In its second season as a CIF-sanctioned sport, the Lady Vikings are in the first girls flag playoff setting, knocking off Cabrillo, Estancia and Windward en route to a Saturday CIF Division 4 semifinals showdown. The squad will be in a tough road environment in Montebello, facing off with Schurr.
The squad was undefeated in league play once again this fall, this time being rewarded with postseason contests. Coach Ramsey Lambert found out in the springtime that CIF would be adding the playoff component, immediately being "super excited" for his unit.
"I know we returned a lot of girls, and they were kind of bummed when the season ended [last year] and not getting a chance to continue playing," Lambert said. "So they were super excited, I was excited for them that they would have a chance to really play for something on the line at the end of the year."
The Lady Vikings kept last year’s mantra of a high-tempo offense with what Ramsey called a "really nice spread" of receivers. The receiving corps feature Ocean League Most Outstanding Player, senior Jayla Johnson-Lake, who caught 45 passes for 529 yards and 8 touchdowns in the regular season. Flanking Johnson-Lake are junior Chloe Sanders and senior Bella Medina, who combined for over 800 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns. Medina doubled as an All-League Safety, racking up 12 interceptions on the defensive end.
Making it all happen has been senior Anica Mindes, who was named Ocean League MVP for the second straight year after her dazzling displays at the quarterback position. In the regular season, Mindes threw for 2,507 yards with a sparkling 33-8 touchdown-interception ratio.
Despite having the requisite talent, the football team faltered out of the gate with a 2-6 start, a stretch of tough games that Ramsey said gave the Lady Vikings a chance to be "battle-tested." Some of the losses were within just a couple of points, leading to the coach stressing with his girls to "trust the process."
"It took a lot of trust from the girls and myself and our coaching staff to say hey, just because we’re losing, we were in those games … so we really had to focus on our process and how we were playing, instead of just what the end result [was]," Ramsey said.
The process began to work after a September 7 loss to Eagle Rock, as the Lady Vikings haven’t lost since, riding a 10-game win streak into Saturday’s showdown with Schurr. Not knowing too much about the semifinal opponent, Ramsey said they just have to prepare with "what we do well."
"[We’ll] make sure we’re in our right spots, run our right routes, and our timing is good and our [defensive] pursuit is good … that’s been our practice this week, is just to focus on what we do well, honing on our strengths and just be ready to play and handle our business," Ramsey said.
Before the Saturday tilt, area boys football squads will be playing their final regular season contests. The Samohi Vikings (4-5, 1-3 in Pioneer League play) will be hosting Peninsula for Senior Night, while the Saint Monica Mariners (6-2, 3-1 in Camino Real League play) will be on the road at St. Bernard. The Mariners had a three-game win streak snapped last week at St. Genevieve, but are still in good shape to make the CIF playoff field, where the squad became CIF Southern Section Division 13 champions last year.
thomas@smdp.com
