Coach Jason Chupany addresses his team after the game. (Staff photo)
The Heritage High flag football team’s season ended on a sad note Saturday in a 39-20 loss to St. Monica Prep in the CIF-SS Division 6 finals in Huntington Beach.
Turnovers hurt the Patriots (15-10), including eight interceptions in the game. Heritage fell behind early and wasn’t able to build enough momentum to overcome the deficit. It was a tough way to end the season for the Patriots, who compiled an impressive season to reach the championship game in the first season of the program.
“The season was a success,” said coach Jason Chupany, whose team defeated St. Bernard, Alhambra, Liberty, and Mountain View to reach the championship game. “As a first-year team, my goal was to get to 12 wins and we got 15. We made it here and I’m very proud of the girls. We’re a very young team, so we have a very bright future ahead.”
After a scoreless first quarter including interceptions on both sides, St. Monica Prep (11-6) jumped out to a 13-0 lead with two passing touchdowns in the first 3 minutes of the second quarter. A 45-yard TD pass by Mariners quarterback Sophia Cook to Malianna Gutierrez increased the lead to 19-0 with 6:21 left in the first half.
Heritage came back with a 5-yard TD run by quarterback Persia Ponce, but the Mariners rebounded quickly with a long TD pass from Cook to Malia Bateman. Ponce threw a touchdown pass to Mikhaela Edwards with 9 seconds left in the half, cutting the deficit to 25-14 following a 2-point conversion pass.
Two interceptions early in the third quarter hurt the Patriots, and St. Monica Prep took a 32-14 lead moments later on a touchdown pass for a 32-14 lead. The score stood 39-14 at the end of the third quarter.
The only scoring of the fourth quarter came on a touchdown run by Ponce. Even with the interceptions, Ponce threw for 327 yards.
“The other team was very disciplined, they were good at reading the pass, but we honestly beat ourselves today,” Chupany said. “We did the best we could. We still had some fight left in the game that we showed at the very end.”
Cupany said he considered having the team run the ball more when the passing game struggled, but he expressed trust in Ponce’s decision-making abilities.
We thought about [running more],” he said. “We let our quarterback call the shots. I told her, ‘Let’s go do this.’ She was confident in her arm and we let her go.”
On the season, Ponce passed for an incredible 4,857 yards and 46 touchdowns. She also ran for 1,119 yards and 11 TDs.
