Carmel-Pacific Grove football

 The Shoe will remain in Carmel.
 And with it comes perfection for the Padres, who completed an undefeated regular season Saturday after a 48-37 win over Pacific Grove.
 For the fourth time in eight years under head coach Golden Anderson, Carmel will go into the CCS playoffs 10-0.
 The three previous times have seen the Padres reach the divisional finals twice, winning their first  Central Coast Section title in 2009.
 "I don't worry about an emotional letdown,'' Anderson said. "We hit the reset button. The deck gets reshuffled. You got yourself in this position based on the regular season. But it means nothing now.''
 Carmel is expected to be the top seed in the Division V playoffs. If Aptos opts up as expected, the Padres could face Sacred Heart Prep in the first round. The seeding meeting is Sunday in San Jose.
 The loss will likely keep Pacific Grove out of the postseason for the first time in three years after finishing 5-5.
 "We're probably not even going to petition,'' Pacific Grove coach Chris Morgan said. "Looking at the points and what we need, I don't think we have enough.''
 With the win, Carmel takes a 34-33-2 lead in the annual series for the coveted bronze shoe.
 It wasn't for a lack of effort by the Breakers, particularly from senior quarterback Noah Cryns, who despite playing with a broken left thumb on his non-throwing hand, rushed for 180 yards and five touchdowns.
 "We struggled tackling Cryns,'' Anderson said. "There were big plays run by him. What we didn't want to do is give up one-play drives. We'll give him his yards.''
  Anderson didn't feel the Breakers could stop Carmel's offensive assault. And he was right as it scored on every possession it had. The Padres never punted and didn't turn the ball over.
 "It's a team game,'' Anderson said. "I thought we were dominate offensively and on special teams.  Pacific Grove had a nice day offensively. But we forced a big turnover.''
 While Cryns had a big day for the Breakers, Daniel Higman had a monster afternoon for Carmel, rushing for four touchdowns and tossing a pair of scoring strikes.
 The senior quarterback produced over 300 yards in total offense, completing 14-of-19 for 178 yards  while rushing for 139 yards.
 "If we could have just gotten one stop,'' Morgan said. "Carmel recovered an onside kick that kind of hurt us. Had we not given them a few extra opportunities, it might have been different.''
 Both of Higman's touchdown passes came in the first half to Hayden Stachelek and Stevan Enriquez, helping Carmel jump out to a 24-10 halftime lead. Stachelek caught seven passes for 89 yards.
 When Higman scored a touchdown to open the second half, the Padres built a 21-point cushion, trading touchdowns from that point.
  Filling in for the injured Covossay Windham -- out for the year with a knee injury -- Luke Melcher rushed for a season high 104 yards for the Padres.
 With the five touchdowns, Cryns finished with 20 rushing touchdowns and 12 touchdown passes for the season for Pacific Grove.
 "Noah is true warrior,'' Morgan said. "He went out and played his tail off. He did all he could. Our team played their hearts out. There's nothing to be ashamed off."