We Speak Flag / 7v7 Football

No. 11 Manteca Stuns Lodi 25-20 for the First Playoff Win in Program History

Published

1 hour ago

November 2, 2026

Manteca players celebrate the Buffaloes' 25-20 playoff win at Lodi.

Photo courtesy of Manteca High Flag Football (@mhs_flag_football)

Manteca picked the best possible night for a first. The No. 11 seed Buffaloes went into Lodi and beat the No. 6 seed Flames 25-20 on Wednesday, October 28, in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs, the first playoff win in program history.

Lodi came in as San Joaquin County’s top regular season team at 18-4, fresh off its first TCAL title. Manteca, the Valley Oak League runner-up playing in just its second postseason, never flinched. Senior quarterback Lily Dundas completed 23 of 32 passes for 255 yards and four touchdowns. Gabby Leon caught eight passes for 162 yards and two scores, and Myah Hayter added a touchdown and an interception.

The defense closed the door. Jaelyn Rosas piled up 16 flag pulls, and Sari Lawson added a touchdown, 10 flag pulls and the walk-off interception that sealed the upset in the final moments.

Dundas has been doing this all season. MaxPreps’ state stat leaders credit the senior with 3,880 passing yards and 51 touchdown passes this year, and she saved one of her sharpest games for the program’s biggest night. Lodi, ranked No. 91 in California by MaxPreps, was the county standard all fall. Manteca walked into its building and took the game anyway.

The win comes one year after Manteca’s program record 17-win regular season. The Buffaloes’ reward is a quarterfinal trip to No. 3 St. Francis of Sacramento on Monday, November 2. The Sac-Joaquin Section semifinals follow on Wednesday, November 4, with five division finals set for Saturday, November 7, at Cosumnes River College.

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We Speak Flag / 7v7 Football

James Clemens Gets the Hardest Draw in 6A: A Playoff Trip to Hewitt-Trussville

Published

1 hour ago

November 2, 2026

We Speak Media

James Clemens players in action during the Jets' Oct. 20 win over Mae Jemison.

Photo by 100Shotz Media via James Clemens girls flag (@jchsgirlsflag) on Instagram.

Every bracket has a draw nobody wants, and in Class 6A it belongs to James Clemens. The Jets travel to Hewitt-Trussville on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. for a first round playoff game, a road trip confirmed on Hewitt-Trussville’s official athletics schedule.

James Clemens, from Madison, won six of its 14 games and closed the regular season the right way, with a 6-0 shutout win at Columbia on Oct. 27. The Jets’ wins include a 36-6 rout of Bob Jones, a 35-0 shutout of St. John Paul II, a 31-13 win over Mae Jemison on Oct. 20 and an 18-0 shutout of Hazel Green. The losses show the gap the Jets have to close. Gadsden City beat them 36-6 on Oct. 22, and Sparkman edged them 13-6 on Oct. 13.

Hewitt-Trussville is the standard on the other sideline. The Huskies are one of the powers of the 6A bracket, and the program’s flag account still points to the inaugural state title it won in 2021, before flag became an official AHSAA championship sport.

Three of the Jets’ six wins were shutouts, so the defense has traveled before. The game is also one of eight first round matchups in the Class 6A bracket, while eight other teams, including Spain Park and Smiths Station, sit out the week on byes and wait for the winners.

For James Clemens, the math is simple. The Jets have already shown they can pitch a shutout and score in bunches against their own level. Tuesday asks them to do it in the hardest building in the bracket.