Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s girls’ flag football teams kicked off their inaugural season this past week.
The Bulldogs won four of five games.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Ceres High head coach Curtis Hulstine said. “The girls are competing. They’re becoming a good team—not just players but teammates.”
“We’ve had a lot of success,” he added. “Everybody wants to beat us.”
Ceres High opened the 2023 campaign with a 23-15 win over visiting Livingston in overtime on Aug. 22 at CUSD Stadium.
“We were all nervous,” Hulstine said. “The coaches and players. The first snaps were a little rough. But the girls started to figure it out. It was a 100 percent team effort. A lot of people stepped up.”
“We got the first-game jitters out of the way,” Bulldogs’ quarterback/defensive back Marissa Renteria said.
Ceres High erased an eight-point deficit late in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs forced OT when Renteria threw a touchdown pass to Madeline Schultz and Makenna Azevedo added the two-point conversion.
In overtime, Renteria and Hailey Tsurui combined for a TD and Maria Bravo caught a two-point conversion pass to give Ceres High a 23-15 lead.
“My teammates were able to get open so I had an opportunity to throw the ball,” Renteria said.
Renteria sealed with victory with an interception.
“I had a good amount of bad throws (on offense),” she said. “I needed to step up on defense. I knew the ball was coming. I have a little football IQ.”
Azevedo accounted for the Bulldogs’ first-ever touchdown.
“To say that I’m surprised is an understatement,” Hulstine stated while talking about Ceres High’s comeback victory. “It was a big relief to get the win at the end. It was super stressful and exciting. We wanted to showcase what our girls are made of. I think we did that.”
“The energy on the bench motivated everybody else,” Renteria added.
Renteria had three touchdown passes, including two to Azevedo and one to Tsurui.
“Marissa competes no matter where she plays on the field,” Hulstine said.
The Bulldogs topped the visiting Golden Valley Cougars 33-12 on Wednesday.
Renteria had three touchdown passes to Alyssa Santillanes.
Ceres High compiled a 2-1 record en route to a third-place finish at the Golden Valley High School Tournament on Saturday.
The Bulldogs bested El Capitan (34-33) and Golden Valley (28-6).
Ceres High suffered a four-point loss (26-22) while battling the Merced.
Central Valley gained valuable experience while losing all five of its games.
“The girls are really having a fun time playing together,” head coach Tony Cordova said. “Once we start to gel a little more as a team, we’ll start winning games.”
The Hawks dropped their season opener, 19-7, to Mariposa on Wednesday in Ceres.
“It was pretty exciting to be able to host a game on the football field,” Cordova said. “Our practices are on the JV softball field.”
Jocelyn Rivera accounted for Central Valley’s lone touchdown.
She hauled in a 45-yard TD pass from Dulce Del Valle.
Del Valle threw for 125 yards with one touchdown. She also totaled 15 yards on the ground.
Tarnjot Kaur totaled 60 yards on five receptions.
Alexa Alberto and Brianna Espinoza each caught one pass for 10 yards.
“It was what I expected,” Cordova said. “The girls were a little timid. They were nervous. I was happy to see that we scored. Everybody played.”
Central Valley lost 34-14 to Central Catholic on Thursday in Modesto.
“I thought we did really well,” Cordova said. “We could have done better. Overall, I’m happy with the performance.”
Del Valle tossed a TD pass to Kaur.
Espinoza caught one pass for 25 yards.
Alberto returned an interception for a touchdown.
“I did my best to give everybody a chance to play,” Cordova said. “I was trying to be fair.”
Central Valley posted an 0-3 record at the Golden Valley Tournament.
The Hawks were beaten by Golden Valley, Livingston and Buhach Colony.
Central Valley challenged Golden Valley and Buhach Colony.
“Each game, we got better because of the confidence,” Cordova said. “We got a really good defense. On offense, we’re going to make some personnel changes.”
The California Interscholastic Federation voted in February to make girls’ high school flag football an official sport. Approximately 70 schools are fielding teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section.
Ceres High will play host to Central Valley today at 7 p.m.
