A defensive stop as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clinched a thrilling 15-14 victory for Dos Pueblos flag football over crosstown rival San Marcos on Thursday at Warkentin Stadium.
The Chargers (12-1, 3-0 Channel League) took the lead with 1:20 left and kept the Royals (11-3, 2-1 CL) out of the endzone on their last drive to remain tied with Ventura atop the Channel League standings.
“What I love about this game is we’re letting people know that the 805 can play,” Dos Pueblos head coach Doug Caines said. “We’re the northernmost area of the entire southern section and we just don’t get a lot of coverage. A lot of girls down South are getting offers because they’re just getting more spotlights.
“This game puts the 805 on the map in terms of flag football. We’re playing good flag up here… This thing is exploding, and I’m just excited to be on the ground level of it.”
“We’re super proud of how our girls played and stayed with it,” San Marcos co-head coach Jaylon Letendre said. “We’re so excited that we had a stadium full of fans, a great competitive game against a really great team and now we’ve got another game against them.”
The Chargers opened Thursday’s contest with a bang, as Kacey Hurley hit Ruby Streatfeild on the second play from scrimmage and Streatfeild took off down the sideline, evading defenders on her way for a 59-yard touchdown.
Hurley then connected with Taylor Grant for the two-point conversion to give Dos Pueblos an 8-0 advantage with 11:40 remaining in the first quarter.
While the opening drive made it seem like an offensive slugfest was in store, what followed was actually a gritty defensive battle.
In fact, both defenses buckled down for the rest of the first half to keep the game at 8-0 heading into the halftime break. San Marcos got several clutch tackles for loss from Marilyn Monroy, while the Charger defense kept the Royals on their side of the field for most of the half.
“That was a defensive battle for most of that game. It was incredible,” Letendre said. “We are so proud of our girls and how they just locked in and went through the game plan and stayed focused on what we needed them to do.
“Our rushing crew is scary, Marilyn Monroy had an incredible game and Janelle Capuno had an incredible game, just putting that pressure on their quarterback, making her move, making her make the plays… Credit to DP, too. They’re an amazing team, and we knew we had to play our best game tonight.”
After back-to-back punts to begin the third quarter, the San Marcos offense then began its strongest drive of the night.
The Royals got the ball into Dos Pueblos territory but faced a fourth down and a decision to make. San Marcos opted to go for it and it paid off, as Victoria Aldana lofted a pass to Rio Chesluk, who came down with the catch after the ball was tipped by a defender.
That play set up an 11-yard rush by Aldana to get down to the 2-yard line, and Peyton Sperling spearheaded into the endzone on the next play for the score.
The Royals then opted for the two-point conversion to try to tie the game and Aldana came through, scrambling out of the pocket and in for the score to tie the game at 8-8 with 2:28 left in the quarter. Aldana ended the night with 105 rushing yards to go along with 189 passing yards.
“We needed Victoria to use her legs, and she did. We needed Rio to make those catches. The game goes our way when those two and Peyton, who made some incredible catches, are playing and the balls in their hands,” Letendre said.
On the ensuing drive, the San Marcos defense stood tall as Monroy secured a sack on third down to force a Dos Pueblos punt to begin the fourth quarter.
The Royals then went on a methodical drive down the field, with the trio of Aldana, Chesluk and Sperling making clutch plays, including a pair of fourth-down conversions.
The drive was capped off with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Aldana to Chesluk on a pass that was tipped twice before it found Chesluk’s hands in the endzone. Dos Pueblos came up with a stop on the extra-point conversion to give the Royals a 14-8 lead with 6:22 left in the game.
The Chargers then went on a strong drive of their own, marching all the way down to the San Marcos 8-yard line. However, a sack by Capuno pushed them back into a 3rd and goal from the 15-yard line.
Hurley took the next snap, rolled out to her right and twirled a picture-perfect pass into the back of the endzone, where Brooklyn Hedricks rose up over the defenders and came down with the game-tying touchdown catch with 1:20 left on the clock.
“[Hurley] had faith in her teammates, and she had faith in herself, and she let it rip,” Caines said. “[San Marcos] has two amazing safeties. They put Victoria and Rio back there, and [Hurley] was kind of shy… she wouldn’t let her rip… I’m so proud of her for just putting the game on the line, putting the game on her back… When we needed one good one, she put it in.”
Hurley completed 13-of-16 passes for 158 yards and a pair of touchdowns. She also had 18 yards on the ground.
Dos Pueblos then went for the 1-point conversion to take the lead. Hurley took the snap and handed it off to Streatfeild, who then threw the ball to a wide-open Kindah Ahmad-Reda to give her team a 15-14 lead.
The San Marcos offense didn’t go down without a fight, as Aldana led a fast-moving drive down the field and scampered for a 16-yard rush to put her team at the Dos Pueblos 13-yard line with nine seconds on the clock.
Aldana took the ensuing snap and took off towards the endzone as the final seconds wound off the clock. However, just as she reached toward the goal line, Ahmad-Reda secured a game-saving flag pull at the 2-yard line to give the Chargers the dramatic victory.
“[Ahmad-Reda] pulled one when she needed it and it was big time,” Caines said. “She did a great job listening, taking the coaching, and then making a heck of a football play.
“I love that what I saw is the recipe that we dialed up defensively, we were able to execute against an extremely talented team.”
Dos Pueblos will host Ventura in a battle of first-place teams on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., while the Royals will be on the road at Rio Mesa at the same time.
