Woodbridge, Uni and Beckman girls flag football teams open play at LA Chargers Invitational

Several Orange County teams opened the inaugural season of CIF-approved girls flag football at the Los Angeles Chargers Invitational Saturday in Costa Mesa.

Highlights:

Woodbridge High School Warriors opened with two victories on Saturday.

In the first game, the Warriors defeated Serra from Gardena 36-14.

The Warriors marched down the field scoring first with a handoff to Maci Land. Serra answered with a score on the next drive. The following possession, led by quarterback Teagan Burrus, Woodbridge again drove down the field and scored.

Tori Zebko caught a pass out of the backfield and juked two defenders to get into the end zone.  Woodbridge followed with a pass from by Burrus to Milan Heisdorf on a 10-yard out. Serra countered with a catch and run for a touchdown to trim the lead to 18-14.

“We started out slow on defense missing a few flags while adjusting to the speed and physicality of Serra. We need to tighten up on defense in the second half,” said Woodbridge Coach Mark Thompson.

In the second half, Woodbridge’s Laney Brucker came up with a clutch interception setting the defensive tone for the rest of the game. Woodbridge took control in the second half outscoring Serra 18-0 with touchdown catches by Tori Zebko, Ashlyn Amundson and Burrus.

The Warriors defeated Long Beach Poly 13-7 in their second game in a defensive battle.

With two minutes left in the first half, Burrus connected on a deep pass to Land for a touchdown and Tori Zebko caught the extra point, giving Woodbridge a 7-0 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Heisdorf had a clutch interception for Woodbridge. With less than two minutes in the game, Land had a key fourth down sack setting Woodbridge up first and goal on the 10 yard line.

Two plays later, Mohini Schaefers scored on a handoff beating the defender on the outside.

Poly scored a TD on the last play of the game.

“I am happy with what I saw today from the team in their first games of the season,” Thompson said. “I like their intensity and focus. We definitely have a lot of work to do to get where they need to be but it’s a good start.”

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University High School Trojans won their two games Saturday, shutting out Long Beach Wilson and Lakewood.

“It was a great event hosted by the Chargers and a terrific experience for our girls,” said University Coach Justin Schulman. ” “I was proud of how they played; many had never played in a flag game before.  Carmen Cruz made Oakley’s all-tournament team and was a real leader for us along with Leah Schulman and Elyse Mills.”

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Beckman High School Patriots battled hard but dropped their first two games Saturday, according to Coach Pierre Sanjurjo.

“We didn’t win in the score column but the girls played really well,” the coach said. “With only two returning from last year’s team, we are still working out some kinks. We have the athletes, that’s for sure.

“Not having experience was our biggest concern. But overall, we definitely competed.”

Sophomore safety Riley O’Brian had two early interceptions.

“Riley will help anchor our defense,” Sanjurjo said. “Emily Choi, a senior rusher, will be a menace to opposing quarterbacks. She is a track star and her speed will put pressure on the other teams’ offense. Our two young quarterbacks will split time early in pre-season to get experience and be able to manage our offense.”

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