The CIF Southern Section is in its third year of conducting girls’ flag football playoffs.

In that span, Huntington Beach is the only team that has advanced to the semifinals in the top division each season.

The Oilers got there again Wednesday night with a 25-6 home win over Mater Dei in the Open Division. Huntington Beach, Mater Dei and Lakewood St. Joseph each finished with a 1-1 record in Pool D, but the Oilers advanced via point differential.

No. 4-seeded Huntington Beach (22-5) will play at top-ranked JSerra (26-0) in an Open Division semifinal game on Saturday.

“They’ve got a great coaching staff, phenomenal players,” Oilers coach Zack Pannell said. “But I told our girls, that’s the matchup we want. To see them in the semifinals, at the top of the top, it doesn’t get any better than that. We’ve just got to go in with the same mentality as we did this one. As long as we execute on both sides of the ball, we should be all right.”

Huntington Beach lost 27-26 to St. Joseph in its CIF opener on Oct. 21. St. Joseph could have won Pool D with a win over Mater Dei, but the Monarchs earned a 19-14 victory three days later, keeping Huntington Beach’s season alive.

Several of the Oilers players went to that game to watch.

“It was kind of hard sitting in the stands, them deciding what was going to happen,” Huntington Beach senior quarterback Roxie Shaia said. “But [the Monarchs] did their job. And, we did our job today.”

Shaia made sure the Oilers, who shared the Sunset League title with Newport Harbor for the second straight year, made the most of their second chance. She threw three touchdown passes Wednesday night — to senior Shelby Nguyen, junior Daisy Quatman and senior Brianna Massion.

Six Huntington Beach players had multiple receptions, a group that also included sophomore Kayden Foley, freshman Kyla Uno and junior Teagan Goodgame.

Goodgame made a key third-down catch in the fourth quarter to set up the Oilers’ final score, a 9-yard sweep by Uno.

“It’s really great to know that I can rely on each one of my receivers, there’s not just specific ones we put trust in,” Shaia said. “That one to Teagan was really important for us, and we know that she can catch the ball. For me, knowing that I can throw the ball and all of my receivers can catch is a good feeling.”

The Oilers were also stout defensively, limiting the visiting Monarchs to a single touchdown pass from Tymane Allen to Allyson Schmida.

Massion had an interception on Mater Dei’s first drive to set the tone, and Huntington Beach junior Isla Castillo also had an interception. Rushers Mia Aish and Olivia Quick provided effective pressure all game long.

Massion was flagged for a bit of trash talk after her 11-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. “Let’s go, come on!” she barked at the fallen Mater Dei defensive back.

Pannell said Massion’s nickname on the team is Dennis Rodman, after the former NBA bad boy. Yet, the edge that she brings to the Oilers can’t be ignored.

“I definitely think confidence and just bringing a lot of hype to the team, I think that really intimidates other teams,” Massion said. “If we’re going to get hype for each other and cheer for each other, I really think that intimidates them … I just bring that fire, and I think it’s really important to the game.”

It will be important Saturday, as the Oilers try to upset JSerra, the top-ranked team in the country by MaxPreps.com. The Lions, last year’s Division 1 champions, have won 54 straight games.

Huntington Beach, which lost in the semifinals to Orange Lutheran last year and Newport Harbor in 2024, looks to break through.

“It’s time to break that curse,” Nguyen said. “The third time is the charm.”

Newport Harbor 14, Westlake 7: Scarlett Guyser threw a touchdown pass to Jocelyn DeTemple in the Open Division pool-play game Wednesday night at Newport Harbor.

Guyser also pitched it to Skylie Cid for the deciding touchdown, as the Sailors won Pool B to advance to the semifinals.

No. 2-seeded Newport Harbor (22-4) will host Woodbridge in a semifinal game Saturday. No. 6 Woodbridge upset No. 3 Orange Lutheran 26-20 in overtime on Wednesday to win Pool C.

JSerra 39, Edison 7: The top-seeded Lions won Pool A Wednesday night, and No. 8 Edison was eliminated.