It was the Regina Escoto show in Milwaukie, Oregon.
With 4:04 left in the first quarter, the 5’1” running back from Mexico took a handoff from seven yards out and punched it into the end zone, giving San Diego an early 6-0 lead over the Los Angeles Legends.
From there, the Rebellion never looked back.
Escoto torched the Los Angeles Legends’ defense all night, running behind a dominant San Diego offensive line that opened lanes at will. She found the end zone two more times throughout the game to complete the hat trick and bring her season touchdown total to nine in the impressive 33-9 win over the Legends.
But Escoto wasn’t the only X factor for San Diego.
Quarterback Ali Karmali entered the game with just one touchdown pass on the season. She doubled that mark with two more on the night. The first went to Jennifer Ingargiola, who hauled in a 12-yard pass and broke loose from defenders with a gorgeous spin move, giving the Rebellion a 12-0 lead.
Karmali’s second touchdown strike went to Jamie Blue, who put together arguably the strongest performance of her career. She wrapped up a night of consistently creating separation with a 15-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 32-0.
An explosive offensive performance was matched, and arguably surpassed, by a suffocating defensive effort. Anchored by the 2024 WNFC Defensive Player of the Year Katie Claxton, the Rebellion defense asserted its dominance from the opening snap, continuing a season-long trend of excellence.
This marked the fifth straight game in which San Diego’s defense held its opponent scoreless. The only points the Legends managed to put on the board came from a rare miscue from the Rebellion offense when an errant throw by Karmali was returned for a touchdown late in the third quarter, with the game well in hand. The defense however, did not surrender a single point after coming into the contest allowing a league-low average of 1.5 points per game.
San Diego dominated on both sides of the ball, controlling the pace and maintaining command throughout the entire game, a common theme for them throughout the season. Their 33-9 win over the Legends marked yet another decisive victory, boosting their record to 7-0 and cementing their place as one of the league’s most powerful and well-rounded squads.
While this semifinal game was another impressive outing for San Diego, the Rebellion’s work is far from over. With their sights firmly set on a championship, they’ll take on the No. 2 seed Texas Elite Spartans in the Western Conference final this Saturday, June 7 at 7 PM PT.
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