Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s girls flag football programs kicked off the Western Athletic Conference part of their schedules this past week.
The Hawks beat both of their opponents, while the Bulldogs had to settle for a split.
“Everybody did fantastic,” Central Valley head coach Tony Cordova said while assessing the performance of his players.
The Hawks improved to 7-4 overall and 2-0 in the WAC standings after earning a hard-fought 12-0 win against the Pacheco Panthers on Sept. 10 in Los Banos.
“The score doesn’t reflect how well we played,” Cordova said. “Our defense locked down their offense.”
Giana Breshears led Central Valley’s defense with four tackles, four sack s and one pass deflection.
Alicia Espinoza added six tackles, one sack and one pass deflection.
Elia Hernandez had four tackles and one sack.
Dulce Del Valle had two tackles, one sack and one pass deflection.
Mia Muniz had one tackle and one sack.
Hawk quarterback Abigail Krauss completed 8 of 15 passes for 80 yards with two touchdowns and one interception against the Panthers (4-5, 0-2).
She also rushed for 46 yards on seven carries.
Layla Nowaya caught two passes for 49 yards and one touchdown.
Mekenzie Buenrostro finished with 17 yards and one touchdown on three receptions.
Central Valley opened WAC play with a 32-0 victory over Grace Davis on Sept. 8 at CUSD Stadium.
“The kids’ overall performance was great,” Cordova said. “We did what we wanted.”
Krauss completed 17 of 25 passes for 145 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. He carried the ball four times for 27 yards.
Buenrostro caught six passes for 45 yards and three touchdowns.
Jazmin Carmona caught one pass for 7 yards and one touchdown.
Apreza caught four passes for 61 yards and ran for 70 yards on seven carries. She also had a 45-yard punt-return touchdown.
Nowaya caught four passes for 27 yards.
Buenrostro led the Hawks’ defense with two interceptions and one tackle.
Del Valle had three tackles and one interception.
Addisyn Prudhel had three tackles and one sack.
Apreza had one interception.
Espinoza had six tackles.
Ruby Medina had four tackles.
“Our defense is fast and smart,” Cordova said. “They’re exciting to watch.”
Krauss made her WAC debut at QB last week.
She started in place of Prudhel.
“Her number got called and she was ready to go,” Cordova said. “I didn’t think she’d be prepared to take over the position. But she’s been watching what we’ve been working on at practice. She’s a quiet person but you can see the competitiveness. She’s shown she has the poise, ability and right mindset.
Krauss will continue to start at quarterback.
Prudhel could see playing time at the position in the future.
“Our plan right now is to go with the hot hand,” Cordova said.
Central Valley will face Beyer and Livingston this week.
“Both teams are going to be tough,” Cordova said. “We just got to do our job.”
Ceres High moved to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in the WAC after cruising to a 60-6 victory over Johansen on Sept. 10 at CUSD Stadium and getting edged out 24-18 at Livingston on Sept. 8.
