The CIF Southern Section flag football open division semifinals are now set and will feature four Orange County teams competing for the championship. Huntington Beach beat Mater Dei on Wednesday night to complete the semifinals field in the first year of the open division.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — The Huntington Beach flag football team knew it was a do-or-die situation Wednesday night at Cap Sheue Field. The last spot in the four-team semifinals was up for grabs in the CIF Southern Section open division. The fourth-seeded Oilers took a surprising defeat to open up Pool D play after falling to ninth-seeded St. Joseph of Lakewood.
Santa Ana-Mater Dei defeated St. Joseph and simply needed to win or lose by fewer than 4 points Wednesday to advance via tiebreaker. The Oilers decided to avoid any tiebreaker situation altogether, handing the Monarchs a loss in a 25-6 contest.
Huntington Beach (22-5) secured its spot in the semifinal thanks to the wide margin in its win over Mater Dei (19-7). All three teams in Pool D finished 1-1. Point differential came into play resulting in the Oilers securing the semifinals berth. They will now play top-seeded and undefeated JSerra (26-0) in the semifinals this Saturday.
Sixth-seeded Woodbridge of Irvine (24-4) won Pool C with an overtime victory over third-seeded Orange Lutheran (17-5) on Wednesday. That win sets up a semifinals matchup with No. 2 seed Newport Harbor (22-4) on Saturday.
| CIF Southern Section Flag Football Open Division Semifinals |
|---|
| No. 4 Huntington Beach (22-5) at No. 1 JSerra (26-0) | Oct. 31 | Time TBA |
| No. 6 Woodbridge (24-4) at No. 2 Newport Harbor (22-4) | Oct. 31 | Time TBA |
Huntington Beach Turns In Complete Performance vs. Mater Dei
The Huntington Beach offense has shown that it is capable of scoring at a high clip. Led by senior quarterback Roxie Shaia, the Oilers did not take long to put pressure on Mater Dei with their offense Wednesday night. Shaia ultimately accounted for three touchdown passes en route to a 19-point win over the Monarchs.
It marks the 14th game this season head coach Zack Pannell‘s team has scored at least 25 points.
The Oilers opened up the scoring in the first quarter with a short touchdown pass from Shaia to senior captain Shelby Nguyen. That was followed in the second quarter by a nifty run-and-catch score from junior receiver/running back Daisy Quatman. Huntington Beach ultimately did not need more than those two touchdowns to seal a win.
However, Shaia and the offense kept their momentum going with another touchdown in the third quarter. The Oilers QB found receiver Brianna Massion for an impressive score as she battled through contact. The touchdown put Huntington Beach up 19-0.
Freshman Kyla Uno tacked on the final touchdown of the game on a run in the fourth quarter.
Huntington Beach Defense Shines In Flag Football Playoffs vs. Mater Dei
Massion was part of a strong defensive effort for Huntington Beach in Wednesday’s game. Mater Dei played the game shorthanded, but the Oilers made plenty of impressive plays defensively in the win.
The Oilers were disruptive in the secondary and ultimately came away with two interceptions in the game. Massion, a senior, accounted for one of them while junior DB Isla Castillo hauled in the other takeaway.
The Monarchs were able to get on the scoreboard in the second half to avoid a shutout. Allyson Schmida, who transferred from Crean Lutheran in Irvine, hauled in a spectacular deep pass to set up a touchdown.
The senior hauled in a pass from quarterback Tymane Allen with 1:39 to play in the third quarter. It would be the only time the Monarchs could reach the end zone Wednesday night.
Other Results In The CIF-SS Flag Football Playoffs
JSerra continues to build on its winning streak that now spans two seasons. The Lions have now won 54 consecutive games after defeating Huntington Beach-Edison on Wednesday. Quarterback Kate Meier continued to lead the explosive JSerra offense with 6 total touchdowns, including 5 through the air.
The sophomore passed for 276 yards on 25 completions and 34 attempts against Edison. Meier rushed for 69 yards on 9 carries in the pool play win. Fellow sophomore Tessa Russell caught 3 touchdown passes on the day.
After pulling in an interception in the opening game of pool play, senior DB Stella Day pulled in another one against the Chargers. She also contributed with 3 passes defended in the win. JSerra’s last loss came in the final game of the 2024 season. The Lions have not played the Oilers since losing to them 19-18 that same year.
They will meet Saturday with a spot on the line to play in the first-ever CIF-SS Open Division championship.
Woodbridge Upsets Orange Lutheran To Advance In Open Division Playoffs
The biggest result of the night across the open division took place at Orange Lutheran where the third-seeded Lancers fell to Woodbridge. The Warriors scored 13 points in the fourth to force overtime. A rushing score in overtime secured the pool play win for sixth-seeded Woodbridge.
The Warriors defense held the Lancers to just 7 points in the second half and overtime. They were led by sophomore quarterback Delia Stone who rushed for 3 touchdowns and passed for another in the win. She also contributed with an interception on defense.
OLu quarterback Alyssa McClure threw 3 touchdown passes and rushed for 46 yards in the loss. Both quarterbacks threw 3 interceptions in the game.
Sophomore Isabel Louie shined for Woodbridge with 6 flag pulls and 4 sacks in the win.
Remaining Divisions Take Shape Heading Into Semifinals
The rest of the CIF-SS playoffs were set Tuesday. Oxnard and El Toro will play in one of the Division 1 semifinals after defeating Camarillo and Sage Hill, respectively. Corona del Mar took care of Yorba Linda and Palos Verdes defeated Redondo Union to advance the other semifinal.
Gahr, Segerstrom, Chaminade and San Clemente are still alive in Division 2. South Torrance, Quartz Hill, Valencia and California make up the Division 3 semifinal field. West Ranch, Hemet, Santa Paula and Valley Christian remain in Division 4. Village Christian, Loma Linda Academy, Peninsula and West Ridge are the last four teams alive in Division 5. Mountain View, Heritage, St. Monica Prep and St. Bonaventure will battle for the Division 6 flag football title.
All seven divisions will have their championship games at Huntington Beach High School on Nov. 7.
