A dominant first-half performance powered San Marcos to a 24-8 victory over Santa Barbara High in the girls flag football edition of this year’s Big Game Rivalry on Wednesday at Peabody Stadium.
The Royals, now 8-1 overall and 2-1 in Channel League play, raced out to an 18-0 lead at halftime and never looked back, cruising to the crosstown win.
“We’re on a roll, we won the [Ventura County Tournament] and turned around and won these important league games,” San Marcos coach Jaylon Letendre said. “They made a goal for themselves to make it to CIF this year, it’s the first year of CIF, and so we’re just keeping them focused and on the right track.
“It’s just a really, really great group of girls.”
Following a turnover on downs by the Royals on their opening drive, the Santa Barbara offense, powered by 10-yard rushes by Elina Stump and Natalia Dovgin, drove down to the San Marcos 2-yard line and faced a 3rd and goal.
However, the San Marcos defense tightened its screws and forced back-to-back incompletions on breakups by Janelle Capuno and Rylie Cook to come away with the turnover on downs.
“We failed to score on that opening drive, if we could’ve punched it in it might have made a whole different ball game going forward,” Dons coach Travis Manach said. “It kind of put us on our heels maybe, and took us a while to recover from that.”
Defense was the name of the game early on as both teams were forced to punt on each of their next drives to keep the score at 0-0 at the 15-minute mark of the opening half.
“Our defense was incredible, they got us going and were so strong at the beginning of the game,” Letendre said. “I felt like we started a little tense just with the energy and being here, and our defense really was solid and grounded us.”
After a Dons’ punt, San Marcos worked the ball down the field thanks to a 15-yard rush by Kayla Aguilar and a 13-yard completion from Victoria Aldana to Jada Ahmad.
From 14 yards out, Aldana took the snap and pitched the ball to Peyton Sperling, who then found Ahmad in the endzone for the touchdown and the 6-0 lead at the 13:30 mark.
The Royals’ defense used the momentum to their advantage, forcing a turnover on downs and setting up another scoring opportunity.
The San Marcos offense answered the call as Aldana finished off a six-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Rio Chesluk. After the extra-point attempt was unsuccessful, the Royals led 12-0 with eight minutes left in the half.
Following another Santa Barbara High punt, the Royals slowly made their way down the field and got into scoring range inside the two-minute warning.
With 1:36 left in the half, Aldana connected with Chesluk once again for a 7-yard touchdown and an 18-0 lead.
Chesluk hauled in five catches for 33 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. She also made an impact on the defensive side of the ball in the secondary.
“Rio is incredible, she’s a key piece, aren’t we glad she’s a junior,” Letendre said. “Their defense was doing a good job with her at the beginning of the game because they knew she was such a key player but we were able to find ways for her to get the ball.”
The Dons then went on a 2-minute drill down the field as Dayzia Mendoza completed a pair of chunk passes to Sofia Lopez to get down inside the 20-yard line with less than 10 seconds left.
On the final play of the half, Santa Barbara took a shot at the end zone and Chesluk rose up out of the crowd and came down with an interception, preserving the 18-0 advantage.
“[Chesluk] is smart, she knows football and she knows where the ball is going to be,” Letendre said. “She makes great reads and makes great plays on the ball.”
To open the second half, the San Marcos defense got a stop and the offense picked up right where it left off as Aldana led a strong six-play drive down the field.
Following a rush by Ordaz to get down to the 11-yard line, Aldana rolled out of the pocket and found Aguilar in the back of the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown and a 24-0 lead with 18:30 to play.
Aldana, a freshman, completed 21-of-27 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns. She also added 37 rushing yards.
“It amazes me how calm and cool [Aldana] is as a freshman, she was not bothered by coming and playing in this big-time game,” Letendre said. “She sits back in the pocket, is relaxed and is focused on making the right play.”
On the ensuing drive, Santa Barbara High’s offense came alive to the tune of a nine-play drive that got the Dons to within scoring range once again.
This time they punched it in, as Mendoza connected with Ale Alcocer, who barreled her way in for the 10-yard score. On the two-point conversion, Mendoza hit Alyssa Ortiz in the endzone to cut the deficit to 24-8 with 13:45 left in the game.
Alcocer caught five passes for 44 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
“Ale is the heart and soul of our team and one of our toughest players,” Manach said. “She’s just a gamer and leaves it all out there, having that on your team helps the rest of the team understand what it takes.”
For the rest of the second half, San Marcos turned to the ground game offensively and controlled the pace of play. The Royals leaned on running back Peyton Sperling throughout the night, who ended with 75 total yards to go with the 14-yard touchdown pass in the first half.
“Peyton is a tough running back,” Letendre said. “In the second half our goal was to run and slow the pace down and she did exactly what we needed her to do.
“She can get tipped and hit and it does not bother her, it just fuels her and she wants the ball again the next play.”
Meanwhile, the Royals’ defense continued to show out, including another interception by Chesluk off a deflection.
The 24-8 score held until the final whistle sounded, giving San Marcos the season’s first crosstown Channel League matchup victory.
The Royals will continue league play next Wednesday on the road against Pacifica. Meanwhile, the Dons will host Oxnard at Peabody Stadium at 6:30 p.m.
“Lots to build on, San Marcos was our toughest competition yet and it’s not going to get easier from here,” Manach said. “The rest of the league is tough, so we know what it takes now.”