Pajaro Valley last week secured the program’s first-ever Pacific Coast Athletic League girls’ flag football championship following a pair of blowout victories, including a battle for first place in the Mission Division.
The Grizzlies then capped off the regular season with a bang in a 48-0 blowout victory against Seaside in league action Tuesday evening.
With the win, they finished with a 14-2 record in league play for the 2025 fall season.
“It’s such a good feeling knowing that we worked so hard to get there,” PV senior Daisy Rincon said in a phone interview. “We went in with so much confidence because we know that we wanted it really bad. It just feels so nice to know that we won [a league championship].”
Denisse Magallon, a sophomore, had a pair of touchdowns while tallying four interceptions in the Grizzlies’ 32-0 league-clinching win over North Monterey County action Oct. 23.
PV sophomore Leilani English, a transfer from Watsonville High, sparked her teammates from the get-go, running in the first of three touchdowns they scored in less than one minute.
“It was just a little bit of lack of concentration from North Monterey County, which we took advantage of,” PV head coach Cesar Rojas said. “The girls are playing amazingly on defense, you can see it in our scores.”
The Grizzly defense has recorded 10 shutouts in 15 wins while outscoring opponents by an average score of 38-3.
Both of their defeats this season were low-scoring affairs. The Grizzlies fell, 13-0, to Pacific Collegiate on Sept. 16, followed by a 12-6 loss to NMC on Sept. 23.
Since then, PV has won 10 consecutive games.
“I really told the girls to keep their heads up, we got this,” Rincon said. “We have to play our game and not get to their level. We have to play how we play.”
Rojas said the players seemed nervous going against North Monterey County, especially knowing the Mission Division title was at stake.
However, he reminded the Grizzly players that they already had an advantage by hosting the all-important contest on their home field.
“You’re at your house, just put in the work,” Rojas said.
PV’s flag football team won a league crown just two years after the program’s inaugural season, making them the quickest program on campus to accomplish that feat.
“It’s big,” Rojas said. “There was a lot of talking at school, a lot of the kids, staff congratulating my girls. It’s been an amazing run.”
In 2007-08, the boys’ soccer team won a league crown in the now defunct Monterey Bay League and a Central Coast Section Division II title three years after launching their program.
Rojas and assistant coach Jordan Ruiz might have the flag football team on the same track this season.
Prior to the start of league play, Rojas made the players stand inside the gymnasium to visualize themselves hanging a PCAL Mission Division Championship banner.
“As a senior, knowing that this is my last year and I’m going to leave, I feel very honored to leave the school with something,” Rincon said.
The Grizzly players will be able to hang that banner once the season is in the books. But, the job is far from over for Rincon and the rest of the crew.
“We still have CCS in our hands and we want to take that, too,” she said.
Pajaro Valley earned the No. 8 seed in the inaugural CCS D-II girls flag football playoffs. They will play top-seeded Notre Dame of San Jose (15-5, 8-4), second place finishers in the West Bay Athletic League Skyline Division, at a place yet to be determined on Nov. 3 at 3pm.
Rincon has postseason experience as a member of the girls’ soccer team that qualified for the CCS playoffs in 2023-24 and ‘24-25. She told her teammates these next set of games won’t be easy, and they have to prepare like there is no next time.
“We have to not be scared because both teams, us and whoever we play next, are gonna want it really badly, and we’re gonna have to fight for that battle to take it,” Rincon said.
Rojas reminded Rincon and her teammates the CCS playoffs are an entirely different animal when it comes to competition. And he’s speaking from experience.
In 2022-23, he led the boys’ soccer team to the CCS D-I finals only to face defeat against powerhouse Bellarmine—winners of 23 section titles and a NorCal championship in 2023.
“Some of those teams you’re playing, you don’t even know them,” Rojas said. “I’m gonna try my best, along with coach Jordan [Ruiz], to try to win the CCS title. I don’t know how the placement is going to be. I’m hoping that it’s gonna be fair, but I feel like we’re ready.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to the print version that will be featured in the Oct. 31-Nov. 7 edition of The Pajaronian.
Gabilan Division
St. Francis sealed the Gabilan Division crown for a second consecutive PCAL championship with a 19-14 victory over Carmel on Oct. 20.
Sophomore quarterback Liliana Whitmeyer accounted for three total touchdowns for the Sharks, who won the Mission Division in 2024. She finished with 228 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception, and 52 rushing yards and one TD on 10 carries.
Teammate freshman Eden Findrick hauled in seven catches for 110 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while freshman Cami Madrigal had three receptions for 70 yards.
Sophie Madrigal, a junior, finished with a team-best 15 flag pulls, followed by sophomore Keira Grio with 14. Grio, Evonna Jordan and Cami Madrigal each had one sack for St. Francis, which improved to 13-3 in league play this season.
Whitmeyer finished with 254 passing yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the Sharks’ 21-7 win against Hollister in Gabilan Division action Oct. 22.
She also had one rushing TD, while Jordan and Findrick each hauled in one touchdown reception.
On defense, juniors Chanel Venter and Talia Moakler each recorded one interception.
St. Francis (20-5, 13-3) earned the No. 4 seed in the Open Division playoffs. They’ll host No. 5 Menlo-Atherton (12-2, 6-0), champion of the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division, on Nov. 3 at 4pm.
The top six teams in the Gabilan Division automatically qualified for the playoffs.
Watsonville junior Taylor Alves-Lopez had eight receptions for 111 yards to help lead the Wildcatz to a 36-0 victory against Sobrato in non-league play Oct. 25.
With the win, the ‘Catz (10-15, 4-12) snapped a four game losing streak. They capped off the regular season with a 19-13 victory against Hollister for Senior Night on Wednesday.
SCCAL
Aptos captured a third consecutive Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League crown following a 30-2 crushing win against Harbor on Oct. 22.
Ella Jacobs, a freshman, had a team-best nine flag pulls and recorded one interception for Aptos, while teammate freshman Ellia Correia also had one interception, five flag pulls and a pair of pass breakups.
Mary-Anne McCarthy and Myla Appleby each had two sacks for the Mariners, who improved to 10-0 in SCCAL play this season following a 13-6 victory against Soquel in the teams’ regular season finale Wednesday night.
Aptos won the league title outright after having to share it three ways with Scotts Valley and Soquel in 2024. They also secured one of the automatic CCS playoff spots given to the league’s top two finishers.
Aptos (12-5-1, 10-0) earned the No. 3 seed in the D-II playoffs, and will host No. 6 Hill (10-5, 8-4) out of the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division on Nov. 3 at 7pm.
