Dos Pueblos flag football held on for a 14-6 victory and completed the season sweep of crosstown rival San Marcos on a muggy Tuesday night at Warkentin Stadium.
The Chargers (17-3, 6-1 Channel League) kept their hopes at a share of the league title alive with the victory, while the Royals (12-9, 1-5 CL) suffered their third consecutive loss in league play.
Dos Pueblos will have its bye on Thursday, and needs a win over Rio Mesa next Tuesday to clinch at least a share of the league championship.
“Our goals were still in front of us, and we still have to win out to win the Channel League. This was the first step, and this was a big first step. Super proud of them,” Dos Pueblos head coach Doug Caines said.
The Charger defense made its presence known early, as junior Tabby Weller hauled in an interception off a tipped pass on the first possession of the game.
The DP offense took advantage, marching methodically down the field and scoring on a 5-yard touchdown pass from senior Ruby Streatfeild to senior Brooklyn Hedricks. Streatfeild rushed in the extra point to take a 7-0 lead with 2:04 left in the first.
That score held for the rest of the first and the majority of the second, as the two sides exchanged three consecutive punts before another score.
The Chargers broke the stalled possession streak with a big play, as Streatfeild lobbed a pass over the middle to junior Jane Gibson, who broke away from the traffic and scampered her way to a 28-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in the first half.
The Streatfeild-to-Gibson connection struck for the extra point as well, giving Dos Pueblos a 14-0 lead heading into halftime.
Gibson is one of many targets the Chargers have at their disposal this season, with Hedricks and junior Kindah Ahmad-Reda as the leading receivers on the year.
“Some teams have girls over 1,800 yards. 1,700 yards (of offense). We don’t have that. We have multiple girls over 700 yards,” Caines said. “I think it’s cool that we’re a balanced offense. It makes it hard. You can’t sit here and just guard Brooklyn or just guard Kindah.”
San Marcos gave its visitors a taste of their own medicine in the first possession of the second half, as senior Marilyn Monroy stepped in front of a pass for an interception. However, the Royals’ offense responded with a turnover on downs.
After a Charger punt as the game flipped to the fourth quarter, the Royals’ offense found its groove thanks in part to a Dos Pueblos holding to get near midfield.
Junior quarterback Victoria Aldana led the offense down the field until they were facing a 4th-and-goal from the DP 19-yard line. Aldana dropped back and floated a perfectly placed ball into the back corner of the endzone, and sophomore Piper Kittle elevated over the defenders for the catch and the touchdown.
“We felt like the deep ball was something that we had in our back pocket in both games,” San Marcos head coach Walt Bazylewicz said. “We were just kind of waiting for the right time to call it. Honestly, that 4th and long was probably a little too predictable of a time to call it, but we just figured we’d give it a shot.
“The credit goes to Vic and Piper… Vic threw some great balls tonight, and that was one of them, for sure.”
The extra-point attempt failed, giving the Chargers a 14-6 lead with 6:14 left on the clock.
Dos Pueblos had a chance to put the game away on its next drive thanks in part to a 27-yard catch by Weller, but the San Marcos defense stood tall and made a fourth-down stop on its own 5-yard line.
The turnover on downs gave the Royals a chance at a game-tying drive with 2:28 on the clock and virtually the entire field to go. After securing one first down, the Charger defense sealed the win with four straight stops to turn the ball back over on downs.
“We took a heartbreaking loss last Thursday… So we’re reeling from that, then you had the temperature going on, so we had to have modified practice on Monday and had only about 40 minutes on the field yesterday… I’m proud of the way that they handle their adversity,” Caines said of his team.
“We studied our butts off. We didn’t get a whole lot of on-field time… I was super proud of their preparation in a weird week with a lot of adversity.”
While Dos Pueblos has a potential league title on its horizon, the Royals will look to force their way into the CIF-SS playoffs with wins over Rio Mesa on Thursday and Ventura next Tuesday in the final games of the regular season.
“We’ll get back to work tomorrow and get after it, and be ready to go for Thursday night against Rio Mesa,” Bazylewicz said. “We still have a lot to play for, and we’re excited about these kids. Obviously, they’re a really young group, and it’s kind of one of those things where they’re learning as they go, and making good strides.”
