It’s a new year for the Los Altos girls flag football team, and between rule tweaks and the addition of CCS playoffs, the changes are being felt all over the field.
Gone is having to start rushing the quarterback seven yards off the line of scrimmage from last season, which added an extra four or five seconds so quarterbacks could pass. Now, defenses are allowed to rush the quarterback just one yard off the line of scrimmage as many times as they want, while the quarterback can run as often as they want instead of being limited to certain downs last year.
“Basically, we are playing a completely different game than you saw last year,” Los Altos head coach Gabe Stewart said.
Blocking is now more of a strategic necessity, although you can’t make contact and must beat a rusher to a spot, according to the new rules, with some blockers acting like screeners in basketball. Stewart is now teaching pass blocking, and the rules and interpretations of what is and isn’t pass blocking are still being figured out. Last year, the game was on a running clock, while this year has stoppages in between plays.
“The rushing has changed how this game looks compared to last year,” Stewart said.
The rule changes were on full display during a non-league game between Los Altos (5-2) and St. Francis (2-4-1) Wednesday, when Los Altos quarterback Sabrina Neal ran in the game’s only touchdown with 5:23 left in the third quarter in a 7-0 win for Los Altos. Neal finished 10-16 for 89 yards passing while running 15 times for 114 yards and a touchdown on the ground. While Neal might have typically thrown for hundreds of yards in a game last year due to the time in the pocket, this year, there is less time to throw the ball. Luckily, Neal is one of the fastest players on the team. In addition to using her speed on the base paths for softball, she has benefited from the new flag football rule changes and has found ample space to run at the beginning of the season to avoid the increased pass rush.
“Now I really have to use my legs a lot more to get yards,” Neal said.
Stewart noted that the new rules unlock the skill of a running quarterback, because the rushers have to learn how to contain, with gaps and space for quarterbacks if not kept in the pocket.
“She is the catalyst,” Stewart said of Neal. “She is so multidimensional, and she has a real grasp of what we are trying to do offensively.”
Los Altos held St. Francis scoreless thanks to timely defensive stops and an interception, along with two sacks each from Lily Whiting and Natalie Stavrakos. Oshea Orozco has eight total tackles for the Eagles to lead the team, while Ruby Gibson had seven. Willow Tock had six tackles and two pass breakups that were nearly interceptions.
League play will begin next week for Los Altos away against Mountain View Wednesday, and there is more at stake this year thanks to the addition of Central Coast Section playoffs awarded to teams based on league finish. After no playoffs in the first season of flag football last year, teams like Los Altos that did well in 2024 are now in the upper division league, the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division. Los Altos, Mountain View, Gunn, Milpitas, Los Gatos and Santa Clara are the six teams in the upper division. There will be multiple divisions of CCS playoffs, with one based on the best teams in the section in an Open Division. The other divisions will be based on the enrollment size of schools. Stewart said De Anza will get three automatic bids, with a chance to have more at-large bids.
As Los Altos moves towards its league season, Stewart is looking to Erin Jesensky, an all-league player last season, and Ida Amren to be stalwarts offensively and defensively. Younger players like Chloe D’Amico and Charlotte Wolfe are also expected to be key players for the team this season in its quest to make the playoffs.
“The expectation is if we play the best that we can be, we will always give ourselves a chance to win against any opponent,” Stewart said.
