2025 Flag Football

Buena opportunistic in season-opening win over Desert View

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Hailey Dale’s pick-6 early in the game was the only touchdown scored in Buena’s 10-0 win over Desert View in the season opener for both teams (Gilbert Alcaraz/AllSportsTucson.com)

FINAL SCORE

Buena 10, Desert View 0

SUMMARY

The Colts and Jaguars opened the season with each struggling on offense, with a combined six interceptions by both teams — four thrown by Buena and two by Desert View — with both picks by the Colts leading to their 10 points

PHOTOS BY GILBERT ALCARAZ

STANDOUT

Buena’s Hailey Dale, an accomplished soccer player as a sophomore, playing her first flag football game, returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown with 6:25 left in the first quarter to put the Colts ahead 7-0. Dale read Desert View’s play perfectly and made the interception at the line and ran to the end zone with none of the Jaguars in front of her.

WHAT SHE SAID

“It was just in the moment, like grab it and go,” Dale said of her interception. “I practice this at practice, so it was actually surprising to be able to read it and see that she was passing there and then get it and go. It was really cool.”

On her decision to join flag football (she was an All Sports Tucson Sonoran House Soccer All-Southern Arizona First-Team selection last year as a sophomore): “A lot of people were actually asking me to play and saying I’d be really good at it. I decided to give it a try, so why not?”

NOTES

  • Dale also had two rushes for 14 yards and a couple of receptions for 21 yards.
  • The game was a defensive stalemate throughout. Buena finally started to move the ball with consistency on its final possession after an interception by junior Nataly Gamez at the Desert View 35.
  • A roughing-the-quarterback personal foul and a 16-yard connection of Adelina Ortega to Jayden Haymore helped set up Ortega’s 26-yard field goal as time expired. It was the longest pass play of the game for Ortega, who completed 12 of 27 attempts for 74 yards.
  • Buena emerged victorious despite four interceptions, four fumbles on snaps, and the unavailability of sophomore Deztany Toyota-Villalobos, one of the top freshmen in the state last season. Toyota-Villalobos was out because of an injury but is expected to play Thursday when Buena hosts Nogales.
  • A trio of Desert View sophomores stood out. Amiah Bernal had two interceptions. Ximena Castaneda led the Jaguars with four receptions for 15 yards. She was the top target of fellow sophomore Mariah Rodriguez, who completed 6 of 24 pass attempts for 27 yards. Rodriguez was victimized by many dropped passes after her throws were right on the mark.

COACHSPEAK

Buena coach Stephen Braswell on winning through the first-game struggles: “Obviously, coming out, we had a little bit of hiccups, a little bit of mistakes, a little stuff to iron out. Definitely came out really strong. The defense was awesome (allowing only 27 total yards). On offense, we had the jittery stuff but it’s about doing the reps, doing the reps, doing the reps … getting all that stuff done. We’re still getting reps. We’re still learning.”

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

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