Liberty Tops Clayton Valley 21-14 to Host San Ramon Valley in NCS

Second-seeded Liberty High School defeated Clayton Valley 21-14 on Saturday afternoon to reach the North Coast Section (NCS) girls flag football semifinals for the first time in program history, setting up a Wednesday night semifinal showdown against defending NCS Division 1 champion San Ramon Valley, according to a game report by Mason Tovani in The Press.

Led by first-year head coach Mike Gregory, the Lady Lions improved to 25-1 overall on a season anchored by 14 defensive shutouts. Wednesday's semifinal will mark the second meeting this season between Liberty and San Ramon Valley: the Wolves eliminated Liberty during last year's championship playoff run, while the Lions won a tournament matchup between the two programs 32-19 just 3 weeks ago.

Three Touchdown Passes from Elanoa Malu and Red-Zone Stands

Liberty struck on its opening possession Saturday when quarterback Elanoa Malu connected with Tessa Namazu down the right sideline for a 7-0 lead. Moments later, Namazu broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone to halt Clayton Valley's opening response.

In the second quarter, Malu found sophomore Mia Toeania for a touchdown pass that extended the margin to 14-0 before Clayton Valley quarterback Giana Marcantonio connected with junior running back Molly McNiff in the final 90 seconds of the half to trim the deficit to 14-7.

After forcing a third-quarter punt, Malu lofted a pass into the end zone where Toeania reached over a defender to wrest the ball away for her second touchdown of the afternoon and a 21-7 advantage. On Clayton Valley's ensuing red-zone trip, senior wide receiver Alannah Lopez broke up consecutive passes on third down before Malu intercepted the read on fourth down inside the 5-yard line to bat the pass away.

Late Defensive Stop Seals Rematch With San Ramon Valley

Clayton Valley pulled within 21-14 with 6:48 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Liberty burned the clock behind acontested third-down reception by Namazu before turning the ball over on downs with less than 20 seconds left. As time expired, junior Kaiahe Monteilh swatted down Marcantonio's final deep heave to secure the victory.

"SRV is a great team with a lot of great players and it's going to be a great game," Malu said ahead of Wednesday's semifinal against San Ramon Valley, while Gregory emphasized mistake-free execution against the defending section champions.