The @jserra.girlsflagfootball team is once again the championship standard of excellence, as the Lions claimed their second straight CIF-SS championship on Saturday with a 40-14 victory over the Newport Harbor Sailors in the CIF-SS Open Division Championship Game at Huntington Beach High School.

JSerra closes out its’ second straight undefeated season at 28-0 and extends the nation’s longest winning streak to 56 consecutive games.

JSerra surged into a 6-0 lead on the game’s second play.

Sophomore quarterback Kate Meier uncorked a perfect deep ball down the middle of the field to sophomore Tessa Russell, who caught the pass in stride and sprinted into the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown reception.

After the Lions defense forced a Sailors punt on their opening drive, Meier capped the Lions’ ensuing possession with a four-yard scoring scramble to increase the Lions’ lead to 13-0.

Newport Harbor trimmed the deficit to 13-7 with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.

Meier and Russell connected on a scoring reception for the second time in the half (from 11 yards out) with 30 seconds left in the half to give JSerra a 20-7 lead at the intermission.

Newport Harbor trimmed the deficit to 20-14 with a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half.

But JSerra once again responded with a scoring drive on its ensuing drive to increase the lead to 27-14, as Meier rolled to her right and fired a 19-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Abby Vanderweerd, who made a fantastic sliding catch in the end zone.

The Lions defense stopped the Sailors next drive, and Meier and Russell once again found the end zone with a 12-yard scoring pass to give JSerra a 34-14 lead with 5:13 remaining.

Senior Avery Olson produced an interception on the Sailors next drive, with Meier adding the final touchdown of the game on a one-yard touchdown run with 1:52 left in the contest.

Senior Stella Day added an interception inside the final minute to put the finishing touches on the Lions’ title victory. ...

The @jserra_boys_water_polo team punched its ticket into the CIF-SS Open Division Championship Game on Saturday, as the Lions outlasted the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines by a score of 13-11 in a semifinals clash at JSerra Catholic High School.

The Lions improve to 19-6 overall on the season and will square off with archrival Newport Harbor in the title game next Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

JSerra jumped out to a 4-2 lead at the end of the first period behind two scoring strikes from junior Ronan Keane and individual goals by junior Lars Knepper and junior Dylan Park.

Park tallied his second goal in the second period, but the Wolverines tallied three goals in the period to tie the game at 5-5 heading into halftime.

Harvard-Westlake took its’ only lead of the game 41 seconds into the third period, but the Lions answered with an impressive surge.

Park found the back of the net on a 6-on-5 opportunity 17 seconds later to secure a hat trick and tie the game at 6-6.

Knepper put JSerra back in front at 7-6 with his second goal with 5:15 remaining in the period.

Sophomore Sasha Bjelica converted two back-to-back five-meter scoring chances to push the Lions advantage to 9-6.

Keane completed his hat trick with 2:01 remaining in the period, helping the Lions take a 10-8 lead into the final period.

The Wolverines scored the first two goals of the fourth period to tie the contest at 10-10 with 4:02 remaining.

Bjelica’s third five-meter strike put the Lions ahead for good at 11-10 with 1:57 left.

Park powered a skip shot into the back of the net with 1:11 remaining to give JSerra a two-goal lead.

Bjelica capped the scoring and sealed the victory with his fourth goal into an empty net at the final buzzer.

Senior Gianbattista Alessio recorded a team-best four saves. ...