The Dimond Lynx rocked their season-opening game Saturday to extend their winning streak to 18 with a 48-0 shutout of short-staffed Eagle River.
Vanessa Tufaga scored four touchdowns for the Lynx, who are coming off a 17-0 championship season. To say Dimond picked up where it left off last year is putting things mildly.
"We looked really fundamentally sound," coach Kathleen Navarre said. "Our backups got a lot of playing time and they did well, so it was fun today."
Host Eagle River played the Cook Inlet Conference game with 10 players. Among those unable to play was quarterback Lauren Frost, who doesn't have the required number of practices because she's been in Japan with the U.S. National Girls baseball team.
Tufaga rushed for 103 yards on 10 carries and scored on runs of 4, 9 and 14 yards. She caught two passes, one for a touchdown.
Tara Thompson had a hand in three touchdowns, throwing for two and rushing for one while amassing 123 yards (59 rushing, 64 passing). She completed 6 of 9 passes and found Lauren Hines three times for 51 yards, including a 28-yard scoring play.
Thompson's backup, Whitney Jackson, tossed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kaylee Ige.
Sparking Dimond's defense were Abby Corral with six pulls and Yuhwa Hu with two interceptions.
West 13, Chugiak 6
The West defense came up with five interceptions and Annie Rush threw a pair of touchdown passes Saturday in a 13-6 CIC flag football win over Chugiak at Tom Huffer Sr. Stadium in Chugiak.
Rush completed 13 or 25 passes to finish with 173 passing yards. Both touchdown passes went to center Eileen Tanono, who scored on plays of 35 and 16 yards.
Maya McPherson led the defense with two interceptions, with Samantha Navarro, Adriana Villasenor and Anna Sophia-Roberts all contributing interceptions as well. Sophia-Roberts added five pulls.
Chugiak scored its touchdown on an 80-yard run in the fourth quarter, but failed to convert a three-point conversion.
Service 6, East 0
Service needed just one touchdown to escape with a season-opening CIC flag football win over East.
Shannon Wilson caught a 20-yard scoring pass from Keaira Caldarera in the third quarter to give Service a 6-0 win at a sunny Anchorage Football Stadium.
Caldarera completed 6 of 10 pass attempts, splitting time at quarterback with Julia Miknich (8 of 14). Caldarera also led the Service defense with five pulls, and Kyla Pearce pulled in two interceptions.
"Both teams were pretty rusty," Service coach Joel Carter said. "We've been practicing in the rain for a week."
Anchorage Daily News