On Nov. 7, the girls’ flag football team made posts on their Instagram announcing that two of
their players won Mesa League awards of the year for flag football. One of them, receiver, outside linebacker, Captain and senior Lucia Quintero (7) is awarded Mesa League 2023 Defensive Player of the year.
Quintero did not anticipate that she would be winning an award after deciding to join the flag football team back in Aug. Originally, she joined the sport as a fun extracurricular activity for her senior year, alongside her friends.
“I played powderpuff last year and I enjoyed it, so when I heard it was a California Interscholastic Federation sport I thought I would get into it and actually get better. I am very surprised by how the season is turning out. I was hoping to keep it up. And I am glad I got to join. We have such a great group of athletes that were able to actually dominate in this [sport],” Quintero said.
Once realizing the level of performance the team she joined led on to be, her purpose for playing flag football began to change. Quintero’s performance on and off the field developed alongside the inaugural sport. She shares her initial thoughts.
“I was expecting to have fun and play with it. But now I am taking it seriously because we are good and we can actually take it all the way [to the championship],” Quintero said.
As she began to focus on flag football, co-Head coach Larry Schoen noticed her capabilities right from the start. Her skills only improved further leading into playoffs.
“You could tell that she played and studied the game a lot. She keeps an open mind to actually listen to everything I was teaching since I had to teach everything from scratch. She worked her way up from not only trying out, to being a two way starter for us,” Schoen said.
Before Quintero was selected as the Metro Mesa Defensive Player of the year, it was first tossed around in one of the season league meetings. The coaches from each school in the league met together recommending their players for the various awards of the year. In the end, the unanimous vote was in favor of Quintero.
“It was a battle because there are a lot of defensive players in the league, but overall Lucia had the stats, a lot of tackles, interceptions and interceptions ran back for a touchdown,” Schoen said. “She produced a lot of big time stats just playing defense on one side of the field.”
Schoen along with Quintero explains how based off of field statistics, Quintero distinguished herself apart from other defenders in the league. On the field, the safety covers pretty much anywhere, while Quintero who is a center linebacker covers specifically the center which happens to be where the football ends up going more often than not.
“I was surprised [to find out] because if we just look at stats I don’t have the highest. Compared to other safeties, their stats are higher,” Quintero said. “But since I’m on one side of the field, my stats are significantly high considering I only play one side, so I’m dominating more.”
Despite not having the highest statistics overall, she still managed to take the title. Since Quintero did not expect to be winning this award, when her parents found out, they also shared a similar reaction to the news.
“My mom was surprised [when she found out], and my dad was happy about it. My friends and teammates are very hyped for me and supporting, so it was cool,” Quintero said.
Unlike Quintero and her parents, corner, wide receiver and junior Jamiya Valenciano (8) believes that Quintero winning the award was expected. Based on her abilities at practices and during games, Valenciano feels it makes sense.
“It’s not surprising at all [knowing Lucia won the award]. Lucia and Tati [Running back, outside linebacker and senior Tatiana Colon (1)] both did good, but either of them winning would not be surprising. [Quintero] knows how to cover her zone,” Valenciano said.
Schoen also shares like mindedness to Valenciano when discussing between Quintero and Colon. Both of which are top performing senior defensive athletes. These athletes were both discussed as potential candidates during the selection process for the defensive award.
“It was between her and my other linebacker [Colon] on the other side, it was unanimous. [Colon] also had votes from other coaches, and the only thing that happened was that she missed the last three league games from being sick with the flu. So she’s definitely up there too, her and Lucia were always head to head in the season based on statistics,” Schoen said.
Quintero and Colon both represent top performing flag football defensive players. Their coaches and teammates like Valenciano feel it easily could have been one or the other winning the award. Valenciano expresses her view which underscores the belief that their excellence sets them apart.
“[I expected] no one else. No one besides our team and our defense should have won. We are number one seed. The other teams can’t compare,” Valenciano said.
As the number one seed, Quintero and the rest of the team advanced into the playoffs. During semifinals was one of the key moments that demonstrates how Schoen feels regarding the award being well deserved for Quintero.
“In the semifinal game against Calexico [High School (CHS)], Lucia had the hardest assignment on the team, defending CHS’ best player, one of the top receivers in the county,” Schoen said. “Before practices and the game she’s asking me about her coverage and what she should do. We’re pulling out the whiteboard and drawing out x’s and o’s going over the options.”
A few major components Schoen says that makes Quintero stand out is her desire to ask questions, having the game plan set and wanting to be successful. Additionally, as a Captain she displays leadership and commitment to the sport, making her better qualified for the award.
“Especially now you’re really seeing more leadership come out of her. She’s making her plays, but she’s holding the rest of the teammates accountable. During these playoffs her leadership really shines,” Schoen said. “Lucia always instills confidence in these younger freshmen to where they know that they can follow her lead. She’s leading by example, and it’s been a huge pleasure having her. I wish she had another year but, Lucia really is the definition of the type of player that I would like to be able to build a future with.”
