History was made Friday night when senior Bella Rasmussen of Laguna Beach High became the first girl in state history to score two touchdowns in a high school football game.
She had touchdown runs of one and four yards in the second quarter of a 48-0 win over Santa Ana Godinez. She’s the eighth girl in state history to score a touchdown on varsity, according to CalHiSports.com.
Rasmussen is no first-year football player. She played youth football for four years and has been playing at Laguna Beach for four years as a running back and defensive end. She had been wanting to score a varsity touchdown ever since she was a child.
“To be able to do it was something I had been dreaming about since I was 6 years old,” she said. “I ran to my mom, ‘I did it.’ I was sobbing when I came off the field I was so excited.”
Her mom, Annette, was on the sideline taking photos for Laguna Beach’s Instagram account.
When Rasmussen scored her second touchdown, she said, “I was in disbelief. There’s no way that just happened. The second one was more pure excitement than surprise. That was crazy.”
The 5-foot-9 Rasmussen is beloved by her teammates.
“She’s a football player, she really is,” coach John Shanahan said. “Any time we want someone to run against the first defense, she steps in. She takes a beating, never whines, never gets hurt. She’s a really tough kid.”
A straight-A student, Rasmussen said the expected upcoming decision by the CIF to sanction seven-on-seven flag football teams in the fall for girls will have a huge impact.
“I would have loved to do that,” she said. “When I was little, I really wanted some female role model to look up to. It wasn’t a thing. I think it will give an opportunity to have a place to go if they don’t like the physicality of regular football. It’s a huge way for little girls to see a dream in football and it can be a way to get into actually tackle football.”
At halftime, Rasmussen said her teammates were as excited for her as she was.
“Are you stoked?” one asked.
“Hell yeah,” she said.
On Saturday morning, she still was remembering the moment so long in the making.
“It’s something I’ve been dreaming about for a lot of nights,” she said.
