The girls flag football team beat the Mills Vikings 13-0 on Monday afternoon.
M-A started the game off hot, driving down the field with effortless efficiency. Led by junior quarterback Eliana Clapp*, passes to senior wide receiver Mo’Rhai Balinton and sophomore wide receiver Bella Gormsen got M-A to their last set of downs. However, a short rush and three straight incompletions saw the Bears stall right before getting into the end zone.
The Vikings began with a quick strike of their own, with a first-down pass mimicking that of M-A. Mills soon ran out of luck, as senior cornerback Aryn Roodman expertly read the play for her first interception of the game.
“Aryn’s picks were really good,” sophomore center Hannah Priest said.
Building off of Roodman’s interception, the Bears looked to put some points on the board. Gormsen fulfilled this hope, finding the end zone on a quick out route to put the Bears ahead. After the subsequent two-point conversion by M-A fell short, the Bears saw themselves ahead 6-0 to conclude the first quarter.
Going into the second quarter, the Bears’ stout defense made it difficult for the Vikings to gain yardage. Balinton and senior rusher Miya Yu* stopped Mills with critical plays, including an attempted end-around by the Vikings that was blown up by Yu.
M-A’s next drive started off strong once again. Rushing plays by Clapp and junior running back Cassidy Thomas penetrated the Vikings’ defense and moved the chains. Still, the Bears’ offense was unable to finish off their drive with points, ending with another turnover on downs.
The first half ended after neither team advanced the ball significantly, keeping the score at 6-0.
To kick off the second half, the Vikings moved down the field quickly. Mills converted a key fourth down despite excellent defensive efforts from Roodman and senior rusher Alex Jones, and their offense started to pick up some steam. Then, sophomore safety Effi Lee jumped the route of the opposing wide receiver and got the Bears’ second interception of the game.
Nevertheless, M-A was unable to capitalize on its defensive efforts, as a penalty and other miscommunications led to a three-and-out and a punt back to the Vikings.
A long punt return put Mills just 13 yards from the end zone, however, the spirit of M-A’s defense would not break. A series of key pass breakups from Balinton and Yu stopped the Vikings’ offense just a few yards from the end zone—a key goal-line stand.
M-A’s offense continued to struggle after the fourth-down stop. In the second play of the next drive, a pass was intercepted by the Vikings, putting the Bears’ defense right back on the field in the final minutes of the third quarter.
Following the interception, M-A looked to make another goal-line stop. Fighting to keep the Vikings scoreless, Roodman and junior linebacker Olivia Roberts came up with outstanding plays that kept Mills out of the end zone and returned the ball to the Bears.
This defensive stop helped M-A gain momentum on the offensive end. With Roodman now at quarterback, she made several key plays to keep the ball moving down the field, including shifty scrambles and a vital pass to Priest.
Before long, M-A was on the cusp of another touchdown. After two successive defensive penalties on the Vikings, the Bears were within one yard of the end zone. On this key play, Gormsen caught a laser from Roodman to put M-A up 13-0.
“I think we finally relaxed when we scored our second touchdown,” Roodman said. “Getting those extra points was really good for us.”
With less than two minutes left, Mills was anxious to get points on the board. However, on the Vikings’ second play of the drive, Roodman came up with her second interception of the day to put Mills’ hopes for a comeback to rest.
After the interception, the Bears kneeled out the rest of the clock, ending the game with a score of 13-0 in favor of M-A.
“We didn’t put our best out there, but that just means we need to go back to practice so that we can bring our A-game to our next matchup,” Loose said.
The Bears will face the Woodside Wildcats at home on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
*Eliana Clapp and Miya Yu are journalists for the M-A Chronicle.
