San Pedro flag football coach Ron Carter held the championship trophy high as he faced his players and shouted third time is a charm, “third time’s a charm!” according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Pirates beat Marine League rival Banning 14-7 in the City Section Open Division final Saturday night at Contreras High in Los Angeles to capture their first flag title and avenge an overtime loss in the final two years ago, per the report.
The first half was a defensive stalemate before the Pirates scored on an eight-yard strike from sophomore quarterback Daniela Ardaiz to senior receiver Lexi Lopez late in the third quarter, local outlets noted.
Ardaiz ran for the one-point conversion to make it 7-0, reporters stated.
The Pilots tied the game on Victoria Guerra’s 11-yard touchdown catch and the subsequent one-point conversion run by Arianna Martinez with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter, the publication detailed.
San Pedro marched to the five-yard line on its ensuing possession before Ardaiz threw a dart to Lopez for the go-ahead score with 2:13 left, the coverage confirmed.
Maya Solorio caught the one-point conversion to make it 14-7, the story outlined.
Banning moved to the Pirates’ 26 before Ardaiz picked off a pass over the middle at the 15 and returned it to the 35 to seal the victory with 7.6 seconds left, game logs showed.
Ardaiz finished the season with 60 touchdown passes and Lopez recorded 28 touchdown catches, statistics indicated.
Lopez reflected on her final high school game, stating, “I was the only freshman on the team the first year and this is my last game, so I wanted to play my best.”
The winning touchdown play was called Smash Right, Lopez explained.
Lopez noted regarding the catch, “The most important thing was to catch it with two hands and hold onto the ball.”
She added, “I didn’t know if it would be a touchdown. … I didn’t think it was across the plane.”
The victory marked San Pedro’s 90th win in the last four seasons, the historical data revealed.
In other championship action, Cleveland defeated King/Drew 18-0 in the Division I final, reports confirmed.
North Hollywood earned a 12-6 victory over Westchester in the Division II final, the outlets documented.
Crenshaw defeated South Gate 7-0 in the Division IV final, the scheduling notes showed.
Sotomayor edged Santee 6-0 in the Division III final, the final scores summarized.