SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore Tayli Paeu-Lindgren hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from freshman Lola Fox, but Thunder junior Skyler Linehan scored three times as St. Francis fell to Rocklin, 26-12, in the varsity end of Tuesday's Sierra Foothill League flag football doubleheader against Rocklin.

The Troubadours dip to 4-11 for the year, and 3-6 in SFL play. The Thunder improves to 12-7 overall and maintains at least a share of first place in the league at 8-1, depending on Del Oro's game against Whitney later in that evening.

Paeu-Lindgren's first score came during the opening series of the game on a relatively scary play: she and Rocklin safety Livy Maeyama went up for the ball at the same time, with Paeu-Lindgren's height and momentum holding the advantage. Maeyama's head struck Paeu-Lindgren's arms and nearly broke up the pass in the process, but the towering Troubie brought the ball safely to her torso before taking the final steps across the goal line.

Rocklin answered on the next possession, scoring on what proved to be its bread-and-butter play on offense: a Robyn Nguyen bootleg to the right followed by a lateral to Linehan. This immediately tied the game at 6-6 with almost 16 minutes left in the first half. The same play nearly resulted in a 75-yard touchdown run four minutes later, but the entire play was called back when Nguyen bowled over the Troubie defense in the process.

The two teams traded defensive stands for the remainder of the half. On one such three-and-out series, Troubie freshman Piper Bates sacked Nguyen for a four-yard loss, then hurried the Thunder quarterback into an incomplete pass on a third-and-17 conversion attempt.

Rocklin seized the lead on its first drive in the second half, with Linehan and Angelina Abdelmessih quickly moving the chains downfield. Linehan then caught three straight passes: one to the SF 6-yard-line, a second that only a Charley Viley deflagging kept out of the end zone, and then a successful shovel pass to break the plane at the 19-minute mark. Thunder senior Abigail Schrader later extended the lead to two possessions with a touchdown reception, with Linehan's yards after catch work getting her team into the Troubie red zone yet again.

St. Francis put together its final scoring drive after the Schrader TD. Paeu-Lindgren came up with a huge fourth-down conversion, then center Olivia Alvernaz grabbed a Fox pass to get inside the Rocklin 20. Jade Abalateo, who made highlights earlier in the half with a leaping snare, ran the ball up the gut before literally getting tripped at the 10-yard line. The penalties halved the distance to the Thunder 5, prompting Paeu-Lindgren to collect an easy pass from Fox. A Caroline Wuelfing pass breakup prevented Paeu-Lindgren from grabbing a two-point conversion from Abalateo, but SF nonetheless reduced the margin to a single possession at 20-12.

Still, Rocklin answered with a relatively quick scoring drive, all of Linehan's doing. With a fourth-and-goal just before the two-minute warning, Nguyen hit her favorite Thunder target despite Bates' pressure, bringing the score to 26-12. St. Francis managed two shots at the end zone in its final series, but both throws sent Abalateo and Nevaeh Gavino out the back of the end zone. Thunder junior Ava Erickson closed out the game by batting down a pass to a double-covered Natalia Zitelli in the final seconds.

The varsity loss followed a 21-14 setback for the Troubie junior varsity. Freshman Mariko Palmieri ran a 60-yard dash on the first play from scrimmage following the first Rocklin touchdown, and Madison Trafican completed the conversion to tie the game at 7-7. However, the Thunder scored two more touchdowns and the Troubies had back-to-back drives end on interceptions going into halftime.

The SF defense held Rocklin scoreless after the 21-7 halftime deficit. Two big defensive plays from Keanna Daneshvar contributed to the Thunder turning the ball over on downs, providing a short field for the Troubies. Jocelyn Villaflor scored on a 14-yard keeper, and Palmieri delivered on the ensuing one-pointer to bring St. Francis back to a single score.

Two pulls from sophomore Anastacia Uniza and a Chloe Aldrete tackle-for-loss highlighted one Troubie defensive stand, while freshman Alyssa Becze had the final stop on two other Rocklin drives. Meanwhile, the Troubies could not capitalize on a red-zone opportunity. Three Palmieri gains, including a fourth-and-4 conversion, plus a Trafican catch brought the ball to the Thunder 12. Palmeri and Villaflor ran the ball to the Thunder 1-yard line. Then Rocklin intercepted the next ball in the end zone to protect its lead.

St. Francis later had to go for a fourth-and-30 deep in its own territory for any chance to equalize, but the pass attempt came up short.

Both SF junior varsity and varsity squads continue SFL play at Oak Ridge on Thursday. Game times are 7 and 8 p.m., respectively.