LOOMIS, Calif. – Sophomore Alexa Randall returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown, but it ended up as the only Troubadour scoring play, as St. Francis lost to Del Oro by a final of 26-6 in a Sierra Foothill League girls' flag football varsity game at Golden Eagles Stadium Thursday night.
The Troubies slip to 4-14 for the season and 3-9 in league games. The Golden Eagles improve to 16-2 for the year, and jump into a three-way tie atop the SFL standings at 10-2, alongside Oak Ridge and Rocklin.
Randall's "pick six" snapped what had been a run of 26 unanswered points for DO. Sophomore Cassidy Anderson had replaced starter Delaney Osborne behind center, and promptly brought her team into the red zone on a 50-yard bomb to Caroline Carson. Monet Zauner knocked down Anderson's next pass in the end zone, then Randall appeared to knock down an attempt to Kaiya Magini-Foster on the ensuing third-and-10 play. Instead, she trapped the ball against her knee long enough to get both hands on it, then used her sprinter's speed to run untouched to the opposite goal line.
Randall returned to the field for a breakup on a long Anderson pass toward the left sideline on a second-and-21, following Zia Smith's pull on Anderson at the DO 19-yard-line. Zauner followed with a stop to force the Golden Eagles to punt with 7:30 left, giving SF another chance to cut into the lead. Smith lined up on offense during the next series, and caught two passes from quarterback Lola Fox – the second of which converted a fourth-and-5 situation and drove the Troubies to the DO 15. However, that red-zone chance stalled on the next play, as Payton Hyde picked off a pass at her own 2-yard-line.
Del Oro had possession with 3:10 left, while SF had two timeouts and the two-minute warning to preserve enough clock for one more scoring chance. Reese Lieuwen had two deflaggings, and Gabrielle Kamin swooped in for another to force a Golden Eagle punt at 1:20. Haydyn Haecker came in to run for a short gain and hit Nevaeh Gavino for a completion, but neither play could stop the clock in time to allow the Troubies another chance at the end zone.
The varsity loss followed an 18-6 setback for the St. Francis junior varsity. The Troubies scored their only points on a long run by Mariko Palmieri with 3:28 left in the second, but DO had already piled up three touchdowns by then. SF managed one final red-zone opportunity in its final series, but like its opening possession, came up two yards short. Isabela Brenes hauled in a long pass from Jocelyn Villaflor with 31 seconds left, and finished the game with another grab just one step shy of the goal line.
Keanna Daneshvar also gave SF something to celebrate in the first half, thanks to an interception at the two-minute warning in the first half. Camille Villanueva pulled six flags to lead the Troubie defense, with Anastacia Uniza (5), Elizabeth McNearney (4) and Cassandra Salvucci (4) following. Salvucci also broke up two DO passes along the way.
Both St. Francis teams finish the regular season at home as part of the school's overall Homecoming activities. The Troubies host Whitney on Tuesday, then both Del Campo (JV) and Folsom (varsity) on Wednesday. Each date also has an unusual start in which varsity will play at 4 p.m., with JV following as sunlight allows. The matchup with the Bulldogs will also feature a Senior Day ceremony, also necessitating an early start for varsity.
