Kara Carnes helps catapult West Ranch flag football to playoff victory

STEVENSON RANCH — West Ranch junior quarterback Kara Carnes seemingly couldn’t miss during a CIF Southern Section Division 4 first-round playoff game against Temecula Prep on Tuesday.

Her first throw was caught by Alora Glass for a 74-yard touchdown. Her next pass was for another 74-yard touchdown and she threw for another score right after that.

Carnes completed 10 consecutive passes to open the game, while her team’s coach, David Therasse, watched with shocked amazement in his eyes.

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Carnes, a junior and team captain, finished the game 19 of 26 passing for 378 yards and tossed all six of her touchdown passes in the first half to spearhead West Ranch’s rout of Temescal Prep 40-20 in the girls flag football playoffs.

West Ranch (8-10) will play Redlands Adventist in the second round Saturday.

“It’s just fun being around my friends and hanging out around the field,” Carnes said. “We’re just made to do. We are playing as a team, we know our identity, and we are having fun. It’s what we do.”

Carnes almost decided she was not going to play flag football this season.

Advanced placement classes plus her extensive commitment as a catcher on her club softball team kept her busy enough. Plus, she wants to play softball one day for the South Korea National Team.

So it seemed like her love for flag football would have to take a back seat.

“I’m glad I played,” Carnes said.

Her teammates at West Ranch are grateful too for Carnes, who has made an easy transition from throwing out runners in softball to throwing for touchdowns for the flag football team.

Glass caught two touchdown passes, and pass rusher Faith Yang returned an interception 33 yards.

West Ranch took whatever it wanted on offense while the defense had a shutout in the first half.

Glass caught the pass from Carnes to start the game, and then evaded four defenders on her way to scoring. That play was the opening high note for the dominance West Ranch displayed in the contest on its home field.

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“I just caught the ball and just thought I’m going to juke whoever is in my path and see what happens,” Glass said. “I saw open spaces and was just going to go different places. I started learning to juke people, took my skills to a travel team and came back here.”