SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior Natalia Zitelli ran for three touchdowns, Lola Fox hit Tayli Paeu-Lindgren for a pair of scoring strikes, while Monet Zauner intercepted two passes with a "pick six" conversion, leading St. Francis to a 39-6 drubbing of Davis in each team's Sierra Foothill League opener Tuesday night.

The Troubadours improve to 11-1 for the season and 1-0 in league play. The Blue Devils drop to 1-3 overall and open SFL action at 0-1.

Fox and Paeu-Lindgren accounting for the early scoring offense, connecting on a 39-yard touchdown with 6:40 in the first quarter. Then on the ensuing Davis possession, Zauner hauled in an errant pass, broke hard right, then eluded quarterback Arisa Mendricks' last-ditch effort to deflag for the second interception of the game.

Holland Sperber's sack against Mendricks later forced Davis to punt, which sophomore Taylor Mitchell returned to the Blue Devil 21-yard line. With this favorable field position, Fox fired two attempts at the end zone, only for each to sail out of the reach of Paeu-Lindgren and Annie Swanson, respectively. Instead, Jade Abalateo ran the ball to the 2-yard line to set up a shorter hook-up between Fox and Paeu-Lindgren.

Zitelli increased the Troubie lead to 26-0 with her 16-yard run near the end of the second quarter, then dashed her way for a 50-yard scamper on the first series of the second half.

Davis finally got on the board in the final play of the third after taking over on downs at midfield. Sonia Clayton got the momentum going with a reception to the St. Francis 30. Maddie Trafican nearly picked off the next pass, then Zauner did snare an interception on the next play – only to have the takeaway overturned by a penalty. Mendricks found Melia Ackerman on a completion to the SF 5-yard line, then Jordan Keeper eluded two Troubie defenders to crack the end zone. Keeper also ran the ball for the one-point conversion, but Sperber grabbed her flag in the backfield. Nonetheless, Davis had spoiled SF's shutout bid to end the third quarter, bringing the margin to 33-6.

Davis later marched into the St. Francis red zone midway through the fourth, but Zauner came up with a one-handed interception – matching the similar grab receiver Sonia Clayton made for Davis earlier in the contest. Zauner returned the ball to her own 39-yard line. Nevaeh Gavino's reception put the Troubies inside the Davis 20, Zitelli ran it to the 10, then center Abi Hall collected a short pass from Fox to put St. Francis on the Blue Devil 3-yard line. That's when Zitelli ran in her third rushing TD of the game and 15th of the season.

The varsity win followed an equally impressive SFL opener for the St. Francis junior varsity. Freshman Anna Votaw turned an underhand forward pitch from Mariko Palmieri into a 66-yard touchdown in the first quarter, delivered a scoring lateral to Palmieri in the second, then posted a fourth-and-goal quarterback sack for just a few of the highlights in a 49-8 Troubadour win over the Blue Devils.

Freshman quarterback Chloe Hoertsch enjoyed her usual productive game behind center. She threw touchdown passes to Gillian Hamm, Bridget Beard, Hope Sperber and Kaili Heeb across the four quarters, respectively. Furthermore, Hoertsch ran in a pair of one-point conversions, found Lily Hosseini on a two-pointer, plus Beard, Hamm and Victoria Tateishi on additional extra points throughout the game.

Defensively, Votaw had one of her team's three sacks, with Emily Nguyen grabbing two in the final minute of play. Nguyen also pulled five total flags to lead SF, while Keira Jennings and Elizabeth McNearney halted the Blue Devils with interceptions on consecutive possessions in the final quarter.

Both teams continue SFL play on Thursday at home against Whitney. Schedule note: this doubleheader was originally held at Jesuit but has since relocated to the St. Francis grass field for starts of 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.