Fullerton players and coaches after Saturday’s inaugural flag football tournament. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
With the official season not far away, Fullerton High School’s girls flag football team got a chance for some game experience in the school’s inaugural summer flag football tournament on campus.
Fullerton wound up 1-1-1 in the pre-season eight-team Fullerton End Zone Elite Girls Flag Football Tournament. The Indians beat Garey 19-0, lost to Bellflower 6-0 and finished with a 6-6 tie vs. Ayala. San Clemente finished 2-1 and La Habra was 1-2.
Gahr defeated San Clemente 14-0 to reach the final, then defeated Bellflower 20-6 to take the title. Teams played one half consisting of 20 minutes on the two fields.
To see additional photos, click on the first picture:
Fullerton Coach Frank Ramirez said his team was able to learn from the experience.
Fullerton moved ahead about midway through the game when quarterback Alynna Ortiz connected with Mahlya Jordan for a touchdown. The Indians got into scoring position deep into Ayala territory on an interception by Jaydyn Tovar.
But Ayala was able to score the game-tying TD in the final seconds. Fullerton held on the conversion so the game ended in a tie.
“It was a broken defense and mistakes, it’s going to happen,” Ramirez said. “They were able to tie and finish on that last play. The execution of the plays shows we’re just a little off right now. But this is a great way to get where you want to get playing in these tournaments or have a tournament and invite other programs in order to help them too and get where they want to get and prepare for the season.
“But overall, I’m extremely happy with the girls, we don’t have any set positions yet though, they’re still going to be competing against each other at practice next week and the following week before we come with the starting offense and the starting defense. Any time you can come out 1-1-1 this early in the season is a success.”
Ramirez was pleased with the play of Tovar who “was definitely the player of the day. She had several flag pulls and two interceptions today.”
The team was the first to play on the new artificial turf football field at Fullerton, Ramirez said.
Fullerton is coming off a memorable 2024 season. The Indians lost to Santa Monica 28-6 in the CIF Division 4 finals.
“We lost 10 seniors from last year and we look to replace those 10 seniors,” Ramirez said.
Fullerton is scheduled to open the season on Saturday, Aug. 9 in the Mater Dei Tournament.
Ramirez said his main goals for his team in Saturday’s tournament were to gain some experience and chemistry. Three officials worked each game.
“We need to establish that chemistry before the season starts,” he said. “I threw in a lot more non-league games so we can prepare for league and …. if we’re fortunate enough to make it to CIF (playoffs). It’s definitely getting on the same page with the girls and the quarterback getting on the same page with the receivers and getting the running game going.”
Ramirez said the tournament also offered players a chance to get used to some of the new flag football rules this year.
“With the new rules, you have to establish a running game, and I like it, there’s not going to be one dominant position on the field any more,” he said. “The quarterback is not going to be able to sit back and have a 14-yard head start, now you’re going to have a rusher right on you so I believe it does even out the game.”
Under the previous rule, only two defenders could rush and they had to be seven yards behind the line of scrimmage.
“Anybody can rush now, you only have to be one yard off the line of scrimmage, which is huge,” the coach said.
Punting on fourth down is also one of the new rules.
“We also have punts and we worked on our punts today,” Ramirez said. “I love the fact that now on fourth down, we’re not just handing them (the other team) the ball, now we’re punting them the ball, and it enables more girls to play because now you’re going to have special teams. It opens up the door for more girls to play and I like that.”
Ramirez also ran an eight-team JV tournament after the varsity tournament. La Habra was the champion of that tourney, he said.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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