By Brittany Bowyer
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PHOENIX — It was a bit more of a lopsided game than one would have expected when no. 5 O’Connor Flag Football faced off against no. 6 Pinnacle on Tuesday evening. The Eagles got off to a fast start, leaving Pinnacle scrambling from early on, and would eventually work their way to a 42-6 victory.

For O’Connor, it was one of their best games offensively they’ve had all season.

“We executed probably better than we have all year long,” O’Connor Head Coach Robert Latona said. “That first half was pretty precise on what we were supposed to do, and I haven’t seen that in a couple years. So, it was pretty refreshing to finally see the work that they’ve put in, to finally execute.”

Meanwhile for Pinnacle, it was the largest loss they’ve suffered so far this season.

“Back to work,” Pinnacle Head Coach Sergio Gilliam said. “Like any other time when you lose 42-6, you’ve just got to get back to work, back to the drawing board. Don’t have time to dwell on it, just gotta correct the mistakes and be ready to go again come this Friday.

O’Connor was able to get on the board first on a pass from senior Kylie Pruitt to freshman Eva Herrera, who took it in for a touchdown. The kick from freshman Katalena Chavez was good, giving the Eagles the early 7-0 lead.

The Pioneers following drive was unsuccessful, resulting in a punt with around 3:00 remaining in the first quarter. On the punt return, Herrera fielded the kick before handing it off to freshman Charlie McTheny, who ran it back for a touchdown. On the return, McTheny’s flag came off and there was some controversy as to whether it was pulled or if it fell off on its own, but the call of a touchdown ultimately stood and helped the Eagles extend their lead. Chavez’s kick was good, making it 14-0 O’Connor.

Pinnacle continued to struggle offensively, punting the ball back away to O’Connor once again.

With 6:32 remaining in the half, O’Connor was able to push the lead on a pass from junior Sophia Partida to junior Kyleigh Adams. The extra point from Chavez was up and in, making it 21-0 Eagles on top.

On the Pioneers following drive, they were picked off around the 30-yard-line by McTheny, setting up the Eagles to score once again. With 3:09 left in the half, Pruitt finds senior Ally McCall for the touchdown. Chavez’s kick was good, making it 28-0 O’Connor.

Pinnacle once again would not be able to do anything offensively, giving O’Connor the ball one more time before the half. The Eagles were able to strike again on a pass from Partida to sophomore Aubrey Arnezeder, who cut her way into the end zone for a touchdown. Chavez kicked the extra point, making it 35-0 going into the half.

Coming out of the break, Pinnacle got the ball to start, but it would result in a pick-six. McTheny, who was all over the place for the Eagles, made the grab and ran it back to the end zone for six. Chavez drilled the kick, making it 42-0 with 10:42 remaining in the third quarter and a running clock for the remainder of the game.

“She can go anywhere she wants to go,” Coach Latona said about McTheny’s potential. “She’s a high-level soccer player, as well, so athletically she’s phenomenal. She can do whatever she wants to do. She’s still got to work, right? She’s a freshman, she’ll grow. She’ll get bigger, faster, stronger. So if she stays the course, she can do whatever she wants to do.”

The Pioneers were finally able to get on the board with around 6:30 remaining in the third quarter. Senior Sydney Ersland was able to find junior Grace Pease, who spun her way out of a flag pull and took it all the way down the field for a touchdown. The Pioneers went for two but couldn’t convert, making it 42-6.

Later on, with 9:49 remaining to play, the Pioneers were driving down the field when they were picked off by sophomore Clae Helton-Chavez.

“Offense and defense, they just made plays,” Coach Gilliam said about O’Connor. “That’s the part of the game in any sport, but they made more plays... We’ve gotta pull flags, that’s the name of the game. You miss flags, they make a play and it results in touchdowns.”

O’Connor’s drive was stopped short, giving Pinnacle one last possession in the game, but the Pioneers only were able to get to midfield before time expired.

The Eagles were able to find success by spreading the ball out amongst a number of receivers. It’s something that Coach Latona knows is beneficial to their offense, having such a large number of targets he can depend on at any time.

“That’s helped out quite a bit,” Coach Latona said. “We have a good mix of juniors, with a couple freshmen that we’ve got playing on the offense, as well. So, they’re learning off of each other. They’re learning from each other. The older girls are helping them with team concepts and things like that, and obviously just the play of [McTheny] and [Herrera], the two freshmen, the juniors are seeing that and stepping up their game.”

For both teams, the game was similar to what they will see in just a few weeks when the playoffs begin.

“With this loss, it makes us overall 7-2,” Coach Gilliam said. “We’re not worried about rankings. We’ve got to do what we can do. The season’s not over with, so we’ve got three more games until the end of the season and we want to close out with a win.”

“We don’t talk about it,” Coach Latona said. “We really don’t... We’ve just got to take it one game at a time. We’ve done that in the past and we’ve kind of lost ourselves a little bit, worrying about having to win and this tough game. We preach that it doesn’t matter who we play, we play our game. That’s the message.”

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.