{"id":453955,"date":"2026-09-05T01:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453955\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T01:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:16:12","slug":"how-st-joseph-built-one-of-californias-top-ranked-flag-football-teams-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453955\/","title":{"rendered":"How St. Joseph built one of California\u2019s top-ranked flag football teams \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya and her father, head coach Tim Loya, greet each other at the start of a game against Long Beach Poly at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph head coach Tim Loya follows the action against Long Beach Poly in flag football action at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph senior running back Khloe Frausto picks up yards against Long Beach Poly in flag football action at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya runs a keeper against Long Beach Poly in flag football action at St. Jospeh High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph\u2019s Jaclynn Brennan sprints for one of a pair of touchdowns against Long Beach Poly in flag football action at St. Jospeh High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya throws a pass against Long Beach Poly in flag football action at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph\u2019s Riley Sponaugle splits a pair of Long Beach Poly defenders in flag football at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya evades Long Beach Poly\u2019s Mariey Barajas before throwing a touch down pass in flag football at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph\u2019s Jaclynn Brennan scored a pair of touchdowns against Long Beach Poly in flag football at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya throws a pass against Long Beach Poly in flag football action at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya runs toward her father, head coach Tim Loya, during action against Long Beach Poly at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph senior quarterback Lexi Loya loosens up before taking on Long Beach Poly in flag football at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

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St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya and her father, head coach Tim Loya, greet each other at the start of a game against Long Beach Poly at St. Joseph High School in Lakewood on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

LAKEWOOD \u2014 The Saint Joseph girls flag football program is off to a 9-0 start for the third consecutive season.<\/p>\n

St. Joseph, the sister school of national football powerhouse St. John Bosco, has made a name for itself in flag football. The Jesters are ranked No. 1<\/a> in the Press-Telegram Top 10. They are ranked No. 4<\/a> in California and No. 18<\/a> in the nation by MaxPreps after a 25-6 victory<\/a> over Long Beach Poly on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very cool experience to be able to be the first to do this,\u201d said St. Joseph senior quarterback and safety Lexi Loya, a four-year starter. \u201cI think that it\u2019s a very big blessing to be able to build the ground up and be able to pass it on to the young girls that are coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loya is a three-year league MVP and the 2025 Press-Telegram player of the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The St. Joseph team is coached by her father, Tim Loya.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very tough,\u201d Lexi Loya explained. \u201cHe definitely wants the best for me. I know that. He can be a little intense sometimes, but I know it\u2019s all just trying to make me better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the leader of our program,\u201d Tim Loya said of his daughter. \u201cShe runs warm-ups. She gets the girls on track when they need to be. She keeps them straight and they listen to her. She\u2019s just a leader. She works very, very hard and she helps us win.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Joseph has a 65-8 record since the CIF Southern Section sanctioned the sport in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve worked hard. We started off with a meeting with seven girls,\u201d said Loya. The program now has 76 players and eight coaches across varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a very important thing to leave something better than you found it,\u201d Lexi Loya added. \u201cTo be able to be part of the foundation is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loya is a two-sport athlete who also plays high school soccer, but flag football has a special place in her heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this sport,\u201d Lexi Loya explained. \u201cTo be able to be part of the beginning, it\u2019s fantastic. I can\u2019t wait to leave it to these next girls. They\u2019re going to do so well. They\u2019re going to take off with it and I know they\u2019re going to represent the school the same way that we did and even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the team\u2019s top receivers is junior Jaclynn Brennan, who also plays safety. Brennan said playing with Loya has made her level up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came into SJ when I was in 8th grade. I shadowed Lexi,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cI\u2019ve played Lexi in club flag football a lot when we were \u00a0growing up. I think when I came here I was a little intimidated because she could throw really hard and really far and I was like I want to be her receiver that can catch touchdowns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been phenomenal for us,\u201d Tim Loya said when asked about Brennan. \u201cTwo years in a row, she\u2019s been the triple crown winner for us. Which is most receptions, most touchdowns and most yards. And we spread the ball all over the field to whatever read is open. So to be able to get that, two years in a row, is very impressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think that anybody would get it truly because of how evenly we try to throw the ball. She\u2019s just a big-time player, comes up big when you need her, and the other thing is she\u2019s going to play college softball, not football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Loya believes the team is capable of winning a CIF-SS championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we\u2019re always going to compete, no matter who it is,\u201d Tim Loya said. \u201cI think we should always compete, whether we\u2019ll win every game or not, I don\u2019t know. There are some really good teams out there. I think that by the end, hopefully, we\u2019re one of those, so we\u2019re pushing. We want to play in the highest division we can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. Joseph quarterback Lexi Loya and her father, head coach Tim Loya, greet each other at the start…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,5479,5480,2044,22251,131,133,132,137,127],"class_list":["post-453955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-high-school-all-sports","tag-high-school-flag-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-lakewood","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}