SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior Elizabeth Barger led her defense with four deflaggings, an interception and three pass breakups, but St. Francis ultimately fell by a 33-0 shutout to Christian Brothers in the first-ever girls' flag football edition of the Holy Bowl at Peter P. Bollinger '57 Stadium Thursday night.
The Troubadours even their record to 1-1, just two days removed from their historic inaugural game. Meanwhile, the Falcons finished their 11th contest, improving to 8-3 for the season.
St. Francis trailed 14-0 at the halftime break, then fell behind by another touchdown when CB senior Dana Greer scored on a first-and-30 situation less than three minutes into the second half.
The Troubies enjoyed their best scoring challenge in the final minutes, thanks to the Barger pick. With freshman Gabriela Medina replacing senior Rosemary Emseih behind center late in the game, Barger and Sophia Fahey covered receiver Kaelyn Montemayor on a short pass near the right sideline. Fahey tipped the toss to Montemayor high into the air, then Barger swooped in to snare the interception. This provided SF with a first-and-goal opportunity to spoil CB's shutout bid.
Unfortunately, the Falcons had an immediate response: a long pick six by senior Devin Greer. She scampered nearly untouched down the sidelines in front of her own bench, extending her team's lead to 33-0.
In fact, Greer – perhaps better known for her exploits on CB's seventh-place 1,600-meter relay squad at last year's state championships – did a little bit of everything for the Falcons. She narrowly escaped a Barger deflag in the backfield on the first CB series, instead passing the game's first touchdown. Greer also had a 30-yard run to set up her team's fourth touchdown and threw for a long 1-point conversion after two false starts moved her team backwards. Meanwhile, Dana Greer hauled in two TD passes and scored another 1-pointer.
Dana Greer's first touchdown, set up by a 25-yard quarterback draw by Emseih, also carried extra detriment for the Troubies. Covering the CB receiver were Zia Smith and Gianna Erdmann, who collided on the play while going after Dana's flag. Both sat out the remainder of the game, costing SF two of its more productive defensive players.
Freshman Charley Viley posted St. Francis' first-ever interception midway through the first half. CB's Aleyah Harmon beat double coverage to set up first-and-goal, then Devin Greer's third catch of the series brought the Falcons even closer. Viley stepped up with her pick in the CB end zone, thanks to a hurry by SF sophomore Colleen Medina.
Unfortunately for the Troubies, Viley's INT had a similar fate as Barger's later – the Falcons immediately answered with a pick of their own, this time by Syniah Beverley.
St. Francis returns home to host Whitney for a 4:30 game on Tuesday, then the Troubie junior varsity makes its season debut against Woodcreek on Wednesday. Moving forwarsd, a Troubie-Falcon flag football matchup will provide an annual a run-up for the Jesuit-Christian Brothers Holy Bowl meeting.
