On their Senior Night, varsity flag football faced off against cross town rivals, the Santa Barbara Dons, winning 41-12. The game earned them a spot in City Championships, as well as a 2nd place seeding for the upcoming Chanel League Tournament.
According to Couch Douglas Caines, the players handled the game really well, despite there being a lot going on.
“Today was a very difficult day,” Caines said. “It was PSAT day, senior photos … and then it was their senior night … that does detract a bit from their focus, so I was really proud of them for being able to handle all the adversity of today.”
Quarterback Lily Rodriguez (12) presented a strong offense, scoring four touchdowns over the course of the game, connecting to Ruby Streatfeild (10) for two touchdown passes and to Kindah Ahmed-Reda (9) and Brooklyn Hedricks (10) for one touchdown each. Quarterback Hannah Remick (9) also connected with Anya Newton (11) for another touchdown.
Defensively, Streatfield produced an interception and captain and outside linebacker Sophia Pixley (12) defended against the throw from SBHS’s quarterback.
“Santa Barbara was going for the extra point, and I ran outside,” Pixley said. “I saw that the quarterback was throwing the ball outside, and I defended the cast … I think just reacting as fast as possible to what the quarterback is doing is really important on defense.”
By the end of the first half, the score was 21-6, with DPHS in the lead. The team maintained this lead throughout the game, finishing with a score of 41-12. The game brought the team’s league record up to 5-2.
According to Kacey Hurley (11), a center player, to prepare for the match, players put in hours of practice “every single day,” as well as lots of film study. Another big aspect of preparation is “uplifting [teammates] after losses,” according to Pixley.
“When you study for a test and sit down to take it, sometimes you look at it and think ‘Oh, I didn’t prepare for that! I don’t know that!’ And I never felt like I heard or saw that from the girls,” Caines said. “I thought we did a really good job at attacking what we call windows and being in the right place at the right time, and all that kind of blossomed into the score that was delivered … I’m really proud of them.”
Since the game on Oct. 10, Flag Football has had 2 league games. The first, which took place on Monday, was against Buena High School. The Chargers took that game with a score of 49-0 and advanced to the league semifinals.
Then, they had the semifinal game against San Marcos High School at Buena, which they lost by just one point on Tuesday with a final score of 33-34.
On Wednesday, the team played against Ventura High School, winning with a score of 27-19. This game secured the team with a league win, tied with Ventura and San Marcos for the title of Channel Channel League Champions.
