Steven Serafini: Delorefice-led Sonoma flag football girls in REL 1st

Sonoma gridders fall; golf, volleyball girls update; runner 2nd

By Steven Serafini
Sonoma Valley Sun Sports Editor

The 2026 fall season is in full swing for seven Sonoma Valley High School varsity teams in six sports – volleyball, cross country, boys’ and girls’ water polo, and girls’ golf, tennis and flag football.

Following last year’s inaugural season, in which they won only two of 21 games, the Lady Dragons have surged up the girls’ flag football ladder and currently own both a 9-4 overall record, and a Redwood Empire League-leading 4-1 mark after their 31-0 road victory over Napa.

Sonoma’s flag football girls continue to be powered by junior Capri Delorefice, who has more than lived up to her rating as the 17th top player in the Bay Area preseason rankings by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Delorefice currently leads the North Coast Section in touchdowns, along with rushing yards, which also placed her second in the state in that category, and nationally she’s ranked second in interceptions with 22, eighth in rushing with 1,334 yards, and 14th in touchdowns with 28.

THE FOOTBALL DRAGONS couldn’t sustain the momentum they built with their recent 34-20 preseason win over visiting Mt. Diablo, and fell 26-6 to Justin-Siena in Napa last Friday night.

Sonoma’s gridders hit the road for their final nonleague game Friday night, Sept. 25, against Piner at 7 p.m. in Santa Rosa.

THE YOUNG LADY Dragon golfers registered a victory over Petaluma in their season opener before being upended in three straight matches, while the Sonoma volleyball girls, with only two returning varsity players from the 2025 team, dropped a bevy of matches before posting their first win.

SONOMA’S CROSS COUNTRY boys had a preseason meet with Piner on the Spring Lake course in Santa Rosa, and sophomore Thurston Smith ran to a second-place finish in 16 minutes, 50 seconds, while senior Calvin Hofstetter was fourth in 17:49.

Smith’s clocking was just seven seconds back from the 10th fastest time for a Sonoma boy on the course, and Smith will get another chance to run at Spring Lake during the league finals in early November.