dash

It happens almost every time Dash Fifita is on the football field. Somehow, someway he outmaneuvers 300-pound offensive linemen to make the tackle. It’s as if he has a magic power to make himself invisible and suddenly show up to confront the player with the ball.

“It comes with the territory being an undersized linebacker, you have to know the game inside and out,” he said.

No one in Southern California has been a better role model for breaking the mold to be a success in football than the 5-foot-9, 195-pound All-Southern Section linebacker for Santa Margarita High. He has his own role model in brother Noah, who has proven at Arizona you can be a college quarterback at 5-10 and 186 pounds.

Troy Thomas knows the family well. He coached Noah at Servite when the Friars made it to the Southern Section Division 1 championship game in 2021 and has seen Dash continue the family tradition of being fearless and tough.

“Family is a huge part of their inspiration,” Thomas said. “You can see how they play. They’re playing for their teammates. They’re playing for God. I don’t see many linemen getting their hands on him very often. The brothers are very similar. They lay it on the line. He’s going to put his body on the line to represent his family and team.”

Fifita has been part of the best defensive unit in Southern California going into the CIF Open Division state championship bowl game against unbeaten Concord De La Salle on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Saddleback College.

“I have the best defensive line in the nation and it makes my job easy,” Fifita said.

Fifita’s uncle, Steve, is Santa Margarita’s defensive coordinator. His father, Les, helps run OC Buckeyes youth football organization. In the bleachers on Saturday, there should be more than 50 cousins, aunts and uncles rooting for Dash, plus former OC Buckeyes. If his name is mentioned on the PA system, expect lots of noise. Noah will be there to lead the charge.

“There’s tons of cousins and they come out and support,” Thomas said.

Linebacker Dash Fifita of Santa Margarita is headed to Arizona.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Playing middle linebacker, Fifita leads the Eagles in tackles with 95. He also has 5½ sacks and one interception. He has the vision and instincts of an eagle, anticipating, reading and then pouncing and attacking.

After two seasons of showing his size is an asset, not a liability, because of his quickness and instincts, Fifita has earned universal respect.

From St. John Bosco defensive coordinator Chris King: “Dash is just a super-intelligent football player. If you really know the game, it slows down for you. He plays with relentless effort. He has this attitude, ‘I’m the best dude on the field.’ He’s a coach on the field and knows more than just his role. He’s 18 but acts like a linebacker coach with 10 years of experience.”

Steve Fifita said Dash “has been around football his whole life.” The other day, he was playing the Madden video game with his brother, Noah, and both kept talking about “real” football in the middle of the game. As for who won, the word is Dash did.

Fifita signed with Arizona this past week to follow his brother to Tucson.

The big question is which Fifita has faced the longest odds with their size?

“It’s harder for quarterbacks than for linebackers,” Thomas said. “As long as you’re tough and fast, you can still see at linebacker. As a quarterback, you still have to find those lanes. Very few can do it and Noah can.”

If you come out to Saddleback College on Saturday, there’s a good chance you’ll run into someone related to the Fifitas. You will feel their energy. You will see their loyalty. They’re all about family and proving skeptics wrong.

MOLLY-MAE Hague has given fans a health update on daughter Bambi days after she was taken to hospital.

The two-year-old fell ill and was left “shaking” and “crying in her sleep” after dad Tommy battled a nasty bout of sickness.

She was diagnosed with the flu, given medicine and Molly was told to monitor the situation.

Just days later, Molly and Bambi were back at the doctors as she still wasn’t right.

In her latest vlog, Molly explained: “Long story short, they think Bambi has croup, it’s basically like a bad cough.

“They were amazing actually. they said they want to see her tomorrow because her heart rate is very high and they want to monitor that.

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“It could indicate she’s got some sort of infection in her body.”

Croup can affect breathing and cause a bad cough. The NHS says it is a common condition that usually affects young children and is often mild.

The condition usually improves on its own within 48 hours and is helped along by keeping those affected well hydrated and upright.

Afterwards, Molly picked up antibiotics and admitted Bambi has never had the medication before.

Later in the vlog, the mum-of-one revealed she cancelled the follow-up appointment after noticing an improvement.

She said: “I used my mother’s instinct. I actually cancelled it. I felt her chest and I knew she’s calmer today and her temperature is coming down.”

Molly added that she feared taking Bambi out in the driving rain could prove detrimental and so decided she would continue monitoring her at home.

In her previous video upload, Molly lifted the lid on boxer boyfriend Tommy’s sickness that left him clinging to the toilet.

They guessed it was either a sickness bug or food poisoning, and Molly said his “soul was leaving his body in that toilet”.

“It was so traumatic, it was awful,” she said. “I’ve just felt so sorry for him, he can’t keep any food down, any liquid down.

“He’s fine within himself but when he’s eating and drinking, he’s just ill, it’s so bizarre.”

The YouTube star claimed that Tommy’s illness “wasn’t normal,” saying: “He’s not eaten a proper meal in over a week, he’s lost so much weight, his face is gaunt, literally black circles under his eyes.”

Not long after that she was left panicking about Bambi’s condition.

She said: “Her body was on fire, I took her temperature and it was 40 degrees. 

“I obviously freaked out, I panicked. She was shaking, her temperature was so high. She was freezing but her body felt boiling and her heart was racing.

“We decided to go to the walk-in hospital, managed to get seen straight away.

“They’ve just said they think she’s got the flu – do Calpol, Nurofen, keep monitoring her and if it doesn’t clear up, go back again.”

Sharing more on her panic, Molly-Mae, who recently admitted to committing a ‘cardinal sin’ as a parent, acknowledged: “I don’t know why I panicked so much, I think because I’ve never seen her like that I just worried badly and also had such a weird night with Tommy being sick.

“It’s just quite a lot…This is just the life of a mum, this is how parenthood looks – you’re just playing catch up all the time. I live in a state of fight or flight recently.

“We’re back home now, I’ve just put her down for a nap, I’m just going to monitor her really closely.

“I feel really sorry for her, she just looks so sad.”