La Habra players and coaches after Wednesday’s victory. (PHOTO: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
La Habra’s girls flag football team scored four touchdowns in the second quarter to break open a close game and went on to defeat Troy 32-0 in a North Hills League game Wednesday afternoon at Troy.
The win enabled the Highlanders (8-9, 6-2) to clinch a tie for the league championship, along with Foothill. CIF playoff pairings will be announced on Friday with first-round games scheduled to be played next Tuesday.
Kaitlin Cauley, who played quarterback, wide receiver and linebacker in the game, had a spectacular game for La Habra. The sophomore rushed for 101 yards, scored three rushing touchdowns, and threw a TD pass.
Cauley competed 10 of 14 passes for 91 yards. In addition, Cauley, along with teammates Gisselle Virgen and Hayden Carson applied heavy pressure on the Warriors quarterback throughout the game. La Habra out-gained Troy 267-48 in the contest.
“It’s amazing we’re league champions,” said Cauley, who also had a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give La Habra a 6-0 lead. “We were motivated to win today, and we are ready for the CIF playoffs.”
Leading 6-0 after the first quarter, the Highlanders exploded for four touchdowns in the second quarter. Eliana Corona scored on a 2-yard run to give the Highlanders a 12-0 lead at the 9:59 mark of the quarter. The touchdown was set up by a 20-yard pass play from Cauley to Corona.
Following a Warriors punt, La Habra went on a 7-play scoring drive, capped off by Cauley’s one-yard touchdown run, increasing the lead to 18-0.
The Highlanders then scored twice in the final 55 seconds of the quarter to take a 30-0 halftime lead. Cauley tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Corona and on the last lay of the half Cauley scored on a crafty 21-yard touchdown run.
“We got off to a rocky start this season (1-6) but this is a good group and we know we can do some damage,” said Corona, who caught five passes for 52 yards and scored a rushing touchdown and caught a TD pass. “It’s amazing to win a league championship. We know we can step it up to another level. We know we can do more.”
The Highlanders’ defense, led by Layla Bartosik, Journee Costello, Corona, Cauley, Virgen, Carson and Makenna Caffrey, continued to dominate in the second-half as the Warriors (8-4, 5-3) offense could not get into a rhythm.
“I love it; we’re clicking at the right time of the season,” said Costello, junior.
La Habra avenged an earlier season loss to Troy. The Highlanders and Foothill also split their season series by winning one game against each other. Wednesday was La Habra’s fourth shutout of the season. Ava Bonafide recorded a safety for La Habra late in the game to complete the Highlanders’ scoring.
La Habra Coach Robert Atanay was extremely pleased following the game.
“It was a good game for us and a great team win,” said Atanay. “We scored 32 points and after a rough start to the season, we pulled it off.”
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