The El Capitan, Atwater and Merced high school girls flag football teams all had little trouble in their first round playoff games as all three advanced with lopsided victories on Wednesday. Sixth-seeded El Capitan dominated in a 27-0 win over No. 11 Elk Grove. The No. 5 seeded Falcons cruised to a 45-24 win over No. 12 Bear Creek and No. 1 Merced crushed No. 17 Grant 44-0.

 

All three teams advance to the quarterfinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs on Monday. Here’s a recap of each game:

 

El Capitan 27, Elk Grove 0 – Senior Aaliyah Simonian was everywhere on the field for the Gauchos, throwing for 269 yards and four touchdowns and adding 94 rushing yards. Avnoor Bains finished with 109 receiving yards and three touchdown catches and Mady Dietz added 87 yards receiving and a touchdown.

 

The Gauchos offense moved up and down the field as they built their large lead and the defense delivered three interceptions with Simonian picking off two passes on diving interceptions and Dietz intercepting another pass. “Defensively we played very well,” said El Capitan coach Juan Valdovino. “We executed the formations we wanted and getting the ball back several times was big.”

 

Simonian says the chemistry between the receivers and Simonian is strong. Most of the girls on the team have grown up playing basketball together. There's a close bond that translates out into the field. Bains says they can communicate nonverbally when they both see matchups they can exploit. “We definitely have a look we give each other when I feel like I can get the ball and she feels like she can get it there,” Bains said.

 

El Capitan became the first Gauchos flag football team to host a playoff game and it was the first postseason win in program history. The Gauchos will travel to Shingle Springs on Monday to face No. 3 Ponderosa on Monday. “It’s great to be the first flag football team to get a home playoff game and first team to win in the playoffs,” Bains said.

 

Atwater 45, Bear Creek 24 – After punting on their first possession the Falcons (17-5) marched up and down the field as Atwater opened up a 32-0 lead at the half. Falcons quarterback Once Falcons quarterback Madi Hiler settled in, the Bruins couldn’t stop the Falcons offense as Hiler threw four touchdowns passes and ran for three more scores. 

 

“I had to tell Madi to take a deep breath, relax and hit the open girl,,” said Atwater co-head coach Nathan Ramirez. “She’s an adrenaline junky so she’s already at 100 when we start so sometimes we just need to calm her down to get her back to 75. Then she can get back to 100 if she needs to later in the game.”

 

Saige Harcksen caught two touchdowns and Riley Leonardo also grabbed two scoring strikes. 

Leonardo says the Falcons team is a really close group and they don’t want to see their season end. She says they’d love another shot at Merced later in the playoffs. “We’re extremely close,” Leonardo said. “A lot of us come from different sports like soccer and basketball, but we all have that really tight bond.”

 

The Falcons will be back at home on Monday in the second round against No. 13 Rocklin, which upset No. 4 Woodcreek 31-12 in the first round. 

Merced 44, Grant 0 – The top-seeded Bears posted a shutout while lighting up the scoreboard on offense. Quarterback Antonia Lejarde threw for 240 yards and threw five touchdowns to four different receivers. Lejarde also ran for another score.

 

Merced junior Averie Steverson finished with 87 yards receiving and two touchdown catches. Lejarde also connected with Amiya Brown, Jackie Martinez, Aubrie Supinger and Madison Cabral for touchdowns.

 

Merced advances to the second round on Monday when the Bears (22-4) will host No. 8 Whitney. A win could set up a possible semifinal rematch with Atwater on Wednesday.

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.