Girls just want to have fun.
That was the mantra of the San Diego Section’s second season of fielding girls flag football as an interscholastic sport. The second season, in fact, was even more popular than the inaugural 2023 season with an expanded field of 72 teams and four playoff divisions of 12 teams each (48 postseason teams).
That second season officially wrapped up Saturday at Palomar College with championships in the four divisions cheered on by a supportive and knowledgeable fan base.
The four rounds of playoffs proved competitive with only one top-seeded team escaping with a division title. Three second-seeded teams captured the remaining division titles.
San Diego Section Commissioner Joe Heinz was in attendance to hand out championship trophies. He remained amazed, pretty much like everyone else, about the sport’s growing popularity among female athletes.
“I think it’s only going to get bigger,” he said.
That’s pretty much a consensus at this early point in history. Some programs, for instance, are already talking about adding a third level (novice) to already existing junior varsity and varsity levels.
“It’s growing,” Olympian coach Ryan Van Nostrand said after his second-seeded Lady Eagles made history with a 21-6 victory against the top-seeded San Ysidro Lady Cougars in the Division IV match-up to capture the program’s first varsity championship.
“We had over 80 girls try out. It’s a booming sport. San Ysidro did an amazing job. Their coach, Giantoni Canale, is a pioneer who helped start flag football for the South Bay. He deserves a lot of credit. We’re hoping to have three teams next year. Right now, we have junior varsity and varsity but would like to expand the program to novice if the numbers are good. It’s moving quickly.”
Joining Olympian on this year’s championship list are top-seeded Classical Academy (Division I), second-seeded Westview (Division II) and second-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (Division III).
Classical (25-4) blew out second-seeded Torrey Pines (17-8) by a 42-20 score to repeat as a CIF champion after winning last year’s inaugural Division II title.
Sophomore Ella Moore hooked up with junior Justine Batcheller twice as the Lady Caimans bolted to a 22-6 halftime lead.
Westview (16-3) defeated ninth-seeded Carlsbad (15-10-1) by a score of 39-24 to claim this year’s Division II championship behind six touchdowns by junior Mya Omisore.
High-scoring games seemed the norm on Saturday at Palomar College’s recently unveiled stadium as second-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (12-11) stopped eighth-seeded Scripps Ranch (14-12) by a score of 25-13.
Carlsbad upset top-seeded La Costa Canyon (10-5) by a score of 13-6 in the preceding semifinals while Scripps Ranch eliminated top-seeded Chula Vista Learning Community Charter (14-3) by a score of 20-12 in the semifinals.
East County was represented in two of the four playoff brackets as all four teams in the Grossmont Conference’s inaugural season qualified for postseason play.
Grossmont, which competed as a member of the Metro Conference last season, received the No. 7 seed in the Division I bracket and defeated 10th-seeded Bonita Vista, last year’s Division I section champion, 28-13, in the opening round before exiting the playoffs with a 24-19 loss to Torrey Pines in the quarterfinals. The Lady Foothillers ended the season 16-5 overall.
Steele Canyon (12-12) received the No. 6 seed in the Division III bracket and advanced as far as the division semifinals while Santana (9-10-1) was seeded ninth and Granite Hills (7-10) received the No. 12 seed in the division.
Santana lost, 31-7, to Scripps Ranch in the opening round while Granite Hills pulled off a 45-25 upset of fifth-seeded Rancho Buena Vista (11-6). The Lady Eagles, however, could not get past fourth- seeded Escondido Charter (12-5) in the quarterfinals following a 21- 12 season-ending setback.
Mater Dei Catholic ended the season for the Lady Cougars with a 33-12 semifinal win.
Grossmont came out on top in the conference standing with an 8-1 league record, followed by Granite Hills and Steele Canyon, both with 4-5 league records, and Santana with a 2-7 league record.
Junior Marissa Farace keyed the Lady Foothillers with 3,169 passing yards and 45 touchdowns while junior Gabi Thomas (15 touchdowns) and sophomore Saraya Roope (10 touchdowns) each compiled 783 receiving yards. Senior Jaelyn Jensen had 583 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in Grossmont’s pass-oriented offensive attack.
Thomas added 455 rushing yards and two rushing TD to the total.
Steele Canyon freshman Sophia Jackel passed for 2,187 yards and 29 touchdowns while sophomore Kallan Shaw mustered 1,104 passing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Junior Kaliani Ewing racked up 1,127 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 614 yards and six touchdowns.
Junior Ily Barclay had 852 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns while rushing for 662 yards and six TD.
Junior Kailey Fuller scored seven touchdowns on 711 rushing yards to add to the multi-faceted offense.
Granite Hills leaders included freshman Taylor Nash with 946 passing yards and 11 touchdowns and freshman Illiana Cruse with 281 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
2024 Grossmont Conference Cross Country Championships
Nov. 9 at West Hills High School
Boys Varsity Results
TOP 50 INDIVIDUALS
1. Micah Senn (Steele Canyon) 15:45.10
2. Tyus Joseph (Helix) 15:52.69
3. Miguel Casillas (Steele Canyon) 15:57.51
4. Joel Nickerson (Helix) 16:03.54
5. Adrian Gonzalez (Monte Vista) 16:05.47
6. Luis Naranjo (Grossmont) 16:14.10
7. Orlando Carrillo (Granite Hills) 16:17.62
8. Ryan Revak (West Hills) 16:22.10
9. Paul Benrud (Grossmont) 16:28.83
10. Daniel Vestemean (West Hills) 16:28.99
11. Jaden Tawasha (Valhalla) 16:29.54
12. Aldo Covarrubias (Steele Canyon) 16:35.89
13. Jacob Gonzalez (Mt. Miguel) 16:37.35
14. Myles Cata (Grossmont) 16:37.71
15. Jonah Edwards (Grossmont) 16:43.01
16. Stone Arellano (Helix) 16:47.25
17. Zachary Baker (Steele Canyon) 16:48.99
18. John Simon (Mt. Miguel) 16:50.27
19. Loan Reyes (Grossmont) 16:50.49
20. Noah Redman (El Capitan) 16:53.23
21. Matthew Binsfield (Steele Canyon) 16:53.41
22. Isai Rodriguez (Helix) 16:55.60
23. Dashiell Griffiths (Steele Canyon) 17:04.02
24. Matthew Stevens (Steele Canyon) 17:04.69
25. Dylan Unis (Helix) 17:09.19
26. Patrick Kluchar (El Capitan) 17:09.83
27. Lex Little (Monte Vista) 17:13.73
28. Jack Digenan (Granite Hills) 17:15.17
29. Diego Rivera (Grossmont) 17:30.97
30. Roberto Orozco (Mt. Miguel) 17:31.93
Top teams: 1. Steele Canyon 54, 2. Grossmont 63, 3. Helix 69, 4. West Hills 133, 5. El Capitan 145, 6. Mt. Miguel 153, 7. Monte Vista 161, 8. Granite Hills 178, 9. Santana 253, 10. Valhalla 262
Girls Varsity Results
TOP 50 INDIVIDUALS
1. Harper Diaz (Santana) 14:38.02
2. Kate Weaver (Helix) 15:11.77
3. Dania Lopez (Steele Canyon) 15:35.02
4. Jane Telliard (Grossmont) 15:48.73
5. Jaslynn Harris (Granite Hills) 15:54.34
6. Cora Lottermoser (El Capitan) 16:00.81
7. 8. Melissa Velazquez (Monte Vista) 16:02.89
9. Aubree Boinus (El Capitan) 16:15.81
10. Stellamaris Scott (Helix) 16:16.96
11. Shelby Coleman (Steele Canyon) 16:19.40
12. Kaco Brownsberger (Grossmont) 16:26.14
13. Kaitlyn Baldwin (Steele Canyon) 16:41.92
14. Ashlynn Montes (El Capitan) 16:49.68
15. Brooklynn Glider (Santana) 17:03.82
16. Abbey Patstone (Steele Canyon) 17:23.37
17. McKensi Goulette (Grossmont) 17:23.77
18. Mikaela Estrada (West Hills) 17:29.49
19. Lexy Magana (Grossmont) 17:35.78
20. Abigail Ornelas (Grossmont) 17:42.14
21. Ashlan Forster (El Capitan) 17:50.82
22. Celine Arabo (Valhalla) 17:56.36
23. Vianney Casillas (Steele Canyon) 17:57.52
24. Ariel McPherson (Santana) 17:59.50
25. Luna Flores (Helix) 17:59.93
26. Roxanne Ocampo (Mt. Miguel) 18:05.01
27. Janelle Agana (Santana) 18:05.24
28. Takyrah Ferguson (Mt. Miguel) 18:07.04
29. Allyson Shaefer (Steele Canyon) 18:13.97
30. Reagan Kenwood (Helix) 18:14.39
Top teams: 1. Steele Canyon 47, 2. Grossmont 68, 3. El Capitan 78. 4. Helix 94, 5. Santana 96, 6. Granite Hills 143, 7. West Hills 189, 8. Mt. Miguel 203, 9. Valhalla 214
