Emily Brown is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saguaro for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – Saguaro flag football felt the pressure against Chaparral when the Firebirds scored a touchdown two minutes into the game Thursday night.  

Chaparral scored early and often to power past Saguaro 41-0, leaving Chaparral at 3-1 and Saguaro at 1-5. 

Firebirds head coach Carlos Anderson said the team carried that first touchdown momentum through every minute with a pregame mentality to win. 

“We just try to come out aggressive, play together and come in with a killing mindset,” Anderson said. “This was a good opportunity for us to display that.” 

Sabercats co-coach John Corte said the team played hard, and he is optimistic going forward.  

“We got to turn the obvious plays into guarantees, and we still have time to correct that,” Corte said. 

The opening score came just two minutes into the game when Stella Hulse passed to wide receiver Kendyll Dinh for a 30-yard touchdown. 

“She’s definitely our No.1receiver right now,” Anderson said about Dinh. “She’s explosive, she’s short and mighty.” 

At the end of the first half, Dinh scored her second touchdown on a pass play in the red zone, and she closed out her performance with a 10-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter to extend the Firebird lead to 34-0.  

Coming off of a 19-14 non-region loss to Shadow Mountain on Sept. 29, Saguaro turned its attention to staying focused on individual roles throughout the game.

With only a few returning players, defensive back and wide receiver Jessica Ruck said the team needs to work on chemistry through team bonding to put time into learning specific plays.

“If you know you’re struggling with something, then you know you may not be able to hone in on that thing, so just practice outside,” Ruck said. “Go outside and practice by yourself if you want it that bad.” 

Saguaro worried about facing Chaparral for a week before the game. Receiver and linebacker Melia Ikei said she was excited but concerned about the matchup two days prior at the Sabercats’ game against Shadow Mountain. 

“Every game I just hope to come out here and ball out with my girls,” Ikei said. “I’m really looking forward to hype games like that one.” 

Ikei caught a pass from quarterback Delynda Thorne, which put them in a good position for wide receiver Kendra Kirkendall to run all the way down the goal line on the next play before Chaparral defender Madison Morris pulled her flag. 

Saguaro center and linebacker Charlotte Urban also said working on skill specificities like offensive line blocking and snapping is the key to avoiding small mistakes.  

“I don't think we’re a bad team at all, I just think we’re missing simple things that don’t seem big at the time and we need to execute them before they end up being really big,” Urban said. 

Chaparral is 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the 5A San Tan region. Saguaro is 1-5 overall and 1-0 in the 4A Desert Sky region. 

The Sabercats head to Coronado at 6 p.m. on Oct. 5 for its next matchup.