Photos

By Andrew Preimesberger
Palo Alto Online Sports

The historic showdown is all set in the Central Coast Section Division IV football playoffs: Sacred Heart Prep against Menlo School.

For the first time ever, the two neighborhood rivals will meet for a section championship in football. That will happen this Saturday at Terra Nova High in Pacifica at 7 p.m.

Menlo School set up one half of the showdown with a 41-27 upset of top-seeded Seaside on Friday night. Sacred Heart Prep took care of the other half with a 47-17 semifinal triumph over No. 6 Soquel on Saturday on the Gators' field.

Second-seeded Sacred Heart improved to 11-1 overall while Soquel ended its season at 9-3. Fourth-seeded Menlo will take a 10-2 mark into the finale.

The Gators have chance to set a school record for most single-season wins by winning next weekend. SHP finished 11-1-1 after losing to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the '08 finals. Menlo is averaging 48.5 points in two CCS wins while SHP is averaging 46 points per game in the postseason.

"I thought the defense today controlled their running back today," Sacred Heart coach Peter Lavorato said of Soquel junior Fabiano Hale. "Offensively, we ran the ball well, too."

Fabiano Hale finished the season with Santa Cruz County record of 2,340 yards and 41 touchdowns. Hale was held to 125 yards by Sacred Heart's tenacious defense, which limited the Knights to their lowest scoring total of the season.
Soquel had been averaging 43 points a game.

Mike Covell (14 tackles), Paul Westcott (13) plus Daniel Thaure (10), Nick Salzman (10) and Ben Burr-Kirven led the defensive effort.

Sacred Heart Prep came into the game limiting opponents to an average of 9.5 points a game, the best defensive mark in the CCS.

The Gators came out strong with junior Andrew Segre scoring on a nine-yard run on the very first possession. On their second drive of the game, senior quarterback Kevin Donahoe connected with wide receiver Rex Shannon for an 81-yard touchdown putting SHP up 14-3 after the first quarter. Shannon, who came into the game with 285 yards and three touchdowns, finished with 134 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

"Kevin Donahoe played absolutely unbelievable," said Shannon. "He threw some great balls, so I've got to give the credit to him."

Donahoe found a wide-open Shannon again for a 22-yard touchdown putting the Gators up 33-10 to end the first half. Donahoe completed 5-of-6 passes for 151 yards in the first half alone and finished 6-of-7 for 166.

The strong Sacred Heart running game came into full effect in the second half when Segre ran in for a 14-yard touchdown to widen the gap for the Gators, 40-17. Segre and senior Ryan Gaertner combined for 242 total yards, with Gaertner leading the way with 135 yards on 18 carries.

In the fourth quarter Segre muscled his way in for a four-yard touchdown to put the Gators up 47-17, He finished with 107 yards and three touchdowns as the Gators gained 301 on the ground.

"I can't describe how excited I am," said Donahoe. "Our whole goal this year was to make it to CCS finals, and then the fact that we play a team that's our crosstown rival -- it's going to be a lot of fun."

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