‘Down the rabbit hole,’ Bad Rabbits 17u team’s wild ride to championship game
Players from Calexico and Mexicali face adversity, show resilience of championship path that included lots of travel, full regionals, a triple overtime win and a win on the final play of the game.
CANTON, Ohio (KYMA, KECY) - It wasn't the ending the Bad Rabbits 17u girls flag football team had hoped for.
The team made of girls flag football players from Calexico and Mexicali, representing the Dallas Cowboys, fell in the championship game 19-0 at the 2025 NFL FLAG Championships at the Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio, on July 20.
"The whole process to get here started last August," Bad Rabbits head coach Alann Salas said. "You only get a few chances to qualify."
Salas said when he went to enter his team in Regional tournaments in California, all of the openings were filled.
"In about an hour all of those registrations were full," Salas said. "That pretty much left us one option, to go to Dallas in the fall of 2024. That was the Cowboys regional and why we represented the Dallas Cowboys."
The 17U division or "high school" division is highly competitive, especially with flag football now becoming an official high school sport. This means more and more teams are signing up and filling registrations at a faster pace.
"We tried to get in the regionals with the Chargers, the Rams and the Cardinals," Salas said. "They just filled so fast, even the Raiders, but, we had to go to Dallas."
The Bad Rabbits won the regional, securing their spot as the Cowboys representatives. To advance to nationals, they'd have to play the other teams representing the NFL NFC East teams which include the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.
"We defeated the Commanders then faced the Eagles in the semi-finals," Salas said. "We beat the Eagles in triple overtime in pool play. We then played the Giants and won on the last play of the game."
"These girls just bonded very well," Salas said. "I would say that that's not very common when you have a very talented team because egos can get in the way. That's not the case with these girls, they are very unselfish and look to one another. They work well as a team and have a team first mentality."
After surviving their division, the Bad Rabbits advanced to the national tournament, their first opponent was the team representing the Atlanta Falcons, the game was also nationally televised.
"It was really awesome to be a part of that environment," Salas said. "Also, the competition is the best of the best in the country. I'd even say in the world for that age group."
After the Falcons, it was a win over the 49'ers in the quarterfinals which led to a rematch with the Eagles in the national semi-finals. The Bad Rabbits wild ride eventually came to an end in the championship game, falling to the Texans.
The Bad Rabbits roster includes Camilla Gomez Yah, Paula Nicole Cruz, Sakura Shimzu Sanchez, Jessica Manriquez, Karol Quintero, Madeline Montes, Ana de Castro, Roberta De la Pena and Giovanna Ortiz. The team is coached by Jesus Alann Salas and Andres Gutierrez.
The Bad Rabbits 14u program won the national championship in Ohio representing the Las Vegas Raiders. It marked back to back titles for the 14u squad who also won it a year ago while representing the Arizona Cardinals.
For the 17u team, it marked the team's first championship appearance as many of the team members were recently elevated from the 14u team.
"The way I described this tournament to the girls is, this is a life experience for them, for us as a team," Salas said. "They were treated as superstars. It's all about being resilient. I mean, we had triple overtime games, last play of the game, but it was a fun experience."
The girls will next prepare to play for their high school teams before getting back together in November to try to win another regional tournament to qualify for the NFL flag championships once again.
