San Marcos came up just short in the Channel League Girls Flag Football Championship against Oxnard, falling 19-18 to the Yellow Jackets at Ventura College on Wednesday.
“We don’t have any excuses,” Royals coach Walt Bazylewicz said. “I’ve seen a lot of these types of games and I should have had our gang better prepared for what they were going to experience.
“It’s been an incredibly fun season and we’re not going to let this game cast a shadow on all of our accomplishments and what’s still ahead. This game is only going to make us stronger moving forward.”
The Royals got out to a strong start, scoring on the opening drive thanks to a 12-yard passing touchdown from Victoria Aldana to Rio Chesluk to take a 6-0 lead.
Oxnard struck back quickly on the ensuing drive, scoring and converting the extra-point attempt to take a 7-6 advantage.
Aldana and Chesluk connected once again later in the first half on a 35-yard score, but San Marcos once again couldn’t come away with the extra point to bring the lead to 12-7 heading into halftime.
Out of the break, the Yellow Jackets found the endzone once again to grab another one-point lead at 13-12.
However, the Royals once again immediately answered back and snagged an 18-13 advantage as Aldana threw her third touchdown of the night to Jazmin Ordaz.
In the final two minutes of play, Oxnard marched down the field and finished off San Marcos with a touchdown to make it 19-18, a score that held until the final whistle.
“Give credit to a good Oxnard squad for finding a way to get the job done tonight,” Bazylewicz said.
Molly McCarter and Chesluk each recorded an interception for San Marcos despite the loss.
The Royals end the season as the second seed from the Channel League and will compete in the CIF-SS playoffs beginning next week. The postseason brackets and divisions will be announced Saturday.
Dos Pueblos 27, Ventura 19 (3rd-Place Game)
The Chargers earned an eight-point victory over the Cougars to finish the Channel League tournament in third place.
Liliana Rodriguez threw four touchdowns in the game with two going to Carly Letendre. Meanwhile, the other scores went to Brooklyn Hedricks and Taylor Grant.
Hedricks, Grant and Ruby Streatfeild hauled in the extra-point attempts from Rodriguez. Streatfeild also ripped off a 75-yard run in the win.
Defensively, Letendre came away with an interception and Kindah Ahmad-Reda registered a pair of sacks.
Dos Pueblos will also learn its CIF-SS playoff fate on Saturday morning.