GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Every year during Homecoming week at Gridley High School the Lady Bulldog juniors and seniors lace up their cleats for two halves of entertaining and athletic flag football competition. Each team is coached by junior and senior varsity football players, with head coaches this year being senior Cameron Carr and junior Tino Sormano. This year’s senior class took the win last year as juniors and were looking to finish their football follies career 2-0 when they took the field on Monday, April 19, 2021. 

The juniors started the first half with the ball, but turned the ball over on downs shortly after competition began. That’s when senior quarterback, Ally Mardesich, got her team rolling. Mardesich connected on a deep pass with a wide open Kennedy Tull who utilized her speed to score the 60-yard touchdown. Mardesich again connected on a wide open pass, this time with Isabelle Hernandez, for a 50-yard touchdown. Junior Audrey Johnson stopped the senior threat of another score right before halftime with an interception in the end zone to keep the score 14-0.

The seniors started the second half with the ball, but the juniors kept a good defensive stance and forced the turnover on downs. That’s when Hernandez showcased her defensive skills with an interception returned 25-yards for the score. Later in the half, the juniors got some life when Ashlyn Mendenhall intercepted a Mardesich pass. But any momentum was shut down when Tull intercepted the pass and once again used her speed to return it 50+ yards for the touchdown. And just as the final seconds of the clock were winding down, Mardesich broke loose for the 70+ yard quarterback scramble to seal the deal for the seniors, 32-0.

Coach Carr and his staff selected Mardesich as the game's Most Valuable Player. While trying to catch her breath during a post game interview, Mardesich said she was feeling “good, but tired after that last TD. I feel like this year we all got in, worked as a team, played as a team. We listened to our coaches this year. They did a pretty good job themselves with plays and switching it up.”