After a thrilling overtime win over Woodcreek High School last Wednesday, the Ponderosa Bruins remained unbeaten at 15-0 and are the new Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 1 flag football team.
The Bruins of Shingle Springs rallied from an eight-point deficit with 1:40 to play and won 36-35 in overtime when Woodcreek failed to convert a 2-point try. A triumphant celebration ensued on the Bruins’ sideline after the hard-fought win. Not bad for a first-year program, as the CIF a year ago introduced flag football across the state.
“We knew we had some pretty good athletes that had some speed, and we’ve got some playmakers,” said Ponderosa head coach Tyson Escobar, the school’s one-time star wrestler and wrestling coach. He has two daughters on the team.
The coach added: “We just didn’t have a measuring stick because we hadn’t done it. Until we started playing and we were like, ‘Yeah, I think we can put something together here to be pretty special.’”
Brooklynn Nordquist was 20-of-29 passing with 224 yards and three touchdown passes and also ran nine times for 65 yards and a score. Junior receiver Rowan Thomas caught eight passes for 122 yards and two scores and caught the game-tying 2-point try to send the game to OT.
Nordquist has passed for 2,134 yards and 45 touchdowns entering the week.
“We had to keep it cool and collected,” Thomas said after the game. “A lot of people thought we were going to lose, but we knew that we could do it. We just had to believe in each other.”
Entering Monday, Ponderosa had beaten four Sierra Foothill League teams and had gone 8-0 against playoff teams from a year ago.
McClatchy right near the top
If Ponderosa is No. 1, then McClatchy might be 1A.
The Lions of the Sacramento City Unified School District also fielded flag football for the first time this fall. They entered the week at 21-0 with 11 shutouts. McClatchy has scored fewer than 20 points only on two occasions thanks to a high-powered offense that is nationally ranked.
At the end of last week, quarterback Daisy Throckmorton, who also stars in basketball for the Lions, was second in the country with 6,619 total yards and led the nation with 91 touchdown passes, according to stats entered into MaxPreps by coaches and stat keepers.
“When we had the opportunity to work with Daisy, she came out, and I was like, ‘Oh, OK. I can work with this,’” McClatchy coach John Avery said. “She’s very coachable. She follows directions well, and then she has a natural mindset for football, and she makes good reads, and so I built the offense around that.”
Throckmorton has a nose for the ball on defense, too. She’s one of four McClatchy players with double-digit interceptions. But her bread and butter is with a tight spiral, completing nearly 72% of her passes and leading her team with 546 rushing yards.
“Obviously, people have to catch it for me to be able to get those yards,” Throckmorton said after a recent win over West Park. “That’s really all it is: I throw it and they catch it. They’ve made some really amazing catches, and I would be nowhere without my receivers.”
Five McClatchy receivers are on pace to eclipse 1,000 yards, including senior Breyana Kimmons, junior Mazie Kergan, sophomore Savanna Hill and freshmen Rihanna Sharma and Mya Alva.
Previous No. 1 Del Oro falls
After an up-and-down season, Rocklin seems to have found its stride, especially with a signature upset victory over the Bee’s previous No. 1 team, Del Oro, with a 12-9 Sierra Foothill League victory. That snapped a streak of 31 consecutive wins from the reigning Sac-Joaquin Section champion Golden Eagles dating back to last season.
Rocklin also got the chance to shine under the Friday night lights ahead of the boys varsity football game for the annual Quarry Bowl between the Thunder and Whitney Wildcats, capping its week with a 19-6 win over the Wildcats in front of a standing room only crowd.
“To allow flag football to be a part of this experience, this is something that they’re always gonna remember,” Rocklin head coach Ryan Spears said. “I hope other schools and teams around the league look at this because flag football is here.”
The Thunder (11-7) have vaulted themselves back into the playoff contenders conversation while simultaneously opening the door for a new No. 1 in the Bee’s flag football rankings.
Capital gains
Sacramento Adventist Academy quarterback Kyla Friedrich set school scoring records in a 61-0 win over Elite of Vallejo on Oct. 1. Friedrich, who is a returning Bee All-Metro selection as a freshman, threw six touchdowns and ran in another. She followed with six more TD passes in a 48-0 win over Mesa Verde to help the small-school Capitals to a 6-0 start in the Sierra Delta League and 10-2 overall.
Friedrich has 31 TD passes with nearly 2,000 passing yards to go with 875 rushing yards and eight more ground scores. She also has 10 interceptions on defense.
Pleasant Grove leading the Delta
Speaking of quarterbacks who can do it all, Pleasant Grove junior Kate Myers has helped make the Eagles the talk of the Delta League as the Elk Grove Unified School District started flag this fall. With its only two losses to West Park and Christian Brothers, Pleasant Grove has a two-game lead for the Delta crown entering this week at 7-0.
A multisport star, Myers has tossed 34 touchdown passes and run for eight more in her 2,274 yards of total offense. On defense, she’s among the section’s leaders with 17 interceptions.
Elk Grove and Franklin loom for the Eagles.
THE BEE’S FLAG FOOTBALL TOP 15
(Records entering Monday)
- Ponderosa (15-0)
- McClatchy (21-0)
- Woodcreek (10-3)
- Christian Brothers (13-2)
- Del Oro (13-1)
- Vacaville (15-2)
- Rocklin (10-7)
- West Park (15-4)
- Colfax (6-0)
- Del Campo (9-3)
- Pleasant Grove (11-2)
- Dixon (10-0)
- Antelope (14-5)
- Oak Ridge (9-4)
- Cosumnes Oaks (8-4)
Bubble: Destiny Christian (6-6), Franklin (6-4), Granite Bay (6-4), Grant (3-5), Rio Linda (9-6), Sac Adventist (10-2), Vista del Lago (5-3), Whitney (9-6).
Nick Pecoraro is a sports journalist and host of “Premier Preps “ a weekly highlight show available on YouTube. Find it at youtube.com/@PremierPreps.
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