Football returns to Santa Cruz County with local high school matchup

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) The first varsity football game in Santa Cruz County happened Thursday night between St. Francis High School and Scotts Valley High School both playing at Santa Cruz High School.

"It feels great actually because we put in all this work in the off-season, we're just hoping for a season that we didn't know was sure to come, and just knowing that it's here finally just makes it all worth it," said Diego Gomez, a junior at St. Francis High.

"Very glad to be back out here, super happy for our kids. Very happy we got other sports like Cross Country up and running, tennis going next week, swimming going soon, volleyball going soon," said Adam Hazel, the athletic director at St. Francis High.

The road to this football game was long. All these football players and staff and coaches had to get COVID-19 tested.

"We tested just a couple days ago for COVID-19. Our team also tested last week. Scotts Valley also had two rounds of testing that they did. Thankfully, everything came up negative," said Hazel.

Stands that would normally be packed with families and friends sat mostly empty on Thursday. Everyone not playing football were wearing masks: coaches, cheerleaders and the drum line.

While the pandemic's presence did not disappear from the game, it seemed like everyone was just happy to be out here enjoying something we had once taken for granted. And this time, they are hoping it will last a while.

"There's a lot of kids that have sacrificed a lot and done a lot to try and better themselves in their individual sports. And this pandemic has hurt everybody, so hopefully it all comes together here sooner," said Gus Paz, a parent at St. Francis High.

Scotts Valley High won the game against St. Francis.