A Snap Towards History: Redwood Girls Flag Football vs Madera South Pre-Game

History is on the verge at Redwood High School, as the Rangers will host VUSD’s first-ever Girls Flag Football game against Madera South at the Mineral King Bowl. Four players and head coach Michael Wright look back on preparation and look forward to executing.

By Fabian Anguiano

The lady Rangers will suit up for the first time on Thursday, August 20th, 2026, with kickoff at 7 PM. A moment that will be cemented into the history of Redwood and of VUSD.

Wide Receiver Analizah Balderas ’28, believes she has improved as a receiver since she first started by being focused at practice. 

Balderas has been preparing herself mentally for the upcoming game by, “Asking more questions about the game since it is new to me. Just talking to friends, getting hyped about it, and not getting as scared,” said Balderas.

The team as a whole has been preparing for the game by watching a good amount of film, learning the game all together, and making sure that their plays are on point.

Balderas believes that the team’s main key to victory is, “Staying connected, keeping our bond, and not trying to make it a one-person game.”

Starting quarterback Miranda Ortiz ‘28, has improved a good amount since first becoming a QB, “From the beginning, I wasn’t really moving around as much in the pocket, but I’ve started to move around more. I’ve been able to create more space for myself to throw or run,” said Ortiz.

Ortiz has been preparing herself mentally and physically for the upcoming game by eliminating any distractions and staying healthy.

Ortiz’s goal as quarterback for the upcoming game is to complete her passes and to make sure the team is locked in.

Carly Calderon ’28, believes that she has improved as a defensive back and a cornerback since first joining the team by being more open about how to improve and knowing her position.

Calderon has been preparing herself mentally and physically for the upcoming game by, “Trying to focus on what I can do and ignore the little bad parts that I can do in practice. Overall, being coachable that way it’s helpful to my teammates as well,” said Calderon.

The team as a whole has been preparing for the first game by focusing in practice and drilling intensely. They have been running scrimmages so that they know what they are going up against so they can improve off of each other.

Calderon’s goal for herself is to stop everybody that she can and to not allow anybody to score on her.

Entering such a historic game comes with nerves for Calderon, “It’s the first game of flag football for girls in Redwood. So there’s definitely a lot of nerves, especially how we want to go out there and show everybody what we can do.”

Defensive back and linebacker Siri Fontes ’30, is preparing herself mentally for this upcoming game by, “Telling myself that I can do it. That there’s no reason to be scared because if I mess up, it’s okay because I know other people are gonna mess up too.”

What Fontes believes is the main key to success for the defense is to find their man and to pull their flag.

Fontes believes the team’s main key to victory is communication.

Head Coach Michael Wright II has been preparing the team mentally and physically for the upcoming game by teaching, as for most of them, it is their first time playing flag football. 

Overall, it’s preparing them for the rules and understanding how the game flows.

Wright has been preparing himself as a coach for the upcoming game by, “Being as prepared as I can for all the different scenarios that come up. Trying to watch a lot of film and trying to see what the time management stuff is that happens in flag football because it is different than tackle football that I’ve coached before,” said Wright.

The offensive game plan for this Thursday is to have a pretty good match. They are going to try to hit as many things as they can to prepare themselves for the whole season.

The defensive game plan is to make sure that they are doing the basics and pulling flags.

Wright believes the main key to victory is to execute what they already do. They do a lot of good things in practice, so they have to put that in action when game time comes.

With the honor of coaching this historic game and team, Wright believes that, “Anything that you do at Redwood High School is an honor. I think you should carry yourself with a lot of gratitude when you teach here, coach here, and play here as a student. This is the greatest place in the world to be, and I’m thankful to be part of it.”

Tags: football, gigantea, Gigantea athletics, Historic, Redwood, redwood athletes, redwood athletics, sports, visalia ca