He and his teammates were “really happy,” after they’d made St. Joseph High School football history, Zach Perron said.

“Saturday, Sunday and this week, we’ve just been getting ready for the playoffs,” the standout 6-6, 280-pound two-way lineman said.

The Knights finished off a 10-0 regular season last Friday night by routing San Luis Obispo 42-14 in a non-league game. The 2009 perfecto was the first unbeaten regular season in St. Joseph football history.

Perron, kicker Garrett Dudock and running back-return man KJ Cusack said their team has been back to business, prepping for its first-round playoff game.

The third-seeded Knights will go against Pasadena La Salle in a CIF Southern Section Northwest Division game at St. Joseph’s Jay Will Stadium. Kickoff time tonight is 7:30 p.m.

St. Joseph is the Los Padres League champion, for the third time in the last four years. La Salle’s Lancers are 5-5. They finished third in the Camino Real League.

Perron and Cusack are three-year varsity men. Dudock is in his second varsity season. All three are seniors.

Perron has spent a lot of his time helping to open holes for St. Joseph’s running backs or helping the Knights’ defensive line plug things up. St. Joseph’s defense has allowed just 93 points this year.

Dudock said he “really worked hard on my kicking,” last summer. The work paid off. Dudock has missed only one extra point kick (it was blocked) and one field goal try this year.

Dudock, as a lot of kickoff men have done this year, has done a lot of pooch kicking. “We haven’t had a kickoff run back on us for a touchdown, so it’s must have worked pretty well,” he said. 

Cusack carried 97 times during the regular season and racked up 1,514 yards, second-most in the area. He’s scored 24 touchdowns. He’s also a dangerous punt and kick return man.

He said the Knights have a lot to prepare for.

“(The Lancers) run a little Wildcat, they do a lot of different things. They have a fast back who can hit the corners. They have a big tight end, about 6-3, who’s really good.

“Defensively they’re pretty good. They have good middle linebacker. Their defensive line gets off the ball well.”

Lancers back Michael Alexander has 589 yards and six touchdowns this year. He’s La Salle’s leading rusher. Alexander’s carried the ball just 56 times this season. La Salle has three other backs who have run for more than 275 yards.

La Salle quarterback Michael Novell has connected on 64 of his 105 passes. He’s thrown for 1,102 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s tossed eight interceptions.

Alexander is his favorite target. Alexander has 31 catches and 622 receiving yards. Kishon Sanders has 23 catches, 397 yards and four touchdowns.

What the Lancers don’t have, Cusack said, is the Knights’ size up front. “We’re bigger than they are, we can go toe-to-toe with them. It’s going to be a hard-hitting game.”

Perron said the Knights are a close-knit group. What’s also helped the team Perron said is, well, St. Joseph has a pretty smart team.

“I’m in AP honors classes, (defensive back) Kohl Bashline is, (linebacker) Jack Donovan is, a lot of guys are.

“We have a lot of smart kids. We know our assignments.”