What a season it has been for the 2016 Girls Flag Football season. Two state champions have been crowned and now there is a team finishing on top that has been projected from the start of the season to win it all, but who follows after that? Find out here in our FINAL Class 1A Flag Football rankings here:
1. Robinson (17-1)
Previous Ranking: No. 1
The Lady Knights proved they were the top team in Class 1A and how sweet was it for winning a state championship in front of a home crowd at their own school? Pretty sweet as they finish the season wire-to-wire as our No. 1 team. However, it did not come easy as Godby pushed the Lady Knights into overtime, but managed to escape after Godby missed an extra point to push them into the state championship which they won 20-0 over Harmony and win their second state championship in three years.
2. Godby (14-3)
Previous Ranking: No. 5
If playing a team tight in the state semifinal can get you rewarded, it has here. The Lady Cougars showed a lot of grit during its state semifinal rematch with Robinson and they pushed the Lady Knights to the wire before falling 7-6 in overtime. The Lady Cougars defeated previously ranked Choctaw and Terry Parker to get to Tampa and they proved they are a team to keep an eye for a long time to come as long as Chelsea Parmer is the head coach.
3. Harmony (14-3)
Previous Ranking: No. 10
The only thing that kept Harmony from finishing No. 2 was the fact of how tough Godby played against Robinson in the state semifinal and the fact that Robinson didn’t give the Lady Longhorns an edge in the state championship game. However, the Lady Longhorns shouldn’t feel bad at all as they went through the playoffs taking out higher ranked teams in Seabreeze, Fort Pierce Westwood and Coconut Creek to reach their first state championship game in school history. Given the success behind the coaching with Harmony, expect Harmony to be a contender in the years to come.
4. Coconut Creek (16-1)
Previous Ranking: No. 3
The Lady Cougars had never been this far in 10-seasons under Coach Carradine’s tenure, but that changed when they upset higher ranked Monsignor Pace in the first round and squeaked by first-year Miami Edison to get to this point. Although things appeared in favor of Coconut Creek reaching its first state championship game in school history, Harmony threw up a brick wall to keep the Lady Cougars from advancing.
5. Fort Pierce Westwood (11-2)
Previous Ranking: No. 4
It was a bit of shock when Harmony pulled off the overtime upset in the Regional Finals, which stung for some who thought the Lady Panthers would join their neighbors to the south in Martin County in making a trip to Tampa, but it didn’t come to pass. However, to say Westwood didn’t have a successful season would be cheating themselves. This kind of success will only build for the future which appears to be bright in Fort Pierce.
6. Terry Parker (14-1)
Previous Ranking: No. 8
Don’t let the finish in the playoffs fool you. The Lady Braves had one heck of a season and that comes from pushing through some great teams during the regular season and past an Orange Park team that had developed into one of the top contending flag football teams in the Jacksonville-area pretty quickly. Despite losing to Godby 26-0, they can feel good knowing that they played one of the top teams that gave the new state champions in Class 1A a run for their money.
7. Monsignor Pace (13-1)
Previous Ranking: No. 2
Seeing the Lady Spartans get dropped and shutout in the opening round of the playoffs was a shocker to not only us, but to a lot of others in the Flag Football world, who thought Monsignor Pace had a chance to compete against Robinson in the state championship game this year. However, Coconut Creek flexed their muscle, shutting them 13-0 to send them home early.
8. Choctawhatchee (12-2)
Previous Ranking: No. 7
The Lady Indians won their second consecutive district championship this past season, but found themselves in one of the tightest matchups all season against Godby in the first round falling round to the Lady Cougars, 13-12 in overtime. The future is bright for Choctaw and if a few more teams add Flag Football in the western part of the Panhandle, things will certainly help them build a team that could eventually reach the state championships in the future.
9. Seabreeze (10-2)
Previous Ranking: No. 6
It was hard to see Seabreeze who we felt played pretty well this season get bounced quickly in the first round, but was tougher when they were bounced with a shutout at home. Despite that the Lady Sandcrabs proved they can compete with some toughness in their own district by getting a win in a rematch with Mainland in the district tournament. The future is bright though for the Lady Sandcrabs.
10. Miami Edison (11-1)
Previous Ranking: HM
The upstart, first-year program Miami made some waves this season by going undefeated in the regular season, winning the district tournament and a playoff game before getting turned away by Coconut Creek in a tight 7-0 ball game during the Regional Finals. Keep an eye on the Lady Red Raiders as they could be a team to really keep an eye on in year two.
Dropped Out: No. 9 Keystone Heights (11-2)
Honorable Mention: Armwood (8-5); Boca Ciega (10-3); Chiles (11-3); Englewood (9-4); Glades Central (9-2); Keystone Heights (9-2); Mainland (13-1); Jones (7-1); Lincoln (8-4); Orange Park (10-4); Paxon (10-4); Pembroke Pines Charter (8-3) Miami Jackson (7-4); St. Petersburg Northeast (9-4); Stranahan (8-4); Suncoast (10-4); Westside (10-4)
