For senior Emily Castillo, wide receiver and linebacker for the La Quinta Blackhawks flag football team, the most important thing the team did in their first-round playoff game was stay together and never quit.
“We still tried, nobody fully gave up. Two of our starters got injured and had to get taken out, but for them to both want to come back, that says a lot about our team and our spirit,” Castillo said.
In the end, though, that spirit wasn't enough as the Blackhawks lost to visiting Cabrillo High, a Long Beach school, 14-6 in the Division 5 playoff bracket on Tuesday.
After becoming the Desert Valley League champions, and obtaining their first-ever title, the Blackhawks had their first-ever home playoff game. After a hard-fought and tense game La
Quinta came up one touchdown short. The Blackhawks also made the playoffs in 2024, losing their first-round game on the road.
In Tuesday's game, Cabrillo High got ahead early, scoring the first touchdown on a punt return, which shifted the energy and momentum right away. La Quinta shook off the early nerves and scored a touchdown of its own on a short pass from from Audrey Torres to Scarlett Garcia.
But Cabrillo scored again to open their lead, and La Quinta, hampered by injuries to key receivers Garcia and Cadence Rios, couldn't get back in the end zone.
“The first touchdown wasn’t even us, you know? They get a punt return, immediate touchdown … so I think, like originally (we were) nervous, and then we just felt pressure to rush everything,” Castillo said.
Megan Lopez starred defensively for La Quinta with two interceptions in the game.
The game featured multiple penalties from both teams and high emotion coming from the sidelines. La Quinta head coach Joseph Cervantes was ejected by the referee with a minute remaining in the fourth quarter.
The rest of the team continued to keep the emotion up shouting and chanting and rooting on their teammates until the final buzzer. The emotion spilled over into tears after the game, as parents and friends consoled the players, but the loss doesn't take away from the successful season that included the school's first league title.
More flag football playoff action
It was not a great night on the flag football fields for desert teams. Six teams made the postseason and only one came up with a win on Tuesday.
Cathedral City does it: The last desert team standings in 2026 is the Cathedral City Lions. Cathedral City went on the road in Division 6 and came away with an impressive 25-0 win over Cantwell Sacred Heart. The Lions will be at home for the second round, as they host St. Bonaventure on Saturday at a time still to be determined.
Shadow Hills in tough Division 2: The undefeated Desert Empire League champs earned a lofty spot in Division 2, and had to hit the road Tuesday and couldn't come away with a win against MLK (Riverside), falling 26-12.
Desert Hot Springs drops a heartbreaker: While most desert teams struggled to score in their playoff openers, the Golden Eagles did not. DHS scored 32 points, but unfortunately they needed one more as they fell to La Sierra 33-32 in a Division 5 heartbreaker.
12-6 an unlucky score: Both Palm Desert in Division 4 and Xavier Prep in Division 6 dropped their playoff openers by identical 12-6 scores. The Aztecs fell to Baldwin Park and the Saints lost to Buena Park.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: La Quinta flag football drops playoff opener after historic season
