ORANGE — The Fullerton girls flag football team was riding a 10-game winning streak as it headed into the CIF-SS Division 4 championship game Saturday at El Modena High School.
But the Indians’ performance against Santa Monica in the first-ever Southern Section championship for flag football was far from their best, said Fullerton coach Frank Ramirez, after the Vikings defeated the Indians 28-6.
Being able to score in the red zone is hugely important in flag football, Ramirez said, but the Indians failed to score in the red zone three times.
Fullerton also threw two interceptions, including one in the red zone.
“I thought we matched up well with them,” Ramirez said. “I just don’t think we had a great day in the red zone. I’ve always told my offensive coordinator that in flag football, you have to score at least four touchdowns to win a game. We’ve done that11 weeks in a row. We just weren’t able to do it today. It just wasn’t our day today.”
The Indians (18-7), who finished in second in the Empire League, were competitive early in the contest.
The Vikings (14-6) led 7-0 when an interception by Fullerton’s Mahila Jordan gave the Indians possession on the Santa Monica 36.
Quarterback Ava Flores threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Alynna Ortiz five plays later to make the score 7-6 after the Indians failed to convert the extra point.
The Indians, who were playing their first season of flag football, never scored again after that.
“I’m sad that it’s over because it’s just been so awesome to establish relationships with 50 girls and 50 sets of parents and the community,” Ramirez said. “The community really supported the girls and it’s been a fun season and I don’t know what to do with my time now.”
Most of the Indians play other sports but few had ever played flag football prior to the season, Ramirez said.
As the season went on, the players became more committed and started to gel, the coach said.
“They didn’t know how to embrace football,” Ramirez said. “They were going to their soccer, they were going to their basketball, they were going to their softball. And finally, I had to set a policy. You want to play, you have to come to practice. They bought into it and here we are.”
Ramirez took solace in knowing all but one starter will be returning next season.
“I hurt for our 10 seniors,” he said. “Because they were only able to play one season.”
Flores also acknowledged that the Indians didn’t play their best game.
But the experience of playing a new sport has been exciting, the quarterback said.
“I think we’ve gotten a lot closer,” Flores said. “Everyone is friends. There’s no exclusion.”
