Vikings bring home SCV’s first-ever CIF title in flag football
From summer practices to countless hours watching film throughout the season, all the hard work paid off Saturday for the Valencia flag football team after the Vikings captured the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division 3 championship with a come-from-behind 12-7 win over Quartz Hill.
With Saturday’s win, the Vikings brought home the Santa Clarita Valley’s first flag football title with the way they’ve won all year: defense.
“My girls worked hard all year, and I preached defense all year. You cannot win a championship without defense,” Valencia coach Cedric McCalister said afterward. “Hardcore defense. That’s what we preach. That’s what we did. And today we held them.”
In Saturday’s Division 3 flag football championship in Huntington Beach, points were at a premium for both teams.
For Valencia’s defense, the Vikings did everything they did to keep the Royals out of the end zone, including two timely interceptions in the first half from Leilah Selesitino and Juliet Wojell.
And with the Vikings pulling ahead going into halftime, thanks to senior quarterback Camila Quintero’s touchdown pass to Selesitino in the first half’s final seconds, the Vikings went into second half with momentum.
But that momentum was short lived.
In the second half, Quintero had a pass intercepted and returned for a pick-six that handed the Royals the lead, 7-6, going into the fourth quarter. And after the Vikings failed to pull the flag to stop the pick-six, momentum was with Quartz Hill and the Royals looked poised to run away with the game.
For Quintero, although the pick-six halted her team’s momentum, it didn’t stop her from making big plays.
On fourth and long from the Royals’ 34-yard line, the Vikings were 14 yards away from converting for a fresh set of downs. While the Valencia flag football coaching staff wanted the first down, Quintero wanted the lead.
With a 34-yard pass from Quintero to Wojell, and what was the game-winning touchdown, the Vikings took the narrow 12-7 lead with over two minutes remaining in the game.
Following the game, Quintero spoke on the game-winning play and her mentality to bounce back after the interception.
“When I threw the interception, I was still in my head and I felt it,” she said. “All I knew is that we had to come back, and it had to be an amazing play the next time. When [Wojell] caught it … I knew she was going to get it done.”
The Vikings held on for the win and prevented the Quartz Hill offense from scoring late in the fourth quarter.
For McCalister, the win meant more than just a championship for his program, but also an opportunity to share memories with his sophomore son Evan McCalister.
Evan, who’s the starting quarterback for the Vikings’ tackle football team and wrapped up a fourth-consecutive Foothill League championship winning season with the Vikings, joined his father on the sidelines for Saturday’s Division 3 championship and provided insight to the flag football players.
Cedric McCalister said that his son Evan’s insight he provided during the game proved valuable for him and the team and played a role in the championship.
“He came and gave us a lot of insight and provided us with what to do with their defense and our offense,” he said. “So that, that was amazing help that that he gave us.”
The Division 3 championship is the first for a high school flag football program from the Santa Clarita Valley.
For Cedric McCalister, he’s looking forward to bringing the Division 3 CIF-SS championship plaque home to the Valencia community and letting the trophy case be the standard for future seasons ahead.
“This is the standard. We’re coming for it again next year,” he said. “We have young ladies to play with, even with our six graduating seniors. We have the girls to get us here again and we’re going back to work.”
For more on reactions from Valencia’s Division 3 championship win, watch Quintero’s postgame interview with her teammates: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKuaty7pn68.
