SIMI VALLEY — The inaugural San Fernando Valley San Gabriel Valley high school flag football All Star game flashed an abundance of offense as the teams combined to score more than 100 points.
“This all-star game needed to showcase all of the talents these girls showed with their teams during the regular season,” Bonita High and East coach Mike Mann said. “You can’t ask for better than what happened in this game.”
The East, representing all-stars from the San Gabriel Valley, scored the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left, lifting them to a 61-55 win over the West all-stars. The drive came after the West had taken the lead on a 2-point conversion with less than four minutes to play.
Mann believed his team was far from finished.
“I called them in and said, ‘Hey, listen, we don’t need to get it all in one play; we have time – let’s get down the field, let’s get chunk numbers, let’s be consistent, let’s run our routes and don’t panic. We’re going to get there and give ourselves an opportunity in the end.’ That’s what we did.”
McKenzy Bacerra, of Ayala High, threw the go-ahead touchdown to West Christian’s Grace Galdamez. It capped an impressive day for Bacerra, who earned Offensive MVP honors after throwing two touchdown passes and catching two.
She shared quarterback duties with La Serena’s Sierra Flores, who was named the game’s MVP while passing for three scores.
“Our QBs allowed the offense to flow,” said Mann. “I knew they could do it because they came to a couple of practices and picked up on 30 new plays they’d never seen before in less than an hour.”
Agoura’s Jessie Giacomazzi shined for the West. She earned Defensive MVP honors in the game, but showcased high level talent on both sides of the ball. She finished with three touchdown catches on offense and an inception on defense.
“A threat every time she touched the ball,” said Mann. “We knew she was going to be good just watching her in warm-ups.”
Galdamez pulled in three touchdowns for the East.
Sarah Chavez of Simi Valley threw five touchdown passes and Maria Sturges of Thousand Oaks added an interception in the losing effort for the West.