The newest CIF sport has finally come to the Santa Clarita Valley.
Local high school athletes take the field this week for the inaugural season of girls’ flag football in the SCV.
Hart, West Ranch, Valencia and Vasquez High School will compete for the first-ever flag football Foothill League crown. This season will also offer the first girls’ flag football postseason as around 200 schools in the Southern Section are now fielding teams.
Vasquez enters the Foothill League as the only second-year team and will look to build on its 7-6 opening season. The Mustangs appear to be the title favorite with at least a year of development and a whole season on every other team. However, Hart, West Ranch and Valencia have a plethora of talent and are ready to make a splash in the CIF’s newest sport.
Hart showcases big numbers and big talent
The Hawks will start the year with the biggest local program, with varsity and junior varsity rostering 44 girls.
Josh Masmela has traded in his athletic trainer gear for a whistle and will serve as the program’s first coach. The coach has an extensive football background and has been around greatness at Hart for years.
“For me going from the sports medicine side of things, I’ve still worked with coaches here,” Masmela said. “Ozella, Herrington, I was able to take away through my time with them.”
The first-year coach has been impressed with his team’s overall athleticism and has seen a ton of speed from all over his roster. Masmela is expecting big seasons from Natalia Raio, quarterback Zoey Guzman, Ellie White, Jessica Gutierrez and Kadence Bailey. The biggest team in the valley shares the goal of winning the sport’s first-ever Foothill League title.
“Obviously, we want to win league,” Masmela said. “Get up on the right start, win league, and kind of just keep it with us and set the standard in our league. If playoffs is a thing, we’ll see what kind of noise we can make with that.”
Masmela shares most of his goals with the other local coaches. While everyone will be gunning for a championship one way or another, the bulk of coaches are aiming to build a stable program for a sport ready to explode.
“Our goal is to get this program up and get off on a good foot so we can kind of pave the way for teams in the future,” Masmela said. “We want to wake up the rest of the league and say, ‘Hey, this sport is the real deal. Castaic, Canyon, all of them, need to hop on board for the girls.”
Hart opens up the season at home on Wednesday against Highland at 5:30 p.m.
Valencia feeling confident
Valencia has also been blessed with enough players to field both a varsity and JV team.
At the helm for the Vikings is Jeff Albert, a well-versed coach and football guru.
“We’ve got 28 kids, so we’ll be able to field a varsity and JV team,” Albert said. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this big, so we’re really excited.”
Valencia will likely lean on Sophia McCoy, Liya Adam and Sienna Dawson. The three spearheaded the charge for starting the program and will now get to lead on the field.
Dawson and McCoy will line up all over the field while Adam will be a two-way receiver and defensive back. Sophomore Riley Jossett will most likely be the team’s quarterback.
Albert has liked what he’s seen so far from the girls and has loved the passion shown on and off the field.
“They’re passionate. They give everything they’ve got, every practice, every game,” Albert said. “The passion level they have for the game and how hard they compete, how hard they want to play and how much they want to win. They want to build a team that’s going to last for generations.”
Valencia has stayed busy over the summer and progressed through some tough scrimmages. The coach is hoping playing tougher competition pays off in the ultimate goal.
“This is Valencia High School and we play for championships,” Albert said. “That’s our goal. We also want to create a positive, team atmosphere, where it’s welcoming the new social, emotional learning that takes over high schools. Flag football is so creative and creative on the fly. They have to work together. That’s another goal: to be a team, to work together and be positive.”
Valencia will host Rio Mesa in its home opener Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
West Ranch taking strides
Veteran coach Mark Hornberger will lead Wildcats girls’ flag football through the inaugural campaign and has seen his plethora of two-sport athletes showcase their skill and competitiveness.
“The excitement is there but there’s a lot of work to do,” Hornberger said. “I’m so happy for our girls. I could see the excitement in their faces. I’ve heard little rumblings like, ‘Hey, this sport doesn’t compare to this.’ There’s a grind to soccer and softball, and these girls seem to just have another kick in their step.”
Hornberger is a former flag football player and has a coaching background in numerous sports. The coach is still piecing together the depth chart and positioning but feels confident with his team’s athleticism and passion for a sport it’s still learning.
“We have a lot of playmakers, and they’re very passionate about the game of flag football,” Hornberger said. “They just have a passion, love for the game, and now that I can’t play anymore because I’m 53, I’m living through the girls now. I want to show them what I’ve learned, how to compete and how to figure out defenses.”
West Ranch will be the smallest local program with about 17 members of the varsity team but that doesn’t change anything for Hornberger. The team will do little traveling this season as most of the players are dual-sport athletes and have plenty of practices, trainings and workouts with other sports.
Hornberger is hoping to see the team keep progressing this season and look different by leaps and bounds in the end.
“The goal would be to be competitive and measure, measure them now, versus at the end of the season to see if there’s growth,” Hornberger said. “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. We are definitely going to have some bumps and bruises along the way, but we’re gonna fight to the end.”
The Wildcats are excited for this new venture and open up the season on Wednesday at home against the Knight Hawks at 6:30 p.m.
“Excited is an understatement,” Hornberger said. “My assistant coaches have a ton of experience with football, they’ve been a blessing to have on my staff. I keep saying ‘excited.’ I’ve been wearing that out, but it’s been a pleasure coaching these girls. It’s really going to be a fun season.”
