SANTA CLARA — St. Francis started the season 0-2.

Twenty-two games later, the Lancers are the Central Coast Section Division I flag football champions after beating Branham 13-6 at Santa Clara High. It’s the culmination of a thrilling run through the CCS playoffs that included a nail-biting 13-12 win over Aragon in the semifinals and a 32-18 win over Santa Clara in the quarterfinals.

To cap it off, St. Francis (12-11-1), the No. 3 seed, knocked off the top-seeded Bruins (15-9-1) thanks to a strong defense that made its final stand when Kaelin O’Shea batted down Sydney Short’s final fourth-down pass in plus territory, enabling the Lancers to run out the clock.

“The key was really communication throughout,” O’Shea said. “Our rushers were insane today. I’ve never seen them move so fast. We

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