The girls’ Flag Football team, led by quarterback Nicole Feder, played an increased schedule in its third year of existence, and struggled against talented teams, failing to win a game during the regular season,preceding the Loma Linda Tournament.

The girls’ team played its first tournament game on Friday, losing to Newbury Park 34-0. Although they had practiced and were led by quarterback junior Nicole Feder, Newbury Park’s speed and elusiveness simply proved too much for the Lady Firehawks to handle on offense and defense.

Then, after a restful Shabbat, the girls’ team faced two Saturday Night games, one against Loma Linda, and the other against Glendale Adventist.

In their first game, the girls faced a very talented Loma Linda team and lost to them 27-0.

However, center sophomore Rachel Sentchuk points out that the learning curve is different for girls than for boys.

“A lot of the boys have been football fans their whole lives, while a lot of the girls are just getting into it,” Rachel said. That would mean it would take longer for the girls to get the feel of the sport.

Sure enough, in their second game, the girls played a better game, although mistakes cost them the win. They lost to Glendale Adventist 21-6, when penalties cost them over the course of the game. Regardless, led by quarterback Nicole Feder, they played much better in their second game.

In their final game Sunday morning, the girls were beaten by the Escondido Hawks, 13-0. Although the Firehawks’ defense played well in holding the Hawks to only 13 points, its offense was unable to score against the rigid Escondido defense.

“I feel that this tournament showed how we need to practice better, our team has the potential to get better, we just need to realize that through practice and hard work,” said sophomore and cornerback Michelle Hirschhorn.

Because the girls finished last in their pool with a 0-4 record, they did not qualify for a playoff game, but the tournament still seemed to have inspired the team to improve in coming seasons.