Dos Pueblos duo Ruby Streatfeild, Brooklyn

From the second they arrive at faculty, Dos Pueblos High seniors Ruby Streatfeild and Brooklyn Hedricks are virtually inseparable.

Whether in class, at lunch or in follow, the 2 spend so a lot of their time together they’ll end each other’s sentences, and that synergy is one motive the Chargers are in the hunt for a CIF flag soccer championship. Their competitiveness is another.

“Me and Brooklyn are besties,” Streatfeild said. ”The greatest factor we have now in common is we both need to win.”

Streatfeild started the season as a receiver but transitioned to quarterback when Ava Taiji sustained a tricep pressure at the Chargers Invitational. She has flourished in her new function, passing for 823 yards and 18 touchdowns.

“It’s a lot harder, but I like it,” said Streatfeild, who has also rushed for 248 yards and 5 touchdowns. “I like getting the ball every play and being able to make more plays. It’s taught me to be a leader. It’s not just about being vocal, it’s about the energy you bring to the field and not letting a loss bring you down.”

The Chargers are 10-2 coming into Tuesday night time video games and have shut out 5 opponents. Their only defeats got here within hours of each other at the Chargers Invitational, to reigning Southern Section Division I champion JSerra and Bonita Vista, the second-ranked crew in the San Diego Section. They have received seven straight, giving up only 25 factors in the method.

Naturally, Hedricks is Streatfeild’s favourite goal.

“Brooklyn has the best hands and really good speed,” Streatfeild said. “If I throw her the ball, it’ll be caught.”

Hedricks, a receiver on offense and a linebacker on protection, has mutual trust in her quarterback. She already has 27 receptions for 355 yards and eight touchdowns.

“I know when Ruby throws it, it’s going to get there,” she said.

Both grew up enjoying soccer and their AYSO groups had been once matched against each other at a match in Bakersfield when they had been 12, although neither knew it at the time.

“My family figured it out later,” said Streatfeild, who ended the first drive of last week’s nonleague recreation at Santa Barbara by rolling to her left and zipping a excellent move to Hedricks in the nook of the end zone. Hedricks later scored on a 40-yard interception return in the crew’s 31-0 victory.

“Ruby and Brooklyn have been with us since Day 1, they’re both three-sport athletes and both have sisters who also play,” said Dos Pueblos coach Doug Caines, who began this system in 2023. “It’s incredible for Ruby to be clicking this fast at a new position. As for Brooklyn, she’s so gifted at reading the quarterback. She had two pick-sixes at the Ventura Showcase.”

In the winter, the 2 play on the varsity soccer crew (Hedricks performs ahead; Streatfeild left back) under the steerage of Hedricks’ father George, who is also the pinnacle baseball coach.

“I don’t think we’ve ever assisted each other in soccer,” said Hedricks, who tallied six objectives and three assists last season.

Asked which is more exhilarating — scoring a aim or a landing — the 2 seemed at each other and said in unison: “A touchdown!”

Hedricks performs outfield in softball and will transfer from proper area to heart in the spring.

“I got a promotion,” she joked.

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1. Dos Pueblos receiver Brooklyn Hedricks catches a move. 2. Dos Pueblos quarterback Ruby Streatfeild runs with the ball. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Hedricks had 30 hits, 23 RBIs and 20 runs with 26 putouts in 26 possibilities last season as Dos Pueblos superior to the Division 3 semifinals.

Streatfeild’s spring exercise is observe and area, where she competes in the 100-meter sprint, long bounce and both relays. She ran the anchor leg as the Chargers set a faculty document in the 4×100 meters with a time of 48.66 seconds at the Division 2 prelims last 12 months.

However, both contemplate flag soccer their main sport and have acquired provides to play in faculty.

“My dad encouraged me to try out and I loved it from the start,” said Hedricks, who is the varsity’s all-time chief in interceptions with 45. “I’ve never struggled learning plays.”

Hedricks’ sister Reagan is a freshman linebacker and punter on the junior varsity crew.

Streatfeild’s inspiration was her sister Sterling, who was a tailback and free security and now attends Vanderbilt. Last June, the sisters helped the Conquer Chargers’ U17 crew win the inaugural Roma Bowl in Italy after Sterling’s commencement. Ruby was named the match MVP.

“She was in ninth grade and came to watch her older sister try out and after that first day she said ‘I want to do that,’” Caines said of Ruby, who caught a team-best 104 passes for 1,101 yards and 18 touchdowns last fall.

Ruby Streatfeild has thrown for 823 yards and 18 touchdowns since switching from receiver to quarterback early in the season.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Streatfeild and Hedricks’ bond grew even stronger as teammates on the Conquer Chargers, which received the high faculty ladies division at the NFL Flag championships in July in Westfield, Ind. That roster also featured Kacey Hurley, who quarterbacked Dos Pueblos to the Southern Section semifinals last fall and is now a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“We tried out in November and were with the team for eight months prior to nationals,” Hedricks said. “We trained once or twice a week in Camarillo and some days we carpooled.”

“It was fun experience but that was five-on-five not seven-on-seven, which is a whole different format,” added Streatfeild, who was thrilled to be taught the next morning that a play she made — diving to catch the ball before it hit the ground — was No. 1 on the ESPN “SportsCenter Top 10.” She also made the listing for her 60-yard landing catch in the playoffs last season against Edison.

“That just shows what a game-changer Ruby is,” Caines said. “I mean, to make an ESPN highlight not once but twice? Amazing!”

While they don’t socialize a lot off campus, the hours they spend together on it have cast a close friendship.

“It’s harder to hang out after school because of where we both live,” said Hedricks, who has a 45-minute commute from Lompoc to Goleta. “Not a big deal — I’m used to it by now.”

Caines is grateful for the eye his stars have introduced to Dos Pueblos, positioned in the foothills across the 101 Freeway from UC Santa Barbara.

Dos Pueblos’ Brooklyn Hedricks, left, celebrates with teammate Kindah Ahmad-Reda after returning an interception for a landing against Santa Barbara.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“We’re not in Orange County or San Diego, we’re the northernmost school in the Southern Section and we don’t get as much exposure but we’re fighting for relevancy,” he said. “It was so cool seeing 805 [area code] girls beat more established club teams from Texas and Florida. It shows we have good teams up here.”

Dos Pueblos completed 24-3 last season and performed even with JSerra for nearly three quarters before shedding 20-0 in the Division 1 semifinals. This 12 months’s aim is to make it to the finals.

“We’ve had a different quarterback every season, so this is nothing new,” Streatfeild said. “We’re still progressing but beating Westlake was huge. We have the best coach, so I think we can make the top division. We’re going to give it our all.”