By VICTORIA HUESO
The Tower
The flag football team at Manteca High has had a successful season with an overall record of 17-4. This is the best season that they have had since the sport was first introduced in 2024.
Sari Lawson scoring a touchdown against rivalry team, Sierra High School (Photo contributed by Sari Lawson).
Junior Sari Lawson had a bad end to her sophomore season last year, tearing her meniscus during their biggest rivalry game against East Union. Even with the past injury, the varsity captain has helped lead the team to the postseason by showing strong resilience and dedication to the sport. The Buffaloes travel to Lodi on Wednesday, Oct. 28, for the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II.
With her having great people who she surrounded herself with and with an amazing team who gave her love and support throughout her injury, Lawson was able to make a great comeback this season.
“My team supported me a lot. They always motivated me and my coaches always gave me pregame talks and gave me reassurance about everything," said Lawson.
“The team responded to Sari’s injury with support. Not only did they want to support Sari in her recovery, they wanted to make sure they didn’t let her down, so they stepped up," said assistant coach Lisa Mendez.
Lawson has had an amazing season. She has been a top performer in total flag pulls (121), receiving yards (1,036 yds), and scoring touchdowns (15). Lawson did not let her past injury affect her mentality and overall performance on the field.
“It was hard to build my confidence back to not being afraid of me reinjuring myself and go through that process again, but I was able to push myself to get better," said Lawson.
Her healing process was full of support and a strong mentality to be able to get back into what she loves the most, the field.
“When I got cleared to play again, I felt like I got my life back. I was missing a big part of me, and I was just happy that I was able to get back to doing what I do best," said Lawson.
While Lawson was gone for the rest of the season last year, other girls had to step up as captains.
“Several girls stepped up to lead the team, namely Lily Dundas, Gabby Leon and Myah Hayter. They filled in the gap and really made things happen on the field," said Mendez.
It was certainly not easy to play such a big role for the team, but these girls did an amazing job leading the team to success for the rest of the season. Now that she's back, the team can count on her on the field as captain, which says a lot about her actions as both a captain and an athlete. She was missed both on the field and at practice while she was gone during her recovery.
“When Sari was injured, the team lacked a big play maker. You can always count on Sari to get the ball and score, and we lacked that when she was injured," said Mendez.