San Mateo makes history with inaugural CCS Division II flag football title

And San Mateo (12-4) made the most of playing host to the inaugural CCS flag football playoff game by riding a 34-yard touchdown pass late in the first half into the history books for a 7-6 victory over its archrival on a beautiful Saturday morning at MaryAnn Johnson Memorial Field.

“It’s amazing for the program,” San Mateo head coach David Williams said. “I’ve been a part of the program for the past three years and it’s been growing every year. ... It’s an amazing feeling having CCS playoffs, and our girls being a part of it and coming out victorious. It’s amazing.”

The Division II championship game was not initially scheduled to be played at San Mateo. All three CCS flag football championships were slated to be played consecutively at Santa Clara High School. But when Burlingame (12-8) upset No. 1 Notre Dame-San Jose 18-12 in overtime in Wednesday’s semifinals, a venue change was decided upon Thursday specifically to take advantage of the Burlingame-San Mateo flag matchup falling on the same day as the Little Big Game.

San Mateo’s twin sister act of Kayla and Zoe Lichaa stole the spotlight in the early morning showdown, connecting for the game’s first score and, as it turned out, the Bearcats’ only score. Still, it was enough to win the day.

“That’s been working all year, the sister connection,” Williams said. “They have this internal thing where it’s like: ‘Hey, I’m going to throw it! You better catch it!’ But it’s been working out all year, and I’m so proud of them.”

San Mateo outgained Burlingame 150-140 in total yards in the game. So, with both teams struggling to advance the ball, the Bearcats went for a long bomb late in the first half.

Junior quarterback Kayla Lichaa sent Zoe Lichaa deep up the left side, and cashed in on an isolated 1-on-1 to sail a pass to the 10-yard line. With the Burlingame defender sprinting over in an attempt to knock the ball away, Zoe Lichaa nabbed it just before the defender’s swiping hand passed by. The junior receiver then turned and danced into the end zone of a 34-yard scoring catch with 27 seconds remaining in the half.

“The time before that, [the Burlingame defender] blocked it,” Zoe Lichaa said. “So, I knew the next time I needed to get in front of her, and be more aggressive with it. ... I was kind of surprised because I thought there was another defender. Then I just ran.”

It was just the fourth completion of the half for Kayla Lichaa, who finished 10-of-21 passing for 101 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Zoe Lichaa caught four of those passes for 86 yards and a TD.

But, while San Mateo had its sister act, Burlingame also had plenty of mystic surrounding its quarterback, senior Kendall Gorshen.

The Panthers use a QB platoon, along with sophomore Olivia Delucchi.

“Using that to our advantage, switching it up to throw the other team off guard has been really helpful this season,” Gorshen said. “And it’s worked in a bunch of different games.”

Gorshen, though, is part of PAL flag football history, having taken the first snap in PAL history when she was a sophomore back on Sept. 13, 2023.

The senior was 9-of-20 for 63 yards, a touchdown and an interceptions, and needed just four plays in the second half to answer back on the scoreboard. After starting the half with a completion of 8 yards to senior Haleh Ansari (six catches, 51 yards), the Panthers used a reverse sweep on third-and-1 from the 21 for Ansari to pick up two yards for a first down.

On the next play, Gorshen connected with Ansari on a fly route up the sideline for a 19-yard touchdown score, closing to within a point of San Mateo.

The Panthers took the ball from the shorter one-point conversion distance, but San Mateo’s defense stepped up. The Bearcats’ defense was solid all around — including two interceptions on the day, on from sophomore linebacker Michelle Vallejo Banuelos in the first half, and another from defensive back Zoe Lichaa in the second — but, with a lead to protect, it was sophomore Valentina Gomez Palacio who delivered the play of the day to sack Gorshen and keep the one-point margin intact.

“The defense played incredible,” Williams said. “Every time an obstacle was thrown their way, adversity was thrown their way, they stepped up to the plate. Big turnovers when it counted, and it just helped our offense out.”

A flurry of turnovers followed, with three straight possessions ending in interceptions. San Mateo moved the ball into Burlingame territory but, on second-and-goal from the 20, Kayla Lichaa’s pass was picked off by Ansari. Gorshen misfired on the next play for scrimmage with Zoe Lichaa taking it back for the Bearcats but, four plays later, Burlingame freshman Mae Paulsen intercepted at the Panthers’ 30-yard line with 3:37 to play.

The Panthers moved the ball into San Mateo territory on a 13-yard pass from Gorshen to Ansari. But on fourth-and-8 from the Bearcats’ 28, Burlingame forced a turnover on downs when Gorshen threw incomplete on a long pass into traffic. The senior seemed to have room to run in front of her as she scrambled out of the pocket and stepped up to pass, but opted to go to the air looking for senior Emerson Burri downfield.

“I did think about running, but I thought that it might be more beneficial to throw the ball because we had a couple girls in the end zone,” Gorshen said. “And also I was just trying, at that point, to win the game. And I thought it would be more beneficial to just try and risk it and throw the ball, rather than run and not get the first down.”

With 1:32 remaining, San Mateo could have gone into the victory formation. On the final play of the game, though — fourth-and-16 from the 24 — the Bearcats opted to punt, and gave Burlingame a chance to return it by punting into the middle of the field as the final seconds ticked down.

With the the goings-on around the stadium in preparation for the Little Big Game, it seemed a perfect opportunity for the band to march on the field prematurely to create havoc for the San Mateo punt coverage. But there was no recreation of “The Play” from 1982 Cal-Stanford rivalry fame, no band storming the field, as Burlingame lateraled several times before San Mateo came up with the flag pull as time expired.

“I was like: ‘What are we doing?’” Williams said. “Hey, you know what? Things happen. They recovered well and they got the tackle, and that’s all I need to hear.”