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CYPRESS — El Toro’s girls flag football team didn’t enter the inaugural CIF Southern Section playoffs with the most impressive won-loss record. But the Chargers’ strength of schedule and coaching suggested that they would be competitive against Cypress on Wednesday.
Sophia Davies, Delyla Cabrera and El Toro’s defense delivered much more than that.
Cabrera threw four touchdowns, including three to the speedy Davies, and Chargers intercepted three passes to defeat No. 3 seeded Cypress 26-7 in a Division 2 first round game at Cypress High.
“It’s so exciting and it’s such an honor to be part of the first CIF that’s going on for flag football,” said Davies, a sophomore wide receiver and safety who also had an interception. “And our first (CIF) victory.”
El Toro carried an 8-18 record into the game. The Chargers’ resume included a 12-6 loss early in the season to Cypress (19-8), ranked No. 9 in Orange County and co-champion of Crestview League with Crean Lutheran.
Coach Nate Williams’ team, however, played a challenging schedule — as did Cypress — and produced a well-rounded effort Wednesday.
After Cypress took a 7-0 lead on a 21-yard TD pass from Alexis Schober to Emma Matlock on its first possession, El Toro tied the scored with about 10 minutes left in the first half. The Chargers then scored 20 points in the second half to power into the second round Saturday against Torrance, which beat Rosay 24-12 in another game.
“We all worked together as a team today,” said Cabrera, a sophomore who also completed several passes to Camryn Bradshaw. “During the season, we’ve had one half good but one half bad. But this game, both halves were good.”
Cabrera capped the opening possession of the second half with a 10-yard TD to center Delaney Baker, who quickly turned up field and eluded a few flag pulls.
After an interception by El Toro near midfield, Cabrera connected with Davies on a crossing route. Davis made a leaping reception in the middle of the field on fourth down before racing for a 19-7 lead with about eight minutes left.
El Toro’s defense intercepted three interceptions in the second half leading to 13 points. The interceptions were made by Davis, Rebecca Njoroge and Sierra White.
“They had a lot of tape on us (Nate Williams) said,” Cypress coach Danny Kruger said of Williams, a 2007 graduate of Cypress who played football and baseball at the school. “Their defense was unstoppable. They’re great at pulling flags, flying to ball.”
Jasmyne Roberts had an interception for Cypress, which finished second at the Mission Viejo tournament and reached the quarterfinals of the El Toro tournament.
“We knew we were going to be a tough out no matter who played,” Williams said. “We battled some of the best teams in the country the whole season.”
And El Toro isn’t done yet.
