Submitted photo – The Cubs beat California School for the Deaf on Friday night.

The South Fork Cubs will play for a first-ever North Coast Section championship in football next weekend after an impressive 66-32 win over California School for the Deaf in Friday night’s eight-person Division-1 matchup in Miranda.

The Cubs did beat Rincon Valley in the 2017 eight-person Redwood Bowl, which head coach Karl Terrell and many of their fans feel was a section championship, but now they’ll get the opportunity to win an official NCS crown.

Friday’s win for the No. 2 seeds sets up a rematch against No. 1 seed Stuart Hall at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Cubs led the Eagles 36-22 at halftime on Friday, before pulling away in the second half on the way to a fifth straight win.

In those five games the high-flying South Fork offense has scored a remarkable 286 points, while the Cubs have given up just 90.

“We’ve got a big test next week and we’re happy to be there,” Terrell said. “We performed well enough to get there and we’ve earned the right.”

The Cubs have been particularly effective running the ball and that continued to be the case against the Eagles with 250 yards on the ground.

Junior Wesley Way led the ground attack and finished with 120 yards and four TDs on 13 carries, while teammate Justin Freitas added 78 yards and two TDs on 12 carries.

Quarterback Shevy Bero-Vanmeter also scored three rushing touchdowns while completing a pair of passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Broc Contreras had two catches for 71 yards and a TD, while also rushing for 14 yards.

“Our offense has started to gell,” Terrell said.

Several players stepped up defensively in the win, most notably Freitas who had a team-high 10 total tackles and “always plays a good defensive game,” according to the his head coach.

Daniel Furman also had a big game on that side of the ball and also finished with a team-high 10 total tackles, while Boden Bero-Vanmeter added seven tackles and a sack, Lucas Genolio had six tackles, Broc Contreras had five tackles and both Way, Josey Paula and Travis Way had four tackles each.

Terrell also had words of praise for the Eagles, who had won six straight games coming into the playoff showdown.

“They were a pretty good team,” the South Fork coach said. “To do what they do, I’m pretty impressed.”

But while the Eagles matched up well against the Cubs early in the game, eventually the South Fork players were able to take control.

“In the second half, we came out and stopped them,” Terrell said. “We came to play football, and that’s what I preach to my kids.”

We’ll have much more on next weekend’s NCS championship showdown next week.