RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — The Santa Margarita girls flag football team had redemption on its mind when it saw Canyon as its first-round opponent in the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs.
Santa Margarita (20-7) was eliminated by Canyon in the quarterfinals of the Division 1 playoffs last season.
The Eagles returned the favor Wednesday and beat Canyon 34-14.
Avery Finneran (6) of Santa Margarita catches a pass over the Canyon defense in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Gabriella Quast (30) of Santa Margarita attempts to avoid the tackle by Maya Conklin (23) of Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Sophie Punsalang (9) of Canyon catches a pass in the end zone for a touch down over the defense of Avery Finneran (6) of Santa Margarita of Santa Margarita in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Santa Margarita quarterback Madi Lam (1) attempts to avoid the tackle by Ella Feldhaus (14) of Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Canyon quarterback Ella Feldhaus (14) passes against Santa Margarita in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Kayla Burmood (3) of Santa Margarita attempts to outrun Emma Lindauer (25) of Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Remington Glenn (19) of Canyon reaches out for more yardage as Fiona Agius (11) of Santa Margarita pulls her flag in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Emma Kozak (27) of Santa Margarita crosses the goal line for a touchdown past the defense of Emma Lindauer (25) of Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Kayla Burmood (3) of Santa Margarita attempts to run past Sophie Punsalang (9) of Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Avery Finneran (6) of Santa Margarita makes the tackle on Sophie Punsalang (9) of Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Santa Margarita quarterback Madi Lam (1) against Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Sophie Punsalang (9) of Canyon runs into the Santa Margarita defense in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Santa Margarita quarterback Madi Lam (1), left, and Katy Cott (3) of Canyon collide after Cott attempted a tackle. Cott was injured on the play and was taken away in an ambulance during the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 13Avery Finneran (6) of Santa Margarita catches a pass over the Canyon defense in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs at Santa Margarita High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Expand“We wanted to get one back at them,” Santa Margarita quarterback Madi Lam said. “When we heard we were playing them we all said, ‘alright, this is our chance. We’re not getting first-rounded. We’re not going home tonight.’ ”
Santa Margarita will host Trinity League foe JSerra in the quarterfinals Monday.
Canyon (20-2) had just one loss in the regular season and entered Wednesday with a 13-game winning streak.
Lam, who was first-team All-County last season, completed 25 of 33 passes for 228 yards with four touchdowns and ran for a score. She also played nearly the entire game at linebacker.
She connected with senior receiver Avery Finneran seven times for 75 yards with two touchdowns. Finneran eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the season Wednesday and has 17 touchdowns.
“We’re both seniors and we’re just trying to get the most out of our last year together,” Lam said. “She’s such a big target and she catches everything.”
Santa Margarita quarterback Madi Lam was 25 of 33 passing for 228 yards with four touchdowns and a rushing TD in a 34-14 victory over Canyon in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 1 flag football playoffs Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Michael Huntley)“They were really good today,” Santa Margarita coach Brad Finneran said. “We dialed some things in this week and they executed well. We hadn’t been executing great over the past couple of weeks but they got it fixed. I’m proud of them.”
Santa Margarita’s defense was very effective as well and had multiple goal-line stands. Cornerbacks Grace Manning and Finneran had multiple pass breakups and Eve Vedder had a late interception.
Gia Hinman had three hurries and three pass deflections for the Eagles, two of which came on fourth downs.
“We saw that the arm angle on their quarterback was really low, so we let them know to get their hands up if they aren’t going to get to her,” Finneran said. “The defense overall was just super aggressive and played one of their best games of the year.”
Santa Margarita scored on the game’s opening drive on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Lam to Finneran.
Early in the second quarter, Lam threw a touchdown pass to Kayla Burmood who made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone.
Just before halftime, Lam led Santa Margarita on a 78-yard scoring drive capped by her one-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles a 20-0 lead.
After stopping a fourth down attempt by Canyon, Lam threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Finneran to extend Santa Margarita’s lead to 27-0 midway through the third quarter.
Canyon scored late in the third quarter on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Ella Feldhaus to Sophie Punsalang. Punsalang led Canyon in receiving along with Emma Welker.
Katy Cott, who led Canyon in receiving and tackles this season, left the game in the first quarter with an apparent neck injury that delayed the game nearly 30 minutes.
Lam threw a touchdown pass to Emma Kozak in the fourth quarter.
Feldhaus threw a long touchdown pass to Maya Conklin with five seconds remaining in the game.
The Eagles lost to JSerra both times the two teams met this season and were shut out by the Lions 20-0 on Oct. 7.
“They are a really good team and they are number one in all the rankings for a reason,” Finneran said. “We have our hands full. We’ll prep for them and try to execute better than we did last time.”
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