The Spartans defeated rival Los Altos High School Friday with a final score of 31-6, placing them second in the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs.

This is the fourth year in a row that the team has won the annual Pride Bowl, in which LAHS and MVHS compete for the Pride Bowl trophy at the end of the regular league season.

The Eagles scored the first touchdown midway through the first quarter and initially took the lead. But in the last minute of the first quarter, Quarterback Kevin Conway made a 43 yard touchdown pass to Andre Guimaraes Jr., putting MVHS in the lead at 7-6.

“We started out a little slow but I mean, we got right back on it,” senior Kevin Klemm said. “It’s really just our intensity starting out, but once we have that we’re good.”

The Spartans scored again at the end of the second quarter. The first half ended with a score of 14-6.

The halftime show celebrated cheer senior night: Each senior cheerleader walked down the field with their family and was met with applause from fellow team members and spectators.

“I’m very sad that high school cheer is coming to an end,” senior and cheerleader Jessica Pacheco said. “I don’t think it has completely hit me yet that [high school] is almost over.” 

For cheer, the season isn’t quite over yet: basketball season is right around the corner. Still, it’s a bittersweet moment. 

“I’m really gonna miss them [the seniors],” sophomore Kayla Rhoadarmer said. “They really just shaped like my experience here in cheer and they’ve really done so much to create a team and I love the effort that they put in.”

In the third quarter, Dillon Daniels intercepted and ran the ball 44 yards to score the Spartans’ third touchdown, putting the Spartans further in the lead. The Spartans continued a strong defense and landed a field goal with five minutes remaining in the quarter. The Eagles were unable to score another touchdown, and the third quarter ended with a score of 24-6.

“We played really, really good defense today,” Head Coach Tim Lugo said. “We kept them out of the end zone all night. We struggled to run the ball … [because] our offensive line is really young … but we’ll go fix it this week.”

In the fourth quarter, Conway threw a 31 yard pass to sophomore Viliami Sekona, and junior Lex Silver scored another touchdown.

Next, the Spartans face Homestead High School for playoffs Friday.

“I’m happy for our seniors, they get a chance to go back to the playoffs again,” Lugo said. 

Senior Wesley Dunkle said he’s sad that the season is coming to an end, but that he’s excited for playoffs and the future of the team. 

“It’s great to end on a win,” he said. “We got to get focused and head into the next week with a good mindset and get ready for [the playoffs]. I just hope we can go as far as possible.”