Despite the 27-7 defeat against visiting La Habra High School Sept. 15, the Wildcats girls’ varsity flag football team had at least one thing to be proud of: their resilience.
Entering the game, the Highlanders had played 14 games, including nine wins, versus the home team’s four total games played. La Habra’s seven extra games of experience was evident from the opening whistle.
“You could tell La Habra had more team chemistry and game experience,” Anjali Adhvaryu (‘27) said.
On their first drive of the game the Wildcats’ offense, led by Bella Ramirez (‘28), in place of an injured Gianna Tuso (’26), fell behind after an interception led to a Highlanders’ touchdown.
Throughout the first half, BOHS struggled to move the ball offensively, while La Habra managed two more scores by halftime.
Players attributed the first half deficit to mental mistakes and lack of game experience. (The Wildcats have only played twice since their Aug. 27 win against Sonora High School.)
“We need to master and execute, and we just made too many mistakes which cost us the game,” running back Hanee Park (‘27) said.
Things turned around for the Wildcats in the second half, however, as the girls held the Highlanders to one touchdown.
“Our halftime talk with our coaches helped us because they reminded us that the game wasn’t over and we still had a whole half to play,” Park said.
While the defense locked in and shut down the Highlanders’ offense in the second half, the Wildcats remained scoreless until the final seconds of the fourth quarter. With two seconds left on the clock, third-string quarterback Maddy Gonzales (‘28) lofted the ball to Chloe Toro (‘28) who dodged La Habra defenders and sprinted into the end zone.
Although the Wildcats lost, and fell to 2-3 on the season, the team saw positives in the game, including a season-high four interceptions, with safety Gen Dauphin (‘26) accounting for two.
Dauphin credits her interceptions – she’s snagged a team-high six this season – to her soccer training. Dauphin also plays goalie on the varsity girls’ soccer team and is committed to NCAA Division 2 California Baptist University.
“You have to make lots of vertical jumps for the ball in flag and getting the ball at the high point comes from being a goalie,” Dauphin said.
Despite the four interceptions, the Wildcats were not able to capitalize on the turnovers.
“It gave us hope each time we had an interception, but we couldn’t gain yardage,” Adhvaryu said.
Next up for the Wildcats is 3-5 Pacifica High School in Garden Grove Sept. 17 for their second league match of the season. Both teams enter the game 0-1 in North Hills League.
