GLENDALE, Ariz. – Hope International racked up 306 yards of total offense and the defense picked off Simpson four times in a dominating 44-8 victory in the 2026 GSAC Flag Football Championship semifinals on Thursday at the Arizona Cardinals Flag Football Campus.
The Royals built a 25-0 lead at halftime and coasted to their 13th straight win, improving to 15-2 on the season.
Freshman quarterback Anahi Morales completed 20 of 27 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, adding five rushes for 41 yards and another two scores. Nia Gille connected on all six of her passes for 65 yards. The two signal callers threw to nine different Royals receivers, with Ana Sedic leading the way with three catches for 61 yards and a TD snag.
GSAC Player of the Year Madison Powell intercepted a pair of passes, and Larissa Perez returned a 20-yard interception for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to cement a solid effort by the HIU defense.
The Royals applied pressure from the outset as Powell picked off Simpson QB Sophia Wright on the first drive of the game, returning the ball to the Red Hawk two yard line. Morales found Ja'Niya Haley for the TD catch to give the Royals an early 6-0 lead.
HIU drove 43 yards for its second touchdown in the first quarter, culminating in a Haley one-yard dash into the endzone for a 12-0 advantage.
The Royals extended the lead to 18-0 with a successful opening drive in the second quarter. Morales connected with four different receivers as the Royals marched the ball down the field. Morales scampered five yards for the rushing TD to complete a four minute and 12 second drive.
HIU created another scoring opportunity in the second quarter on a punt return, with a Nicole Cruz lateral to Powell going 29 yards to the Simpson 21-yard line. Morales found Layla Mayes for 11 yards to the eight-yard line, then dashed in for her second rushing score of the afternoon and a 25-0 lead.
Simpson got on the board in the third quarter, completing a 12-play drive that concluded with a 19-yard TD pass from Wright to Kylie Schultz. The two-point conversion was successful as the Red Hawks made the score 25-8.
But the Royals answered on a 10-play, 71-yard drive – as Morales hooked up with Jazmine Simental for 19 yards and Sedic for 18 more. On fourth down, Morales connected with Sedic for a 20-yard TD and 32-8 lead.
Perez intercepted Wright for a score to push the lead to 38-8 in the fourth period. With Gille at QB, the Royals found paydirt one more time. Gille completed passes to five different receivers on the 10-play, 68-yard drive, culminating in her three-yard TD run.
The Royals – top seed in the tournament – face No. 2 seed La Sierra in the GSAC championship game on Friday at 1:00 p.m. The Golden Eagles knocked off third-seeded Arizona Christian 21-13 in the other semifinal on Thursday.
