History two years in a row! Last school year, the Santa Clara Bruins Flag Football program finished its debut season with a share of the league title. The 2024-25 inaugural season saw the Bruins finish with an incredibly impressive 19-5 overall record, including 8-1 in the league. Santa Clara finished the campaign in a first-place tie with Los Gatos and Milpitas.

Unfortunately, at the time, there were no CCS playoffs set up for flag football. That changed going into this school year and Santa Clara’s squad managed to make even more history. On Monday night, Nov. 3, Santa Clara visited the Saint Francis Lancers in its first-ever CCS playoff game.

While year two wasn’t as smooth sailing in the win-loss column for the Bruins, finishing 10-13-1 overall and 4-6 in league, the squad still played competitive football against some of the top opponents on its schedule. That gave the team a chance to qualify for CCS as an at-large bid. According to Head Coach Michelle Bumbaca, 27 teams submitted bids, and the Bruins were one of just seven to be accepted. 

“Super awesome to be a part of this,” chimed Bumbaca after Monday’s game. “I was able to sit on several committees that helped organize the playoffs. It was really cool to see everything get set up. We were one of only seven at-large bids; there were 27 applicants. Very proud of these girls for being one of the seven, and being a part of the inaugural CCS playoffs was super exciting.” 

While the score against the Lancers wasn’t what the Bruins had hoped for, falling 32-18, the underdog squad rallied back from a 19-0 deficit to pull within 19-12 early in the fourth quarter. One of the key plays for the Bruins was a goal-line interception from sophomore captain Kalliana Flora. Holding a 19-6 lead, the Lancers were driving the length of the field on the opening possession of the second half. A touchdown likely would have been the dagger, but Flora was in the right spot to intercept an overthrown pass in the corner of the end zone. 

“I was playing corner on that play and I was just staying in my zone,” recalled Flora on her clutch interception. “There was a player running behind me and a player in front of me, I just stayed and waited, and the ball just came to me.” 

“That was a big turnover for us, to keep us in the game,” noted coach Bumbaca. “Get that ball back without them getting points there was huge.”  

The Bruins’ defense had multiple opportunities to come up with huge stops throughout the game. In one sequence, Bruins’ track star Tessa Williamson picked up a tackle for loss and a sack on back-to-back plays. Saint Francis, however, would manage to convert the ensuing third-and-long situation to continue that drive. There were a couple other Lancer drives pushed to third and long, but seemingly each time they found a way to extend the drive. 

On offense, the Bruins extended their own drives with terrific scrambling ability from quarterback Gigi Gonzalez. Oftentimes, Gonzalez would pick up first downs with her legs, but she also found Flora and Abi Hoang in the passing game for big plays through the air. Gonzalez also hit fellow senior captain Chloe Boyes for a big gain to set up a touchdown. Malia Perez also came up big on both sides of the ball for the Bruins. Flora, Hoang, and Perez will all return next year for their junior seasons.