ROSEVILLE, Calif. – Senior cornerback Reese Lieuwen posted her first interception of the year while junior rusher Colleen Medina posted a sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry, but St. Francis surrendered three touchdowns off turnovers in a 26-8 setback at Woodcreek in non-league varsity flag football action Wednesday night.
The Troubadours slip to 0-3 for the year. The varsity loss followed a 13-6 victory for SF junior varsity, in which center Zada Rodriguez and wideout Madison Trafican collected touchdown passes.
Lieuwen's pick came on the first Timberwolf series. She snared a pass deep in Troubie territory, then ran it back to the Woodcreek 17 to set up her team's first red-zone opportunity. Unfortunately for SF, Ava Clonce picked off a second-and-goal opportunity. Clonce then starred in the T-Wolves' ensuing drive. After Medina's sack and batted pass against quarterback Izzy Devereaux, Clonce had two catches that brought her team to the SF 2, then a corner route resulted in the first TD of the game at the 13:18 mark.
Woodcreek junior Amaya Grant doubled her team's lead with a 45-yard "pick six" soon after the two-minute warning, then tacked on the conversion to make it 14-0. Grant came up again for the T-Wolves to start the second half. After dropping a pass in the end zone, she followed with a catch in the corner to increase the lead to 20-0.
St. Francis threatened to get on the board on the next series, starting with a long Jade Abalateo run to the Woodcreek 30. Junior Annie Swanson hauled in a catch at the 1-yard line to give the Troubies the shortest possible first-and-goal chance, only for Clonce to intercept the next pass a few steps into her own end zone, then run 81 yards the opposite way for another interception TD and a fourth straight score.
The Troubies got on the board on their next series. On a fourth-down conversion try, Swanson found herself in a jump ball-style contest with Creek's Kaashni Bains. However, the flag football rules awards such a ball to the offensive player, giving SF a first-and-five on the opposing 25. Tayli Paeu-Lindgren's catch moved the marker into the red zone to the 14, then a Natalia Zitelli reverse inched the Troubies one yard closer. That's when freshman quarterback Lola Fox found Monet Zauner in the end zone for the lone SF touchdown. Paeu-Lindgren converted the two-point conversion to trim the margin to 26-8.
St. Francis halted its host on downs on the next drive, with senior Abby Clark coming in to pull three flags on the eight plays. In the final Troubie possession, Zitelli's long run down the left sideline and Swanson's grab at midfield put their team into Creek territory. But Grant stepped on defense for the T-Wolves, breaking up a pass to Paeu-Lindgren with 1:31 left then intercepting a pass with 45 ticks left.
Besides her offensive contributions, Zauner matched Abi Hall and Nassali Serwanga with two flags on defense. Serwanga also recorded a four-yard sack on the first Woodcreek drive, two plays before Lieuwen's interception.
In the JV opener to Wednesday's doubleheader, Rodriguez scored the first touchdown of the game with 5:15 left in the first half, although it was Keanna Daneshvar who set up the opportunity. First, the freshman safety intercepted a pass to give SF with prime field position. A couple of passes underneath to center Emma Robinson, a Mariko Palmieri catch and run, then an Isabela Brenes grab to the 1-yard line set the stage for Rodriguez. Palmieri then tacked on the one-point conversion.
On the next Woodcreek series, Emerson Connor broke up a pass to make it 4th-and-3 on the 37. Then Anastacia Uniza's quarterback hurry forced an incomplete pass, giving the Troubies another short field. This time, Angela Miles' quarterback keeper, followed by Jocelyn Villaflor's completions to Livi Daugherty and Palmeri gave way to Trafican's touchdown snare with two seconds before halftime.
Woodcreek managed to halt the Troubies to three-and-out results in all five SF drives in the second half. Villaflor appeared to enjoy a long first-down run midway through the half, but it was called back when the officials realized it was the second quarterback fun on the same set of downs – a sequence prohibited by flag football rules. Rodriguez also had a 28-yard first down called back on a flag-guarding call, forcing a punt instead.
But the defense stepped up to protect the lead, save for a 60-yard reception by Creek sophomore Melina Perez Mejia early on. Daugherty broke up another pass to give SF the ball with six minutes left, then safety Elizabeth McNearney smothered her receiver on back-to-back plays to give the Troubies the ball after the two-minute warning. Woodcreek stayed resilient, gaining one last possession with 79 seconds left. The SF jayvees went into a contain mode, with freshman Chloe Aldrete coming through defensively against Mejia and Keira Brasier in the game's final three plays.
The two Troubie squads return to action for a doubleheader at Del Campo on Tuesday. Game times are 5 p.m. for JV, 7 p.m. for varsity.
