Heading into Wednesday’s match, Orestimba High’s and Hilmar High’s flag football teams were amongst the top teams in the Trans-Valley League. Both teams were undefeated in league play coming in with an opportunity to take first place in the league standings.

For Hilmar, the opportunity for the top spot in the standings was an afterthought last season. The Yellowjackets sported an overall record of 9-14 and 2-8 record in league play to finish within the bottom of the standings in the program’s inaugural season.

Hilmar head coach Anthony Leal credited the players’ and coaching staff's commitment to learn from last season as the foundation for this season’s turnaround.

“I think the biggest thing is just the way we practice, just the [players] come in and the standard we hold them to is huge,” he said. “I know we had a rough [season] last year but this year, our goal was to improve.”

In a match where the Yellowjackets led for the majority of it, Hilmar ended up falling short to Orestimba in overtime, 24-18. 

With the loss, Hilmar’s five-game winning streak was snapped and the team is now 13-4 overall (3-1). This was the Yellowjackets’ first home loss of the season. Hilmar are now in second place in the Trans-Valley League standings and trail first-place Orestimba by one game.

In the opening half, Hilmar looked like a more complete team than the Warriors as the Yellowjackets dominated both offensively and defensively. From forcing three interceptions to having success running the ball, it was enough to build a two-possession lead.

In the second quarter, the Yellowjackets were ahead 12-0 with the help of two touchdown passes from Brisa Gonzales. As Hilmar’s momentum continued to grow and the Warriors’ offense struggled to convert a down, Orestimba’s chances were slipping away.

However, that changed near the end of the first half. Hailey Starr threw a 40-yard pass to Madelyn Perez for a much-needed touchdown to get Orestimba on the board. Hilmar were ahead 12-6 heading into the second half.

During halftime, Leal spoke with his team about what needs to change in the second half, especially how the following half ended.

In the third quarter, the Yellowjackets had an opportunity to score and regain its two-possession lead when the team reached Orestimba’s 20-yard line. However, Gonzales’ pass was intercepted by Orestimba’s Imelda Beltran. While the Warriors didn’t score on its possession, it became clear that Orestimba had gained some momentum.

Similar to its previous possession, Hilmar was once again at Orestimba’s 20-yard line. As Gonzales scrambled past Warriors multiple defenders, her pass intended for Mikayla Artega ended up being tipped to Orestimba’s Alma Negrete, resulting in her second interception of the quarter.

That interception became the catalyst for Orestimba to tie the game. Early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors reached towards the Yellowjackets goal line. After missing its first three attempts and sacked for a loss of 10 yards, Salece Machado threw a 23-yard pass to Beltran near the left corner of the endzone to tie the match, 12-12. Orestimba missed its opportunity to take a lead after not converting the extra point attempt.

With its lead gone, Hilmar had to find a way to score with five minutes remaining. That started with Gonzales leading a drive towards Orestimba’s 20-yard line. On third-and-4, the Yellowjackets coaching staff told the team to just get four yards.

Gonzales, in response, scrambled down the field to not only gain the first down, but to be within 10 yards of the Warriors goal line. Gonzales found Alexis Aguilar cutting into Orestimba’s endzone to help the Yellowjackets regain its lead, 18-12. Hilmar missed the extra point attempt.

With a lead, Hilmar was less than three minutes away from securing the program’s biggest win. With that much time left, Orestimba had to drive down the field to force overtime.

The Warriors later drove down Hilmar’s 20-yard line to set up a possible score. After two attempts, the Warriors were on third-and-1. Just when it seemed everything was going in the Yellowjackets’ favor, a penalty was called. Hilmar’s Milana Lacey was called for an offsides penalty, which resulted in an Orestimba first down.

The Warriors later scored a touchdown to tie the game at 18-18 after Beltran caught a pass from Starr. With the opportunity to win in regulation, Orestimba failed to score the extra point.

Hilmar didn’t score within the final minute of regulation, resulting in an overtime. The Yellowjackets won the coin toss and elected to defer. This meant that Orestimba was to play offense first.

On third down past Hilmar’s 10-yard line, Machado threw a pass to Natalie Corella to give Orestimba its first lead of the match, 24-18. The Warriors missed the extra point attempt.

Now facing a deficit, the Yellowjackets understood what was needed. After failing to score on its first two attempts, Lacey dropped Gonzales’ pass on third down. With a final attempt to score, Gonzales scrambled past two Orestimba defenders, but got one her flags taken down as the Warriors got a final stop to win on the road.

Hilmar will get another chance against Orestimba when the team visits Newman on Oct. 20. Until then, the Yellowjackets will host Sonora High School on Monday at 6 p.m. Sonora visits Hilmar at 5-3 overall (2-2). 

Despite how big of a loss this was for the Yellowjackets, Leal said that the team will have to move on and learn from its mistakes.

“We don’t hold on to it and [at] midnight, we flip the script and it’s the next opponent,” he said.