Belief.
That is what it took for the Banning to win the City Section Open Division flag football championship Saturday at Crenshaw High.
The seventh-seeded Pilots rallied from a 12-0 halftime deficit to tie the game on the final play of regulation and went on to stun No. 1 San Pedro 18-12 in overtime on an interception by Adelaida Ibanez-Eddy, who got dog-piled by her teammates.
Ibanez-Eddy caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Alina Argueta on the Pilots’ second play of overtime to give Banning its first lead, then came up big on the other side of the ball.
“The game was on the line and I just had to get it in there,” said Ibanez-Eddy, who stretched as far as she could while diving for the pylon to break the plane. “I just play my game and do what I can when I’m open. I kept it in my arms on the interception. They were trying to rip it out but I wouldn’t let them. It’s about pride… my teammates have my back and I have theirs.”
Argueta engineered a 10-play, 70-yard drive in the last two minutes, capped by her toss to Melony Bernabe as time expired to tie it 12-12. Argeuta tried to run in a one-point conversion that would have ended the game but was tackled inches short of the end zone.
It was a remarkable comeback for the Pilots (16-6), who had lost three regular-season meetings to their Marine League rivals. It was another heartbreaking defeat for San Pedro (25-3-1), which was edged by Birmingham in last year’s inaugural Open Division final.
Giuliana Sutrin caught a 19-yard touchdown pass to put San Pedro on the scoreboard first, but its two-point try was deflected. Stella Malone intercepted a pass at the goal line and raced 80 yards the other way for a touchdown to double the Pirates’ lead eight seconds before halftime. It was her seventh “pick six” of the season.
