RIO LINDA, Calif. – Sophomore Piper Bates posted four of her team's 12 total interceptions while sophomore quarterback Lola Fox threw three touchdown passes and ran for another, as St. Francis captured the Lady Knights Flag Football Classic tournament at Rio Linda Saturday.
The Troubadours defeated Pleasant Grove, 20-2, to start the day; then came back on the hosts for a 14-13 victory. They further blanked Cordova, 13-0, to finish pool play. Finally, SF beat Christian Brothers in the tourney finale in a preview of the annual Holy Flags rivalry game.
The heat proved so stifling that the SF-Cordova game was called with almost five minutes left to play, while the Troubies-Falcons contested for just one half rather than all four quarters due to the swelter.
Natalia Zitelli ran for two touchdowns, both in the win over PG, while delivering one-point conversions to Annie Swanson (against Cordova) and Jade Abalateo (against CB). Fox had the third Troubie rushing TD in the opener while hitting Tayli Paeu-Lindgren for strikes against the Eagles and Falcons, plus another to Swanson to end the Lancer victory.
Fox was awarded the team's MVP medallion for the overall day, while all Troubies received tournament champion rings.
Bates picked off two passes in the opener with PG, with Alexa Randall, Abbey Pavelchik and Taylor Mitchell adding one interception each. Monet Zauner then had two against the host Knights, with Bates and Randall chipping in another. Zauner then enjoyed the lone pick six of the day for the Troubies to start off the win over Cordova.
St. Francis only trailed against Rio Linda, facing a 13-6 deficit at the break despite the Fox-Paeu-Lindgren connection in the first half. The Troubies trimmed the lead slightly with their first safety of the year, but that two-point bump proved important: Randall hauled in a deflected pass for a five-yard TD to take a 14-13 lead rather than a 13-12 deficit. Then in the final Knight series, Mitchell had a sack and Zauner notched her second pick to clinch the win.
Against CB, Fox's touchdown to Paeu-Lindgren and the Zitelli-Abalateo conversion served as the lone scoring. Amelia Zaragoza grabbed her team's last interception of the day with just under five minutes remaining, further keeping the Falcons off the board.
St. Francis will host Christian Brothers for the annual Holy Flags rivalry game at Jesuit on Friday, September 12. In the meantime, the Troubies return to action on Tuesday for a varsity-only road game at Franklin. Game time is 7 p.m.
