Harris leads Oxnard to county's first CIF-SS flag football title
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Oxnard High delivered Ventura County’s first CIF-Southern Section football championship in 1928.
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Ninety-eight years later, the flag football team carried on a school tradition.
Senior quarterback Ryanna Harris threw for two touchdowns and returned a punt for another score as Oxnard defeated Palos Verdes 18-12 to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Huntington Beach High.
One year after Westlake fell in the Division 2 final, Oxnard’s title is the county’s first in the new sport.
“It was a beautiful night and we’re coming home champions,” said Oxnard head coach Mark Cordes.
Trailing 6-0 late in the first half, top-seeded Oxnard scored 18 straight points to take control.
“All year long, we’ve given up big plays and they’ve kind of been our kryptonite,” Cordes said. “Tonight, we got the big plays and just kind of weathered their offense.”
Harris found Nona Moreno for a 10-yard TD pass in the final minute of the half to pull Oxnard even, 6-6, at halftime.
Tied entering the fourth quarter, Oxnard put together a pair of big plays to grab the title.
Harris returned a punt 65 yards for a score to give the Yellowjackets a 12-6 lead with 10:30 to play.
“The punt return for a touchdown was huge,” said Cordes. “That was a momentum shifter.”
Harris’ 65-yard scoring strike to Mariah Tutt put the game away with 5:56 to play.
“Once she gets going north and south, nobody can catch her,” Cordes said of Tutt. “She was able to pull one in and get into the end zone.”
Harris completed 11 of 24 passes for 134 yards, two TDs and two interceptions. Moreno caught eight passes for 54 yards and a TD and Tutt caught two passes for 75 yards and the TD.
Palos Verdes did a good job on Harris and Oxnard’s running game, limiting the Yellowjackets to minus-1 yard rushing.
“We just had to bring in an extra blocker and reinforce our fundamentals all year long, that’s getting the ball out quick,” Cordes said. “We try to make decisions within two or three seconds. Ryanna was able to get the ball out and do that for us.”
Palos Verdes took a 6-0 lead with 5:56 left in the first quarter on a hook-and-ladder play as Addie Eroen pitched to Ava McGovern for a 25-yard TD.
“We were able to adjust really quickly on that and keep them from making any bigger plays,” said Cordes. “We were able to turn them over on downs a few times and just kind of keep them from getting into the end zone.”
Kimia Austin had three sacks, Charlee Bernal had an interception and Gizelle Tomasino pulled a team-high eight flags to lead the Oxnard defense.
Cordes keeps a four-year-old article that introduced high school flag football locally in his office.
“Four years later, we’ve raised that standard even more,” Cordes said. “Now we’re coming home as champions. Now we have a championship program. No other county team can say that.
“It’s really come full circle for that group.”
Joe Curley covers football for The Star. He can be reached at [email protected]. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Harris leads Oxnard to county's first CIF-SS flag football title