Senior Greta Heath threw four touchdown passes, including two to Josephine Falt, as the Newbury Park High flag football team advanced to the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinals with a 26-18 win over host Irvine-Portola on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Down 6-0 early, the Panthers scored 26 consecutive points to build a 26-6 third-quarter lead.
“We had it rolling there for a bit,” Newbury Park coach Steve Wood said.
Heath hit Falt for a score and London Lefler for the PAT as Newbury Park took a 7-6 lead late in the first quarter.
Heath’s 35-yard scoring strike to Lily Johnson and a fourth-down pass to Maya Garza on the final play of the second quarter pushed the lead to 20-6 at the half.
Falt’s second TD catch built a 26-6 lead after three quarters.
Portola scored twice within a minute in the fourth quarter and earned the ball back with 41 seconds to play, but Heath, Lefler and Falt broke up passes to turn the ball over on downs.
“Our defense was able to step up and hang on at the end and close out the game,” Wood said. “I’m really proud of the girls and the effort they put in to shut it down.”
Wood said the Newbury Park rushers Dani Jurado, Tiegan Radke and Julet Martin impacted the Portola offense.
“I think our rushers put a lot of pressure on the quarterback,” said Wood said. “We had a few sacks that really set the tone for the game.”
Newbury Park (17-7) will visit Bishop Amat in Tuesday’s Division 2 quarterfinals.
Ventura 40, Irvine-Northwood 27
Ava Ortman powered the Cougars to their first sectional quarterfinal berth.
The senior quarterback completed 35 of 46 passes for 366 yards and four TDs, ran for two TDs and also had two interceptions on defense as Ventura advanced to the Division 2 quarterfinals.
“We found the holes faster than they did,” Ventura coach Frank Jordan said. “They found a few holes in our defense. We adjusted, they adjusted, and then things just started going our way.”
Kaiya Cooke caught nine passes for 125 yards and two TDs and Mya Rodriguez caught nine passes for 99 yards and two TDs. Kailey Champion and Maya Huizar caught five passes apiece.
Rodriguez and Brynn Kightlinger had interceptions and Cooke, Amani King, Shay Torres and Jordyn Ward had sacks for Ventura (20-8), which will visit Corona del Mar in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Jordan was impressed with how his team handled the three-hour drive to Orange County.
“I think we did a really good job,” Jordan said. “The girls did a really good job of gathering themselves, getting off the bus, getting ourselves stretched out and preparing for the game immediately once we got there.”
Westlake 20, Tustin-Beckman 6
Olivia Elsokary returned a punt for a score as the host Warriors took the lead before taking an offensive snap and never looked back to advance to the Division 2 quarterfinals.
The dynamic sophomore made plays in all three phases of the game, catching a TD pass and grabbing an interception.
“Livvie is Livvie,” Westlake coach Mike Earnes said. “So that’s a good way to start the game.”
Freshman quarterback Annabel O’Keefe completed 19 of 32 passes for 146 yards and a TD and ran for a 2-yard TD for Westlake (15-6), which will host Downey in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
“It’s been about energy,” said Earnes. “We had some really good athletes. They’ve figured out that we can play with anybody, if we can keep that energy up.”
Royal 14, Antelope Valley 6
Layla Gutierrez and Paige Laranjo scored first-half touchdowns and the Highlanders dramatically made it stand up with three red-zone stops in the second half.
“Twice they had a first down inside our 5,” said Royal coach Jay Sramek.
Bri Gabaldon and Bridgette Chavez combined for five pass breakups and nine tackles to protect the Royal lead.
Micaela Jones and Tasha Polian scored PATs for Royal (6-8), which will visit Compton in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
Roosevelt 16, Santa Paula 13
Angie Aguilera threw a TD pass and ran for a TD, but the Cardinals fell in the Division 3 second round in Eastvale.
Aguilera’s TD pass to Cindy Cisneros pulled Santa Paula within 8-7 at the half. Aguilera’s TD run pulled Sana Paula within 16-13 with 6:21 left.
The Cardinals (13-3) got the ball back with 1:46 to play, but couldn’t muster a final drive.
Sunny Hills 20, Moorpark 0
The Musketeers were shut out in the Division 3 second round. Their season ends at 7-6.
Solaio Arredondo threw three TD passes for Sunny Hills.
Joe Curley covers football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Flag football | Newbury Park, Ventura, Westlake, Royal advance to quarterfinals
Reporting by Joe Curley, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
