SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Alexa Randall hauled in two touchdown passes, including one on the first play of overtime, as St. Francis clipped Christian Brothers, 32-26, in the third installment of the annual "Holy Flags" girls' flag football rivalry game at Jesuit High's Marauder Stadium Friday night.

The contest carried historical significance for the Troubadours, ranked fifth in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps. It marked the first home game played under the new lights on Shane Barnes '07 Field, the first head-to-head series win over the Falcons, and the first overtime game in program history. In fact, so rare are the overtime rules that the officials dutifully paused after regulation to confirm the rules for the extra game.

St. Francis improves to 13-1 for the year, while No. 8-ranked CB moves to 9-4.

Randall collected a 30-yard pass from running back Natalia Zitelli to start the third quarter, then ran in a pass from quarter Lola Fox in the Troubies' lone overtime series. Fox, for her part, fired an 11-yard strike to Annie Swanson with 4:37 in the second quarter to put SF on the board, then found Tayli Paeu-Lindgren well-guarded in the midfield with a minute to go before halftime. Paeu-Lindgren, one of the area's top rebounders in basketball, used her six-foot frame and her hoop skills to tip the ball to herself before running it in for the score.

In all, the game was tied four times, including the 26-26 impasse to go into halftime. The final equalizer came from Colleen Medina, who returned a touchdown 63 yards the other way for a "pick six" with 9:54 remaining in the fourth.  
Furthermore, the lead changed hands five times, including the final winning TD, all despite a scoreless opening frame. St. Francis sophomore Monet Zauner nearly picked off two different passes while CB's Scarlett Reid came close to an interception of her own. The Falcons broke the scoreless tie on the first play of the second quarter, after sophomore Taylor Jernigan had driven her team down to the SF 3-yard line to end the first. CB's Alexa Fernandez ran in those final ticks to take a 6-0 lead, although Amelia Zaragoza intercepted the ensuing one-point conversion.

Swanson's touchdown capped the subsequent Troubadour series, one that included Abi Hall's six-yard catch to convert a fourth-and-short plus a 26-yard Zitelli run. This tied the game at 6-6, with CB stopping Zitelli in the backfield on the point-after attempt.

The Falcons barely got past midfield on the next possession, with Holland Sperber's pass rush forcing a bad pass to set up fourth-and-19. Paeu-Lindgren returned the ensuing punt to her own 22. Two plays later, Fox connected with the 2024 Sierra Foothill League Offensive Player of the Year on the tipped pass, giving SF its first lead of 12-6 with less than a minute remaining before halftime.

With less a minute remaining but also stop-clock rules in effect, Christian Brothers worked its way back down the field. Jernigan completed a 48-yard pass to Gabriella Devlin – one of eight catches for the night – to put the Falcons inside the Troubie red zone. Jernigan then hit Claire Cuckovich with 14 seconds left for the game-tying touchdown, followed by another ball to Devlin for a key one-point conversion. This gave CB a 13-12 lead going to the break.

On the first drive in the second half, Fox hooked up with Swanson on a 25-yarder to get inside CB territory. Then after a Jade Abalateo run moved the sticks to the 30, Fox pitched to Zitelli, who then opted to fire to Randall for the 30-yard touchdown. Fox's pass to Abalateo on the following two-point conversion lifted SF back on top to a 20-13 lead – with that decision to go for two ultimately looming large in regulation.

Jernigan answered on the next series with a touchdown bomb to Devlin, then the two converted the point after to knot the contest up at 20-20. St. Francis followed with a gamble to go for it on a fourth-and-five at its own 15-yard line. The conversion failed, and CB enjoyed its shortest field yet. That's when sophomore Piper Bates pulled back-to-back flags near the goal line, the second of which forced the ball back to SF on downs.  
Now facing a 77-yard field, the Troubies had the first play result in a Devlin interception and a return to the SF 11. Christian Brothers now had an even shorter field with which to work. Yet another Jernigan-to-Devlin pass plus a penalty moved the Falcons to within a yard of the goal line, and Jernigan finished the job with a successful sneak. Jernigan looked to Ella-Simone Davis for the extra point but could not complete the attempt, making CB's newest lead a 26-20 margin.

St. Francis could not escape its own territory, ceding a punt to the Falcons. Two plays in, Jernigan passed toward her own bench, only to have Medina jump in for the pick-off. One of the top sprinters on the Troubie track & field team, Medina easily breezed more than two thirds of the field for the touchdown, tying the game yet again at 26-26.

CB went three and out on the next series, with Abbey Pavelchik coming up with a timely pass breakup. However, Jordyn Daniels made one of her three PBUs against SF to protect the tie for her team. The Falcons marched down the field, nearly scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a ball to a wide-open Emma Leonard along the left side of the goal line on the first play after the two-minute warning in the fourth. However, Leonard could not corral the pass, forcing CB to call timeout. On the next play, Bates came through with an interception, and returned the ball to just beyond the 40.

Still, St. Francis failed to capitalize on this opportunity, as Daniels and Scarlett Reid broke up passes to Paeu-Lindgren and Randall, respectively. Falcon senior Senyah Haynes also sacked Fox with just 24 seconds remaining. Then when the Falcons gained possession with six ticks left in regulation, they could only attempt a razzle-dazzle for their last chance to avoid overtime. It resulted in a completion to Cuckovich, but Bates stopped her quickly in the midfield.

The Troubies ended up with the first possession of overtime, which consists of each team getting an untimed, four-down series from the opposing 20-yard line – similar to NCAA football rules. Randall only needed the one play to punch in the go-ahead. Haynes sacked Fox on the conversion, meaning Christian Brothers could tie or even win the game on its turn on offense. Instead, four straight passes – two to Devlin, and two to Leonard – failed to result in a completion.

St. Francis' varsity thriller followed the Troubadours' 6-0 defensive battle in the junior varsity game.

The lone score by either team came with 6:06 left in the second, when Chloe Hoertsch fired a 15-yard TD strike to Lily Hosseini. However, a key break came earlier in that drive, when SF faced a fourth-and-goal from the CB 30. Hoertsch threw a short screen to Victoria Tateishi, but a roughing the passer penalty granted the Troubies a fresh set of downs. Tateishi ran the ball to the CB 15, and Hosseini finished the job on the next play.

With such a low-scoring game, many of the heroics came on defense. Emerson Connor intercepted a pass on the first series of the game, then Rose Leahy had a PBU on the next Falcon possession to help force a punt in the opening quarter. Emily Nguyen came with a tackle for loss on a Sam Taylor reverse to force a punt in the second, then she tipped a pass late in the third. On that same drive, Talia Luhrsen held Addison Reefer to a two-yard gain on a fourth-and-3 situation.

Continuing the defense highlights, Alyssa Becze made a diving stop against Reefer then halted the CB back for a loss, setting up a fourth-and-7. Falcon sophomore Reese Davenport had an open look to receiver Claire Fong, but not complete the pass. Becze later had back-to-back deflaggings to keep CB in check late in the fourth.

With 1:02 remaining, Hoertsch moved into Falcon territory on a six-yard QB draw for six yards, but could not move any further. Christian Brothers claimed the ball on downs with 17 seconds left and one last chance to tie the game. Instead, Angie Weston nabbed the first pass and brought the ball out to her own 25. The Troubies took possession with :09 left, and knelt down to burn off the final seconds.

The jayvees' victory marks their third shutout of the year while also offsetting the 19-12 loss at CB in the head-to-head series. St. Francis moves to 6-1 for the year.

Friday's doubleheader stands as the final non-league date on the schedule. Both teams begin a three-game road stretch at Oak Ridge on Tuesday, with JV at 6:15 p.m. and varsity at 7 p.m.