Christian Brothers flag football holds off Del Campo comeback to hoist 2nd banner

Christian Brothers flag football coach RJ Bradley knew his Falcons were in for a battle Saturday in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship game against Del Campo at Cosumnes River College.

The Cougars, after all, were the defending D-III champions after a gritty comeback win in the 2024 final over Livingston. So despite being down 12-0 after the first half, Del Campo knew it was still in the game.

The Cougars stormed back with defense and two fourth-quarter touchdowns to take a 13-12 lead with under two minutes to play, but Christian Brothers ultimately had the final word.

The Falcons scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 20-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Taylor Jernigan to fellow sophomore Emma Leonard for an 18-13 lead with 43 seconds remaining, and their defense held strong on the ensuing possession to capture the program’s second blue banner in three years.

“We work those 2-minute drills,” Bradley said after the game. “We’ve been doing that for like, the last month, so everybody knew what the assignment was.”

Leonard’s game-winner was one of just three catches on the afternoon to go with 37 receiving yards, but she had to break multiple tackles to reach the end zone.

“Unreal,” Leonard said. “In my head, I was like, ‘What if I score right now?’ But I didn’t think it would actually happen, but it worked out.”

Jernigan passed for 232 yards with three touchdown passes, one each to Malia Van Den Bogert, Claire Cuckovich and Leonard. She also ran five times for 45 yards.

“We just pull each other together, we stay together as one, and then that’s what helps us come to the game,” Jernigan said. “If we’re locked in, then we can usually win.”

Christian Brothers dominated the first half as Jernigan had touchdown passes of 8 and 16 yards to Van Den Bogert and Cuckovich, respectively, for a 12-0 lead at the break. The Falcons also got first-half defensive interceptions from Scarlett Reid and Marisela Gaeta, the latter with Del Campo pushing for a score inside Christian Brothers’ 10-yard line.

Del Campo turned up the defensive pressure in the third, stalling the Falcons on back-to-back turnovers on downs. Ashlynn Ratley had a big stop on fourth down and Kyra Hannan had a sack in the quarter for Del Campo.

The Cougars turned defense into offense in the fourth as Teagan Gumacal tipped a CB pass headed for the end zone that fell into the hands of Taylor Hedrick for a big interception return. Del Campo finished the drive with a 13-yard TD connection from Blu Clark to Keira Rowan to make it 12-6 with 6:56 left to play.

Del Campo’s go-ahead score came on a 55-yard touchdown connection from Clark to Regan Johnson to tie the score at 12-12. The ensuing point-after try saw Clark heading to the sidelines acting confused about the play call, but it was all a ruse. The ball snapped to Alex Topping, who ran in the conversion to put Del Campo up 13-12.

That set up Christian Brothers’ final drive, capped by Jernigan’s pass to Leonard to seal the Falcons’ second flag football championship.

Christian Brothers (19-9) started 8-1 and then lost six of their next eight games, finishing fourth in the Capital Valley Conference. The Falcons ultimately earned a one-seed in the D-III bracket and marched through Florin, Ceres and East Union en route to the finals.

“Those tough losses and adversity we went through really helped us get to where we are right now,” Bradley said.

Del Campo (16-6) lost 16 seniors from last year’s section title team and only had one consistently in the rotation on either side of the ball.

“When you graduate 16 seniors and not many are in the rotation, they thought this would be a rebuilding year,” said Del Campo head coach Jay Lottes. “We’re not in the later business. We’re here for the now.”

Colfax comes up short in overtime in D-IV final

It took overtime to decide the Division IV championship between third-seeded Colfax of Placer County and No. 5 Hilmar of Merced County.

A 6-6 game since the end of the first half, the second half was filled with defensive stop after defensive stop. In OT, Hilmar struck first with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Brisa Gonzales to Alexis Aguiar to give the Yellowjackets a 13-6 lead.

Colfax answered on its drive as Kaylee Fore hit Sophia Smiley for a 3-yard score. Coach Tony Martello, whose legendary coaching career includes 229 wins and four section titles with the Falcons’ tackle football program, gave his team the option to go for two and the win. But Hilmar’s pass rush proved to be the difference, getting a sack and its first flag football championship with a 13-12 final.

“When the football gods wrote down the section championship game on their tablets, they pretty much wrote this game,” said Martello, who plans to retire from coaching after this season. “The girls played hard, and it was right down to the wire, went into overtime. It’s everything that the game should have been with how deep this division was.”

The score was tied at 6-6 after the first half. Gonzales zigged and zagged her way to a 55-yard QB keeper for a touchdown to put the Yellowjackets in front with 4:27 to play in the half. But Colfax responded on the ensuing drive as Fore hit Maya Smiley, who juggled the ball before hauling in a 35-yard score to knot the score before the break.

Fore went 21-of-33 for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Sophia Smiley had 10 catches for 81 yards and a score, while Maya Smiley caught eight balls for 65 yards and a TD. Colfax had defensive interceptions from Juliana Massick, Miakota Toy and Madison Gawley.

The Falcons (19-3) fell short in the section final last year against Hughson, 26-13, to finish their season at 15-1. They reached the semis in 2023, falling 7-6 to eventual champ Christian Brothers. This year Colfax went through Escalon, 20-0; took a playoff rematch against Hughson, 6-0; and beat Sonora, 14-7, to reach the finals.

This story was originally published November 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM.