team on three scoring drives in the second half.He connected with Adrian Pendergast from 30 yards out and Soji Agbelekale from 8 yards out in the third quarter, and rushed for a 12-yard score in the fourth quarter.

Pendergast finished with three catches for 77 yards, Brodie Hale had four catches for 72 yards, and Agbelekale had three catches for 30 yards.

“We have to put together our focus for 48 minutes,” Escobar said.

Santa Cruz (0-1) plays at Watsonville (0-1) on Friday at 7 p.m., and Scotts Valley (1-0) hosts Branham (0-1) of San Jose on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Piedmont Hills 49, MVC 28

SAN JOSE >> Quarterback Dominic Pierini, who passed for a county record 3,057 yards last season, threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns in the Mustangs’ nonleague loss Friday.

Pierini completed 27 of his 46 attempts. He also threw a pair of interceptions and lost two fumbles.

Senior receiver Nico Downie had seven catches for 137 yards and scored on the first play of the game, a 79-yard strike from Pierini.

Junior receiver Boston Ashe had four catches for 115 yards and hauled a 49-yard scoring pass in the first quarter, which helped MVC jump out to a 13-0 lead. Sophomore receiver Jordan Ramirez had nine catches for 75 yards and scored on a 27-yard reception in the second quarter.

MVC senior running back/linebacker Max Torres shined on both sides of the ball. He had five catches for 52 yards and scored on a 21-yard pass.

Mustangs senior linebacker Gunner Sorensen made 14 tackles, including two for a loss of yards. Senior safety Rykin Resurreccion recorded an interception, and two-way lineman James Hanzlik made a fumble recovery.

MVC (0-1) plays at Santa Clara (1-0) on Friday at 7 p.m.

Greenfield 14, Watsonville 7

GREENFIELD >> Anthony Landa scored on a 17-yard pass from quarterback Anthony Razo to give the Wildcatz the lead in the first quarter, but the Bruins rallied for the nonleague win Friday.

Bruins quarterback Chris Morris produced the decisive score with his 24-yard touchdown run with 8:34 remaining. AJ Martínez scored for the Bruins on a 1-yard run in the third quarter.

“This was 1,000 percent on me tonight,” said Manny Contreras, the Wildcatz’s first-year coach. “I’m so damn proud of the boys. They fought tonight and never gave up. This ‘L’ was on me. I love my ‘Catz. I’ll sit with this for 25 hours, a whole day and one hour, into Sunday and the it’s Santa Cruz week.”

Free safety Nate Aguilar recovered a fumble for the Wildcatz (0-1).

Del Mar 34, Harbor 12

SANTA CRUZ >> Senior running back Fausto Gonzales and quarterback Luke Griffin scored on runs, but the Pirates dropped their season opener Friday,

Senior linebacker Johan Perez had 12-plus tackles for the Pirates.

“They’re the defending (Blossom Valley Athletic League) champs for a reason,” Pirates coach James Gaynor Jr. said. “We hurt ourselves on a lot of good offensive drives. Anytime you finish minus-4 in turnover margin, it’s not a great recipe for success. It was good to see our guys fight throughout the night but we need to clean up the mental errors in order to compete with good football teams.”

Harbor (0-1) plays at Yerba Buena (0-1) in San Jose on Friday at 7 p.m.