A Laguna High School senior made California history on Friday when she scored two touchdowns during her football game.
Bella Rasmussen, age 17, is the high school football star who says she's dreamt of this moment since she was a child.
Number 24 on the field, Rasmussen is Laguna High's running back and defensive end -- and one of the school's toughest players.
On Friday night, she made state history when she became the first girl in California to ever score two touchdowns during a high school football game.
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"When it happened the second time, I was just like -- double the awesome," Rasmussen said. "It was incredible! But I didn't find out until later that night that I had actually made state history.
"When I found that out, I was like, I'm on cloud nine right now," she said. "This is absolutely amazing."
Her history-making touchdown against Santa Ana Godinez Fundamental High School has been a dream of hers since she fell in love with football at age six, she said.
Her playground was the gridiron.
"My brother and cousins had always played football, and I always used to go and watch them play," Rasmussen said. "I was such a rambunctious kid. I was always out playing with my brother, we were always such physical kids."
The star player said that when people told her no, it only fueled her fire.
"There were definitely coaches, players, random, people who were like, "You can't do that!,"" Rasmussen said. "Like, "no, this is a boys sport, a male sport, the boys doing it are bigger, you're going to get hurt, you're not going to be able to compete at this level." And I was just like.. watch me."
And watch, people did. Her physicality in the game earned the respect of her coaches and teammates.
"This one player threw her on the ground, onto her back," said fellow Laguna High football player Ryner Swanson. "And she didn't even say anything, she just got right back up. She's probably the toughest son of a gun I know."
"No 'female' title to it whatsoever," said running backs coach Alex Hutchinson, adding that Rasmussen set the tone from day one by being unafraid of contact with the other kids.
"She is a football player," Hutchinson said.
Rasmussen says she hopes she gives young girls something she didn't have growing up -- a woman football player, who proves it's not just a man's sport.
"To know that I've now created a pathway where there are girls who are six years old, seven years old, and they want to play football, and they want to compete in a male dominated sport, and they can actually be able to say ''I want to be just like Bella," -- that's better than any scoring," Rasmussen said.
"I want to be something that lets people believe in themselves," she said.
