The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
For a brief moment, things were feeling a bit nervous for the Millikan Rams in their playoff opener against Alta Loma High on Tuesday night.
But those feelings lasted for only one play, as senior QB Holly Ibarra connected with sophomore Charlie Enriquez for a 52-yard touchdown pass, canceling out Alta Loma’s only score of the night as the Rams pulled away for a 26-6 victory at DeHaven Stadium.
“We have to do a better job taking care of the football, and I feel like we started slow,” said Millikan head coach Romeo Pellum of his team’s performance. “We’ve got to be able to execute at a higher level early. Especially when you talk about playoffs, it’s win or go home. There was a point where it could’ve gone either way, but they figured it out. Holly bounced back and threw some dots, and our girls made some really good catches today.”
Ibarra didn’t play a perfect game, but made the plays when they mattered, and spread the ball around effectively. She threw all four Millikan touchdowns, distributing them to four different receivers.
“I can trust anyone with the ball,” said Ibarra of her teammates. “It was good, they executed, and that’s how it should be. “I take accountability on my part. There were a few (bad) throws, but we overcame that and we got the win.”
Millikan scored on its opening drive as Ibarra connected with Sophia Romo for the score and a 7-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game.
That’s where the score remained at halftime, but the visitors were able to pull within a point when Kenadi Campbell stepped in for an interception and returned it all the way for a touchdown to cut Millikan’s lead to 7-6 early in the second half.
The Rams quickly regained control of the game on the long TD toss from Ibarra to Enriquez, who followed up her score with an interception on defense.
Millikan scored the final 19 points of the night, as Ibarra linked up with Charlotte Torres and Cass Mitchell for scores in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Running back Alyssa “AC” Carrillo was a standout in the Millikan offense, delivering a handful of terrific runs to help move the ball and open up the play-action passing game. Coach Pellum said he leveraged matchups with the Alta Loma defense and was impressed with Carrillo’s performance.
“AC is a really, really electric runner,” said Pellum. “Her start, stop, and her twitchiness is crazy. So (her performance) was huge.”
Millikan’s defense effectively shut out the Lions, getting interceptions from Enriquez, Romo, and Penelope Cleven. Alani Rodriguez was also great around the line of scrimmage, collecting four tackles for loss on the night.
As the only senior on the roster, Ibarra is focused on leading her team on a deep playoff run, and they’ve got confidence going into the second round, Saturday evening at Villa Park.
“It’s one and done, win or go home. It’s who really wants it,” said Ibarra. “I’m not done. I know if I mess up, my team’s got my back, and they’ve proved that time and time again. I know I have them to fall back on, and they trust me with the ball on offense and we just work together.”
Millikan’s game against the Spartans will be a rematch from earlier this season–a 26-0 victory for the Rams.
