Fabiano Hale has been on a record-breaking rampage this season and he did it yet again on Saturday when he set the all-time single-season rushing record with 2,452 yards on 234 carries. However, the rest of the Soquel High football team wasn’t able to complement the achievement with a win on the road.
There wasn't much the Knights (9-3) could do to stop the rushing attack of Sacred Heart Prep (11-1) as their impressive season came to an end after a 47-17 Central Coast Section Division IV playoff loss in Atherton.
“I think Sacred Heart is a pretty good football team,” said Soquel head coach Ron Meyers. “They were really able to dominate both lines of scrimmage. That’s the best offensive line I’ve seen this year. They fought their way to finals and they deserve to be there.”
Soquel came into the match averaging 43 points per game but were held to their lowest point total of year since November 2011 when they only scored 14 points against Santa Cruz High.
Hale was held to 134 yards on 19 carries that included a bruising 5-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Still, it was enough to break the previous Santa Cruz County record of 2,360 yards on 300 carries set by Harbor High’s running back Calvin Keyser-Allen in 2000.
“When you say Keyser-Allen you’re talking about a class person as well as a football player,” said Meyers. “When you say Fabiano Hale, it’s the same thing. You’re talking about a class individual and not just a great football player.”
Hale also set the county-record for scoring 258 points in a season.
The entire offense came up with a total of 338 yards but they weren’t able to construct enough solid drives to put points on the scoreboard.
The Knights had to play catch up the entire game after the defense gave up five touchdowns in the first half. Three of them were thrown by Gators quarterback Kevin Donahoe who connected with wide receiver Rex Shannon on each pass.
Without a doubt the Gators dominated the ground game after running backs Ryan Gaertner and Andrew Segre combined for 237 of the 295 yards gained in Sunday’s playoff match. Serge also contributed three touchdowns with two of them coming in the second half that gave Sacred Heart Prep the guaranteed victory.
The biggest highlight of the game for Soquel came in the second quarter when quarterback Lucas Cordoza hit wide receiver Tresten Peacock with a quick pass that turned it into a 50-yard touchdown. Peacock was able to break a tackle and ran past the Gators defense for the score.
Although the end result to Saturday’s game wasn’t what Meyers had in mind, the entire season was still a success and there’s no denying that the head coach was proud of his football team.
“I’m really happy with and for these kids and the way they were able to play together as a team this year,” he said. “Getting through healthy and being able to play twelve games then letting it all out, that is special.”
