Photo courtesy of @ZL.Shots on Instagram
Pictured L-R: Kayla Heinlein, Simone Washington, Victoria Johnson, Angelique Diaz & Breanna Sandmark
Flag Football:
Claremont was just minutes away from handing Bonita, the SGV’s lone unbeaten program, its first loss of the 2024 regular season.
With just one game to play next week, the Bearcats had the opportunity to secure its first Palomares League championship during this inaugural season.
But that would require BHS quarterback Tressa Beatty to drive BHS nearly the length of the field late in Thursday’s contest.
Beatty answered the call, as she found Riley Navarro on a 45-yard TD.
On that one play, the Bearcats enjoyed a trifecta of excitement.
First, the Beatty-to-Navarro hookup secured a 20-19 victory over a tough Claremont program.
It also meant that BHS remained unbeaten.
And lastly, the girls in green clinched an outright Palomares League championship in its first year of existence.
Beatty finished 11-of-19 for 128 yards.
She tossed three TD passes and one interception.
Victoria Johnson carried the ball just two times, but she accounted for 34 of the Bearcats 59 rushing yards.
Kody McKinney totaled 18 yards rushing on two carries, and Haley Curey had four carries for 11 yards.
Navarro finished with three catches for 68 yards and two TD receptions.
McKinney had a pair of receptions for 19 yards and one score.
Breanna Sandmark caught two passes for 16 yards.
Maddy Simison had a 10-yard reception.
Kayla Heinlein led the Bearcats with nine tackles.
Hayden Andrew finished with five flag pulls, and Grace Tolan had three.
Beatty, Malia Misawa and Erin Garcia contributed two tackles apiece for BHS.
Tolan and Leah Reynolds each picked off a Claremont pass.
Through the first 13 games in school history, Bonita had outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 354-102.
Lastly, I asked BHS coach Michael Mann to talk about the game, and the 2024 season as a whole.
Said Coach Mann: “Our team has been resilient all season long. That resiliency showed up again tonight. Claremont attacked us offensively in the second half and did a good job utilizing their star athletes. Oftentimes we felt like we were in good positions to make plays on the ball, and they just kept finding a way to get it done and drive down the field. On that last drive on offense, Tressa made about as good of a throw as you can possibly make deep down the sideline and Riley did her part to haul it in and finish with the score. It was a beautiful moment in the game, because it also showed the growth of these young athletes. If this was five weeks ago, we don’t make that same play. I’m so proud of Riley because she’s one of many girls that gets pulled between her club sport and high school flag football. It’s a topic every coach knows about, but nobody wants to talk about with the press. She was supposed to be at something very important for her high-level club team tonight and was placed in an impossible decision to choose. Thankfully, her club coach gave her the blessing to compete in her high school league game and Riley ended up being the player of the game tonight. This is how it should be at the club level. These girls get four years of high school and then it’s over. Riley is never going to forget tonight’s game and to think she almost didn’t experience it makes me wonder how many other stud soccer players are out there missing out on a chance to play the best sport in all of America. I hope any teenage girl reading this article sees that you can play both if you want to play and we have multiple girls on our team that play soccer, basketball, softball, sing in choir, and more but they make it work.”
Box Score:
C: 7-12-(19)
B: 13-7-(20)
Palomares League Standings:
Bonita (13-0, 5-0)
Ayala (19-6, 3-2)
Glendora (8-6, 1-4)
Claremont (3-4, 1-4)
Remaining Palomares League Schedule:
10/14: Claremont vs Glendora at Pompei Memorial Park at 6
10/15: Bonita at Ayala at 6:30
10/16: Ayala at El Modena at 7
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