SANTA CRUZ >> No one beats the NFL. No one.

But ask any of the 300-plus fans who skipped watching the NFL’s Championship Sunday to attend a piece of local history at Santa Cruz High — the inaugural Central Coast Flag Football All-Star Game, presented by the Reggie Stephens and Gino Panelli foundations — and they’d tell you that they chose correctly.

Their enthusiastic cheers told the story. And, sometime later, so did the half dozen media organizations in attendance.

“It was just awesome, better than I expected,” said Stephens, a Santa Cruz High alum and former NFL defensive back, who put on the event with Joel Domhoff of the Gino Panelli Foundation.

Stephens, whose foundation also puts on an annual All-Star basketball game for seniors in the Monterey Bay area, said he watched several flag football games this season, including the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League championship between Scotts Valley and Aptos.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this is good stuff. How can I get this?’ ” he said.

Three months later, his dream became the players’ reality — which was, well, a dream.“It’s a good way to end my flag football career, ending it on a good note,” said Aptos’ Izzy Graff, who competed for the North. “I’m so proud of my team and how we played. Everyone worked their hardest and did their best, and I’m so happy.”

Fans were treated to more than a flag football game, they were treated an event, the celebration of a second-year sport locally and roughly two dozen of the standout senior girls playing it.

A live DJ played hip-hop tunes for the duration of the afternoon, which began with an hour-long skills competition and ended with a thrilling game that went down to the wire.

Spoiler alert, for those planning to watch the game on FOX 35 in prime time on Feb. 1: The North All-Stars, featuring players from Santa Cruz County, beat the South, featuring players from Monterey and San San Benito counties, 13-7.

“This was great,” said North head coach Frank Galvan, noting that event exceeded his expectations. “This will take it to the next level. I believe this will jump-start greatness. Within the next five years, you’ll see how big this gets. Way bigger than this. And this was great.”

A merchandise tent offered fashionable apparel, a 50-50 raffle was held, and fans filled their bellies with street tacos.

The players walked away with some sweet merch. They got to keep their personalized Starter jersey, an All-Star game hoodie, plus other schwag.

“I love them,” said Soquel running back/defensive back Trinity Wilson, of the jerseys. “And they have our name on the back of them.”

“It’s all very special to have all this customized stuff for us,” said Scotts Valley’s Claire Skinner, who competed for the North. “I’m definitely wearing the hoodie around.”

Wilson acknowledged that the players felt like celebrities.

“This is probably the biggest crowd we’ve had,” she said. “I play soccer and football too and so it was really fun to see that.”

The cream of the cream in the All-Star game walked away with some hardware, too. Each team had an MVP honored and awarded a mini, event-logoed Lombardi Trophy replica and football.

Wilson was named the North MVP, and Hollister receiver Jasayla Mariscal was the South MVP.

In the skills competition, Alisal’s Jasmine Estrada, competing for the South, won longest throw contest with a chuck of 38 yards. Mariscal and Graff tied for the fastest 40-yard dash with marks of 5.0 seconds. Scotts Valley’s Taylor Wilson, competing for the North, won the passing accuracy event, and the North won the 1-on-1 competition, 3-2. The skills competition winners won gift cards from Erik’s Deli Cafe.

Fans roared with support as public address announcer Ben Romero handled player introductions, and local middle school flag football players cheered from the sidelines. .

While high school participation nearly doubled in the sport’s second year in the Central Coast Section, some of this year’s seniors, pioneers in the sport locally, were introduced to it in middle school.

“After that first practice, I was like, ‘This is so fun. Incredible,’ ” Graff said. “Because we’ve been watching tackle football, we’ve been watching NFL all our lives. And then to get the opportunity to just play football at this high a level is great.”

Two changes put in place for the All-Star game — longer quarters and a bigger field (20 yards longer and 13.3 yards wider) — had several coaches and players expecting of a high scoring affair, but talented flag pulling defenders made sure it wasn’t. Granted, with just two practices, the teams also had some fumbles and incomplete passes.

“It was nice being a part of history,” said North Monterey County’s Bryley Pemberton, who competed for the South. “We were part of history at North County, too, for being the first flag football team ever. But this one was really cool. … Everyone wants to win, but it was more just the experience of being a part of history like this.”

A running clock was used for the hour-long game, but both coaching staffs had a sufficient number of timeouts at their disposal. No kicking or punting was allowed, so if the teams didn’t move the necessary 20 yards for a first down on three plays and opted to punt, the ball was moved back to the 20-yard line on the other side of the field.

After “punts” on five straight series to open the game, the North produced the game’s first score, marching 80 yards on 12 plays in the second quarter. The scoring drive was aided by Ashlyn Brady’s 17-yard reception and three long runs from Graff. Skinner made a leaping catch in the end zone on a pass from Watsonville quarterback Fernanda Lazo on 4th-and goal from the 2-yard line.

“Super exciting, especially with a large crowd,” said Skinner, of her touchdown.

The North held the South to a three-and-out, and got back in the end zone on its next offensive series. This time, the North moved 80 yards on six plays, thanks to Graff’s 44-yard touchdown run. The extra-point conversion from the 5-yard line failed.

Both defenses tightened up for the remainder of the second quarter, and the North carried a 13-0 lead into the half.

Mariscal told KSBW 8 during the half that she and her teammates battled nerves in the first half, playing in front of such a large crowd and so many cameras, and promised better fortunes in the second half.

She was right. Pemberton, a defensive end, recorded three sacks to thwart a pair of North drives, and the South finally got on the board with 3:04 left in the third quarter.

Salinas’ Audrina Alderete hauled in a 38-yard reception to set up Salinas’ Natalie Jimenez 13-yard touchdown reception, both on passes from Alisal quarterback Jasmine Estrada.

Estrada completed a one-point conversion to Mariscal.

The running clock added to the suspense in the fourth quarter as the South threatened to even the score.

Mariscal hauled in a 29-yard pass and Alderete followed with a 24-yard reception as the South stormed down to the North’s 17-yard line, but Skinner pressured Estrada on a blitz and Wilson recorded a highlight-reel interception on her shoes laces on a tipped pass from Hollister center Jazmin Rubio.

The North turned the ball over on downs at their own 39-yard line with 3:11 remaining. The South gained 10 yards on two pass plays, but ended the drive with a pair of incompletions. Skinner again applied pressure on the quarterback and Scotts Valley defensive back Soraya Westlund tipped the ball away from the intended target on fourth-and-9 from the 29.

The North ran five run plays, which included Lazo taking a knee, to kill the remainder of the game clock.

Wilson said Lazo’s kneel was a moment she’ll remember decades from now.

“We were all just like, ‘Whoo, we won!’ ” she said.

The giddy North players met with their coaching staff ahead of the awards ceremony, and let the memories of a glorious afternoon settle in.

Rain was forecast, but players and fans were gifted a sunny, cloud-speckled sky. It was that type of afternoon. Everyone felt like a winner.

Eventually, though, water came pouring. But only one person got wet. And when Galvan turned around, two of this players were holding a now-empty Gatorade bucket, and a mound of ice lay at his feet.

“I did not see that one coming, at all,” Galvan said. “It was exciting and well worth it.”