Orestimba High School flag football team continues its hot start to the season with a convincing 38-24 win against Matilda Torres High School, extending its winning streak to seven games.

Before Thursday’s contest, Matilda Torres entered as winners of six straight. The Toros shutout their opponents in four of those wins. Having played three consecutive games coming in, Warriors Head Coach John Labno told his team to stay ready for the tall task ahead.

Despite playing three consecutive road matches coming into Thursday, Orestimba’s players looked anything but tired.

With it also being senior night, there was extra motivation for the players to show up, especially the seniors in front of a large crowd in the stands at Warriors Stadium. While the whole team delivered a great performance, there was one player who stood out amongst the rest: senior Marian Quevedo.

Quevedo, who rushed for 45 yards the day before, concluded her evening with a career-high 111 yards on the ground for two touchdowns on three carries. With her performance, the senior has scored a total of six rushing touchdowns on the season.

Whether she was going right or left, Matilda Torres’ defense couldn’t contain Quevedo from getting a first down.

While the scoreboard may indicate that the match was close at one point, it was anything but that. And it was indicated from the Warriors opening drive that it was going to be a long evening for the Toros’ defense.

With Orestimba starting at midfield, Warriors quarterback Hailey Starr handed the ball to Quevedo who ran to her right and scrambled past three Toros’ defenders to put the Warriors on the board, 6-0.

While the Warriors offense helped secure a lead, its defense was what set the tone for the remainder of the game as Matilda Torres struggled to get past its own territory in the opening half.

After getting a stop and running towards the Toros’ territory, Starr threw the ball toward the left side of the field to Salece Machado, who spun past two Toros’ defenders to extend Orestimba’s lead, 12-0.

Trailing by two scores, Matilda Torres' struggles continued as quarterback Navaeh Chavez threw a pass towards Orestimba’s Imelda Beltran who went on the score a pick-six to lead 18-0.

The second quarter was more or less the same for the Warriors. Starting at midfield, Starr handed the ball to Quevedo who once again ran towards her right and broke through to score another rushing touchdown to lead 24-0.

Later in the quarter, Starr threw a pass to Beltran who caught the ball with two defenders near her and ran 38 yards towards Matilda Torres’ endzone for second touchdown of the evening. Julianna Figueroa scored the extra point to give Orestimba a 31-0 lead, capping a dominant opening half.

To begin the second half, Natalie Corella caught a pass from Starr and ran near the Toros’ 30-yard line to set a scoring opportunity for Orestimba. With Figueroa scoring a touchdown and extra point conversion, the Warriors scored their final touchdown to lead 38-0 in the third quarter.

Matilda Torres later scored 24 unanswered points, but the deficit was too large to overcome.

After the match, Labno praised the Warriors’ defense and his players hustle defensively. “Our defense is special and [the players] pride themselves in trying to shut [opponents] out,” he said. “I mean, we have girls flying from the other side of the field to get the ball. And so, they pride themselves on really shutting down the defense.”

Now at 11-1 overall, the Warriors will travel to Merced High School on Monday to finish one of its two non-conference matches remaining. Kickoff begins at 6 p.m.

Merced enters Monday’s contest at 13-2 overall and winners of three-straight. Last season, Merced defeated Orestimba, 33-32.

Labno spoke highly of Merced as a “really good team” and believes the matchup could be a test for Orestimba heading into Trans Valley League play.

“We saw [Merced] during the summer in a scrimmage and they’re really good,” he said. “I think that would be a really good test for us going into league [play].”