Northwood knocks off top-seeded Poly and earns trip to inaugural CIF Division 2 final

Northwood players celebrate Monday’s semifinal victory. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Northwood High School’s girls flag football team put together another solid effort on both sides of the ball Monday afternoon and made history earning a trip to the inaugural CIF Division 2 championship game Saturday at Fred Kelly Stadium.

The Timberwolves defeated top-seeded Long Beach Poly 18-6 in a semifinal game at Northwood and will face Trabuco Hills, which defeated Edison 19-6 in the other semifinal. The final will be Saturday at 2:45 p.m.

Quarterback Natalie Keith threw three touchdown passes and also had two interceptions playing defense to lead Northwood (17-4) to its second victory this year over Poly (20-10).

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“I guess it’s a history making moment for everybody, first year of CIF playoffs for the girls,” said Northwood assistant coach Mike Stewart, who filled in for head coach Harry Lee, who had a previous commitment. “We’re super excited, that’s a very, very good Long Beach Poly team.

“They’re very well coached and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy but the girls just kept persevering and we kept getting better as the year went on.”

Stewart praised the effort of his team, which has been bolstered by the addition of Keith on the defensive side.

“Our defense got so much better, we did not use her on defense in the first half of the year,” Stewart said. “She said, ‘can I please play defense?’ and when Natalie tells you something, you just kind of do it. That’s how we roll around here and she called that whole game by herself, she called every offensive play and I thought she did a great job. That’s a lot of pressure for a 16-year-old kid.”

Keith’s first interception set up the first Northwood score, a 4-yard TD pass from Keith to Elisa Kung. Northwood was unable to make the conversion but led 6-0 with 15:56 left in the first 25-minute half.

Later in the half, Keith connected with Jessie Wendt on a 12-yard TD pass to put the Timberwolves ahead 12-0.

Northwood moved out to an 18-0 lead when Keith hit Hailey Brennan on an 18-yard TD pass to make it 18-0.

Poly broke the shutout bid when quarterback hooked up with Ki’ele Ho-Ching for a touchdown. Poly got the back later in the half, but Northwood’s defense toughened up the rest of the way.

“It feels great, we’ve worked really hard this whole season,” said Keith. “We got a big win today and we’re just excited to be there (in the finals). Everyone was locked in, we were a little worried about it being a Monday game after the long weekend. But everyone showed up and everyone did great and we just executed perfectly.”

Northwood has had quite a run in the playoffs, knocking off Pacific Coast League champion and fourth-seeded Woodbridge in the quarterfinals. Keith thought a trip to the finals was possible.

“We really had a turning point in our season halfway through and I feel like once everyone got on the same page, we took it from there and kept going,” she said.

Lee, the head coach, received a text from the team with the championship result.

Northwood cheerleaders and a number of fans came out to cheer on the Timberwolves.

It’s the first year that CIF has sanctioned the girls flag football playoffs. Trabuco Hills, the No. 2 team from the South Coast League, enters Saturday’s finals with a 16-3 record.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com