Sierra High quarterback Tessa Zalunardo found junior wide receiver Felisa Cruz-Olenhouse on third-and-goal with just 35 seconds left in the game to give the Timberwolves a 13-12 win over visiting East Union on senior night Wednesday at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium.
Cruz-Olenhouse (five catches, 37 yards) looked to get one foot down in the back of the end zone with an East Union defender draped all over her to clinch the Valley Oak League finale for the Sac Joaquin Section Division III playoff-bound Timberwolves (8-4, 13-8), who are in prime position to host a first-round opponent next week.
“Honestly, I don’t get super surprised when they make plays like that, because we see it all the time in practice,” Sierra head coach Chris Zalunardo said. “That catch is just one of many big ones Felisa has made for us this season.”
The completion was the biggest of the 26 total for Tessa Zalunardo, who accounted for 231 yards through the air to five different Sierra receivers.
“Credit to their quarterback, she did a really good job moving around and making plays tonight,” East Union head coach Beto Lopez said. “They made a couple more plays than we did, and you saw a few of them there late that ultimately was the difference.”
Sierra led for most of the game after Zalunardo found Emalina Latu (three catches, 62 yards) from 22-yards out less than three minutes into the game putting the hosts up 8-0 after the same duo connected for a two-point conversion. East Union’s defense would rise to the occasion not allowing another point until the final throw to seal it for Sierra.
“I was really happy with how we played defensively tonight,” Lopez said. “We limited their big plays had some balls bounce that could have made it an even bigger night for our unit, but those are the breaks you either get or don’t get in a game that’s this close.”
While the defense kept the Lancers in the game, senior quarterback Julianna Gaspar (19 for 31, 229 yards passing) led East Union the length of the field on multiple occasions, each time coming up empty after key Sierra plays on fourth downs.
“Definitely, a little bend but don’t break to our unit tonight,” Chris Zalunardo said. “We knew coming in Julianna was going to make plays, it was about limiting those, and I think we did that just enough.”
Gaspar and the Lancers would break through on the last play of the third quarter, however, as the senior standout bought herself time before finding Ellie Flores on a big play from 28-yards out to cut the score to 8-2. The Lancers would tie it on the two-point conversion attempt from the ten yard line on a pass from Gaspar to Madelynn Valles to tie it at 8-8.
Momentum looked to be on the side of the visitors when just three plays later, Alexa Brateo intercepted a Zalunardo pass and took it deep into Sierra territory with just six minutes left in the game.
“Alexa has been huge for us all season long and that play just shows what she is capable of,” Lopez said. “She completely flipped the game around for us in that moment.”
The cheers from the East Union side line would be short-lived however, as the very next pass from Gaspar went through the hands of a Lancers receiver before being intercepted by Genessa Chaparro to give the ball back to Zalunardo and the Timberwolves.
Sierra would respond by going 12 plays in over five minutes of game time capped by the game winner from Zalunardo to Cruz-Olenhouse. East Union took over with just seconds left moving the ball into Sierra territory before a last second heave from Gaspar was knocked down to seal it for the Timberwolves.
“This was a big win for us but we know there is a lot more left to do,” Chris Zalunardo said. “It helps us knowing this hopefully gets us a home game but we’ll go back to work later this week and into next fixing some of the things that went wrong today to hopefully give ourselves a good chance at making a run in the playoffs.”
For Lopez, it’s about recognizing a group of seniors who have established the Lancers as one of the best flag football programs in the area.
“This senior class will be remembered for building this program from the ground up,” Lopez said. “Girls like Julianna and Alexa have laid the foundation for the younger girls on our team to pick up next season, and I’m confident we’ll be back.”
Playoff brackets will be released on the SJS website and MaxPreps by 4 p.m. on Friday.
