Scotts Valley senior Jazzy Phillips tossed an interception on the opening drive in last week’s contest against Soquel.
The turnover resulted in a touchdown for the Knights, yet the Falcon starting quarterback was able to bounce back following the mishap and brush her shoulders like a true professional.
Phillips went on to record four touchdowns through the air to help lift Scotts Valley past Soquel, 40-12, in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League action Sept. 17.
“I think we just pushed through,” said Phillips, who sat out most of the second half. “We were mad, and then we took the anger out by scoring, pushing down the field.”
Senior receiver Sammy Rebbert hauled in three of those first-half TDs, and recorded one more score and one interception in the second half. With the win, the Falcons improved to 3-0 in SCCAL play this season.
“I definitely think it’s just being able to keep our heads in the game,” she said. “Last year I know that’s something that we struggled with a lot. We’d get down on ourselves.”
Rebbert added, “I think just knowing what we can do, what we do at practice and just implementing it on the field was what kept us in the game.”
Scotts Valley returns this fall as the defending tri-champion along with Aptos and Soquel, which all finished with an 8-2 record in league play in 2024.
But it was the Falcons who won the end-of-the-season SCCAL tournament against Aptos to become the outright league champion.
Scotts Valley now is without five seniors from that championship squad, including Claire Skinner—the league’s reigning co-Most Valuable Player and Press Banner’s 2024-25 Female Athlete of the Year.
“We need to work extra hard this year,” Rebbert said, noting that league play will be even more challenging with such contenders as Aptos, Santa Cruz, Soquel, Harbor and San Lorenzo Valley improving each week.
Phillips and Rebbert, who’ve been with the program since the inaugural 2023 season, will be joined by returning player senior Brooklyn Williams.
The veterans were excited to see some newer faces join the team, including junior Hanna Shehorn, who is also a member of the girls’ cross country team.
Others include seniors Natalia Lapilio and starting center Presley Pastrell, who was injured during a collision with a Soquel player.
The underclassmen are led by freshmen Gabby Casillas, Lucy Gramkowski, Leanna Hinn, Brooke Lesniak and Lyla Rebbert.
“I think everybody’s willing to work really hard, they’re all very excited to play,” Rebbert said. “Nobody’s just in it to be there. They’re all wanting the ball, wanting to pull a flag. So, it’s really cool just to have everybody in on it together.”
A big adjustment that Scotts Valley and every other team had to make this year was getting used to new rules implemented by the California Interscholastic Federation.
Some of the more notable rule changes is that defensive linemen are allowed to immediately rush the quarterback and can line up one yard from the line of scrimmage.
In return, the quarterback can now run at will without being rushed by a defensive player. They can also run with the ball anywhere within the field unlike last year, where quarterbacks were allowed to run on certain down and distance situations.
“It’s definitely a struggle, but I think just practicing it and actually putting it into the game has helped,” Phillips said.
Another big adaptation is that teams can now punt the ball away and return the kick rather than just give up the ball on downs.
Rebbert said they’ve also had to remind each other on the field that they could finally use formerly forbidden moves, such as spinning, to get past players more elusive.
“That’s awesome,” Rebbert said. “It makes [flag football] so much like a real sport.”
The overall big picture for Scotts Valley is to reach the Central Coast Section’s inaugural playoff tournament. Rebbert said she also wants to make sure her teammates are having fun while doing so.
“Building the team, getting them strong, especially for next season,” Rebbert said. “Looking forward to the sport to keep growing, getting more people involved.”
Rebbert said there are still several classmates who haven’t heard about the sport around campus, and she wants to get the word out before her time is up at Scotts Valley.
“There’s a lot more great athletes who I think could fit in perfectly, but we just got to get them in,” she said.
San Lorenzo Valley head coach Shannon Pichler is doing her best to recruit more numbers. She’s urged current players to push classmates, whether they know the sport of flag football or not, to get involved.
This year’s Cougars group is made up of just eight players with a majority of them being sophomores, including Emily Petrov, Skyla Leggett and Savanna Robertson.
Petrov and Leggett are consistent playmakers on both sides of the ball, while Robertson continues to learn the ropes as the team’s starting quarterback.
“All of the girls are really dedicated to the team,” Pichler said. “It’s just challenging getting the word out in our community. There’s a lot of athletic girls at SLV, yet they just don’t want to necessarily participate.”
Despite the low numbers, Pichler is impressed by how hard the players continue to try even when they know the game is well out of reach.
“The fact that they never give up, it’s just amazing,” Pichler said.
Next up, Scotts Valley (3-0, 3-0) plays Santa Cruz (2-3, 1-3) at Harbor High School on Wednesday at 7pm.
