The Ygnacio Valley Wolves traveled to Acalanes on Wednesday night to face the unbeaten Dons.  Ultimately the Dons proved too much for the Wolves with the final score 61-0 in favor of the home team.  There were lots of highlights and numerous players were able to see action and get in on the scoring.

The game opened with cornerback June Natal intercepting a pass from the YV quarterback on the first play and returning it 14 yards for the touchdown, the Dons’ first pick 6 of the year.  One of the Bay Area’s quarterbacks to watch per the SF Chronicle, Ines Coyne, ran in the point after and the Dons were off and running 7-0.  The Dons stellar defense forced YV to punt on their next possession.  Coyne immediately scampered for 25 yards to get the Dons into the redzone.  Coyne then handed off to the electric running back Isabelle Agnost who raced around the right edge for a 10 yard touchdown.  A crisp pass from Coyne to center Lesley Trowbridge on the point after made the score 14-0.  YV put together a few big plays on offense on their next drive.  The drive would ultimately end in a failed 4th down attempt near midfield.  On the ensuing drive, Agnost ripped off 15 before Coyne zigg-zagged for 20 and her first touchdown of the game.  Coyne ran in the PAT and the Dons lead stood at 21-0.  On YV’s next possession, Prime-Time Natal had her second interception of the game giving the Don possession at the YV 30.  Running back Noelle Dobies blasted ahead for 10 yards and got an extra 10 when a YV defender jumped in front of her and received the worst of the encounter.  On 2nd and goal from the 9, Coyne fired a pass to receiver Santana Tamayo for the touchdown.  Coyne ran in the PAT and the Dons led 28-0 to end the first quarter.

The 2nd quarter started with another punt by YV giving the Dons the ball back at their own 35.  Coyne handed off to Agnost on a misdirection play, Agnost raced around the edge, shimmied past several defenders and burst into the open field for the 40 yard touchdown.  Coyne ran in the PAT and the Dons led 35-0.  YV went for it on 4th and 6 from their own 34 on their next possession and the pass was incomplete giving the ball back to the Dons.  This time Coyne handed off to super senior runningback Julia Munter.  Munter unleashed some vicious cuts before exploding into the secondary for the 34 yard touchdown.  Coyne ran in the PAT and the lead was now 42-0.  On YV’s next possession, defensive back Brooke Rardin stepped in front of a YV pass and raced 15 yards into the endzone for the Dons second pick 6 of the game.  The PAT was no good and the score was 48-0.  YV threatened on their next possession but safety Leah Roth knocked down the YV pass on 4th down.  The first half came to an end with the Dons in complete control up 48-0.

The second half saw Swiss-army knife Natal take over at quarterback.  Natal had a nice pass to receiver Amelia Reily for 10.  Natal pitched to Dobies on an option for a gain of 27.  The drive ended with now running back Roth racing into the endzone from 5 yards out for the score.  Giovanna Rocha scored the PAT and the Dons led 55-0.  At the start of the fourth quarter, defensive back Yali Avrahami snagged another interception for the Dons at the YV 30 yard line.  On the ensuing drive, Natal fired a crisp pass to Reily for the 15 yard touchdown to close out the scoring and put the Dons up by the final score of 61-0.

Who could have envisioned such an amazing first half of the season when the girls first showed up to orientation on June 5th.  Every ounce of sweat and effort from that day to now has paid off and then some.  From the emergence of an elite dual threat quarterback, the shutout against a very good Pittsburg team (currently with 7 wins) to start the season, the last second heroics against Benicia (7-2), the dominance of the defense allowing only two touchdowns, avenging last year’s losses to College Park and defeating Carondelet at legendary Spartan Stadium.  These are just some of the moments that stand out.  What stands out most is the overall quality and depth of every player at every position.  This depth and quality is absolutely the result of the amazing coaching of Mike Ivankovich, Joe Escobar, Tom Shoenhair, Cesar Ortiz, Erin Wong, Gregg Orr and Victor “Coach Vic” Silva.  No one knows what the second half of the season will hold so enjoy the gift the girls have given us with their play so far.  The second half kicks off with the Dons adding first team all league defender from 2024 Stella Bouchette to an already stacked defense.  Additionally, for the first time ever, the San Francisco Chronicle released their top 10 Bay Area rankings for girls flag football.  Our Dons are currently ranked #3! behind Liberty at #2 and Menlo-Atherton, coached by 49ers legend Steve Young, at #1.  I love you Steve but I don’t think you want to play us.  The second half of the season begins Monday night with an away game at last year’s NCS finalist Alhambra. The journey continues…FEAR THE BLUE!!