Ponderosa High QB had a vision of winning, then lived the dream in flag football championship
Brooklynn Nordquist, the Ponderosa High School senior quarterback, had a dream of taking the victory formation in her flag football championship the night before she won it.
She said the vision came to her in her sleep before Saturday’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division II flag football game at Cosumnes River College.
“I had a dream about taking a knee at the end of the game,” said Nordquist after lighting up the scoreboard with touchdown passes in the D-II final.
That dream turned to reality for Nordquist and the top-seeded Bruins of Shingle Springs, who completed the only perfect season in the two-year history of flag football in the Sac-Joaquin Section with a 40-26 win over third-seeded Woodcreek of Roseville. Ponderosa finished the season at 25-0 in its inaugural flag campaign. Flag football started in California last season.
“It feels amazing,” Nordquist said. “We had something to prove. Everyone doubted us because this was our first year, but we knew we could do it.”
Nordquist, a frontrunner for Bee Player of the Year honors, threw six touchdowns passes and hauled in an interception on defense. Four of those scoring connections went to Molly McFarland, who also roams the outfield with Nordquist on the Bruins’ championship softball team, and the other two went to Ellie Escobar, daughter of Bruins head coach Tyson Escobar, who now has coached section championship teams for three different sports at his alma mater.
“Every single game, we played with the best coaches we could ask for and the best teammates we could ask for,” McFarland said. “I really give it to my team and my coaches. The bond we made in just one season was really great, and I’m just super proud of everyone.”
Bella Escobar, Tyson’s niece, and Rowan Thomas were consistent targets for Nordquist all season and in the final. The Bruin defense was led by Bailey Borges, Haley Arroyo, Cheyenne Jones and Stephanie Freas.
Assistant coach and proud papa Steve Montoya savored the moment of realization that he has coached both of his daughters on section championship teams. His daughter, Whitney, was on the Bruins softball team that won a blue banner in 2023, and now his junior daughter, Liana, can call herself a section champ as well.
Woodcreek reached the section finals for the second straight season. The Timberwolves fell to Del Oro in the D-I final last year. The Bee’s 2023 Offensive Player of the Year, Izzy Deveraux threw three touchdown passes and ran for one more to lead Woodcreek (18-4).
Division I
Del Oro 25, Oak Ridge 24 — Defending D-I champion Del Oro held a 19-6 lead at halftime before the Trojans of El Dorado Hills surged, scoring 18 unanswered points in the second half to take a 24-19 lead with 2:10 to play on a touchdown pass from Ella Cottrell to Laurel Smart.
But just as she did in last year’s section final, senior quarterback Delaney Osborne manufactured a game-winning drive in the closing minutes. Osborne tossed the go-ahead touchdown pass to Bella Von Seipler with 10 seconds left on the clock, and the Golden Eagles of Loomis made one final defensive stand to hold off Oak Ridge, the team with whom Del Oro shared the Sierra Foothill League championship this season.
In their previous SFL meeting, Oak Ridge stormed back from down 20 to win 27-20 and nearly experienced deja vu until the closing seconds of the championship game.
“We were like, ‘We can’t let them come back and win again,’” said Von Seipler. “We really just locked into that last play. And I honestly think it was like the belief and the encouragement that we were bringing each other and not keeping our heads hung.”
Del Oro (22-2) becomes the only team with multiple Sac-Joaquin Section flag football championships. Oak Ridge (18-5) made a strong showing in its first year as a flag program, reeling off 13 straight wins entering Saturday’s final.
Division III
Del Campo 37, Livingston 34 — Second-seeded Del Campo knocked off previously unbeaten Livingston, which came in at 28-0, in perhaps the most exciting game of the afternoon.
The final five minutes saw the Cougars of Fair Oaks gain, lose and regain the lead and ultimately hold on for a 37-34 win to take the medium-school championship.
“It felt like war,” said Del Campo linebacker Zenallah Hatcher-Simmons. “Even through the ups and downs, I still felt in my heart that we were gonna wear our (championship) hats today. I felt it. There was nothing shaking it.”
Hatcher-Simmons had a pick-six interception score to give Del Campo a 31-27 lead before Livingston retook the lead at 34-27 with under two minutes to play. But Del Campo quarterback Sophia Wright found Alyssa Salinas for a 3-yard score with seven seconds remaining to give the Cougars a 37-34 win.
Wright went 34-for-46 for 363 passing yards and five touchdowns and also ran eight times for 62 yards. Salinas caught 17 passes for 101 yards in the win.
“We had to go through the best in Sacramento to get here,” Del Campo head coach Jay Lottes said. “We practiced two-minute at the end of practice. Every time. That’s what we do, and I had nothing but faith in my quarterback. She’s an amazing athlete who’s come a long way, and she’s a section champion.”
Division IV
Hughson 26, Colfax 13 — Colfax, the top seed that came in as one of just three finalists remaining with an unbeaten record (15-0), suffered its first loss of the season against seventh-seeded Hughson.
Huskies quarterback Leah Hobby threw for 207 yards and four touchdowns, three to junior Presley Wells, who also had an interception in defeating Colfax, 26-13 to claim the first Division IV flag football championship. This section expanded its playoff divisions this season.
Colfax found itself in a 19-0 hole before Kaylee Fore hit Kaia Diederichs for a 9-yard score at the end of the first half. Fore also had a touchdown pass to Sophia Smiley.
Nick Pecoraro is a sports journalist and host of “Premier Preps with Nick Pecoraro,” a weekly prep show available on YouTube that recaps games and teams in the Sacramento area each week. Find it at youtube.com/@PremierPreps.
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 11:18 AM.