The Acalanes Dons Girls’ Football team decided to throw a party on the field, hosting the Miramonte Matadors and the Clayton Valley Ugly Eagles for their home opener. Miramonte brought their A-game with a small but talented team, while the Ugly Eagles arrived with what seemed like half the bird population, boasting over 30 players.
The opening kick-off at 5 pm against the Matadors was like launching a fireworks show. After some nice runs from the running backs #21 Kelly Todhunter and #3 Addie McShane, Dons quarterback #5 Zoya Acuna threw a long bomb to #15 Maya Shoenhair to move the Dons all the way down to the 3 yard line. Then 2 plays later, Acuna threw a nice swing pass to Todhunter for a TD, making it 6-0. Miramonte gave up the ball on downs, and it felt like they were playing “hot potato”.
#65 Addie Martin, our quarterback extraordinaire, came into the game and methodically moved the Dons down the field. Eventually, Martin stepped up in the pocket and threw a laser to #8 Romi Avrahami, scoring again and making it 12-0. But extra points seemed to be rarer than unicorns tonight.
The Dons defense came to play and would not let Miramonte get anything going. After another Miramonte turnover, Acuna struck again with a beautiful touchdown pass to #1 Monica Dikova, making it 18-0. It stayed that way into halftime, where the girls were having a dance-off with the Matadors. I’m not sure who won, but I’d pay to see that rematch!
The Matadors, fueled by their halftime dance-off loss, came out of the break with a touchdown to Furgeson #54 in just 3 minutes. Furgeson was a one-person show, playing offense and defense like a superhero. Although the Dons didn’t waste time, as Martin passed yet another touchdown to Dikova, making it 24-6.
Then our defense decided to gatecrash the party. #13 Dakota Goyert pressured the QB, and #29 Jenna Steele intercepted the ball. Acalanes might want to consider changing their mascot to the “Party Crashers.” The Dons capitalized quickly with Acuna throwing a 40-yard touchdown to our center #7 Ella Thomason, making it 30-6.
The defense ended the game with major contributions from #11 Anya Haas Hollenbeck, #2 Maya Bleich pressuring the QB leading to another interception by Steele. Making several stops on defense were linebackers #6 Alana Brinkman, #12 Kira Chan, #9 Sydney Clarke and #4 Maya Rotershteyn. Meanwhile, our defensive backs McShane, Shoenhair, Avrahami and #16 Olivia DeBoy would not allow the Matadors receivers to get any open space.
The crowd went wild, and our girls had yet another party in the middle of the field. Acalanes won 31-6, and I heard the Matadors are practicing their dance moves for the next matchup.
During intermission, the Ugly Eagles faced off against Miramonte, beating them 32-8 and setting the stage for the night’s main event: Acalanes vs. Clayton Valley.
Kickoff at 7 pm saw Clayton Valley methodically march down the field for a touchdown, making it 7-0. The Ugly Eagles were soaring high, probably believing they could fly.
Acalanes got the ball on the 30 and handed it to Todhunter, who ran it three times in a row, punching it in for a touchdown. They missed the extra point, but hey, touchdowns were their currency.
This game was turning into a real bull fight. Then the Ugly Eagles felt the pressure from Goyert and Hass Hollenbeck while Steele, Thomason and Brinkman were making tackles all over the field forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over on downs. Unfortunately, when the Dons got the ball back, the Eagles made a great interception, like a plot twist in a sitcom.
Then the Acalanes Cheerleaders showed up, and suddenly, the stands were louder than a comedy club. Our defense loved the enthusiasm and, surprise, intercepted the Ugly Eagles again with Shoenhair getting a pick 6 by scoring a touchdown to put the Dons up 12-7 at halftime.
The second half was tough sledding, with both sides producing 4-and-outs. There was a nice play by #19 Lana Cerejo who threw a great pass over the middle to Thomason. The Dons just could not quite get it into the endzone in the second half.
Then the Eagles started to prey on us, throwing a 35-yard TD to make it 13-12. Maybe it was because our cheerleaders abandoned us at halftime, but we were still feeling like raging bulls from the first game.
This game was a nail-biter down to the end, with Clayton Valley breaking tackles and running in a 7-yard TD on 4th down to go up 19-12. With 2 minutes on the clock, everyone thought the Dons were going to pull off a miraculous comeback. They drove the ball down the field, and it felt like a cliffhanger, but ultimately, time ran out. The Dons took their first loss of the season, losing 19-12. All I heard from our girls at the end was, “We’ll catch them in the sequel!” I’m sure the rematch will be crazy. What a great night of football. We look forward to next week’s episode!
The Flag Football team is on the road next week at Miramonte, playing Campo at 6:00 and a rematch with Miramonte at 7:00. Please come out and support. Go Dons!