FLAG FOOTBALL: State Championships Rewind

Let’s take a quick rewind on this weekend’s Girls Flag Football State Championship to recap what we saw during the Class 1A and Class 2A title games. For quick recaps of Friday’s four state semifinal games, click here.

CLASS 1A: Robinson 20, Harmony 0
In their first appearance in a state championship game, Harmony was no match for Robinson who had just one day earlier taken down a previously undefeated Coconut Creek team.

The Lady Knights scored on their first drive of the game taking up seven plays when Kayla Knowlton found McKenna Tyson in the end zone for a 2-yard TD reception to take 7-0 with the converted extra point.

No sooner Robinson forced Harmony to go three and out on their next drive the Lady Knights were right back in the end zone for their second touchdown of the game when Knowlton found Tyson in the end zone again for a 6-yard TD reception to put the Lady Knights up 13-0, a score they would take into the half.

With the second half underway things started to appear that Harmony might get some momentum back when they intercepted a Knowlton pass just three minutes into the third quarter, but it wouldn’t last long as Tess Brooks nabbed an interception before pitching it out to Megan Bohan to finish the return for a TD with just under seven minutes left in the quarter to take a 20-0 lead, which would be the final score of the day.

Knowlton finished the game 19 of 28 passing for 154 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT, while Tyson finished with 63 yards receiving and 2 TDs. Kelly Dorsey led the team in flag pulls with six for the Lady Knights.

The win for Robinson gave the Lady Knights their second state championship in three years.

Listen to Head Coach Josh Saunders talk about his team’s victory of Harmony here:

CLASS 2A: Seminole Ridge 25, Martin County 7

Like Harmony was in the first game, Martin County was making its first appearance in a girls flag football state championship on Saturday, but was really no match for them against the defending state champions despite throwing everything at them which helped to keep the score more respectable in the end.

The first quarter of play got off with a defensive struggle as both teams forced each other to punt at least once, but by towards the end of the quarter, Seminole Ridge got things kicking with an interception by Ashley Hollandsworth. That allowed the Lady Hawks to move things up field as the quarter came to a close.

On the first play of the second quarter, Madeline Harding was able to keep the ball and score from 3-yards out to give the Lady Hawks a 7-0 lead.

However, after scoring the first points of the games, the defensive struggle for both teams returned as the kept forcing each other to punt or by keeping the other out of the end zone. As a result Seminole Ridge took a 7-0 lead into the half.

With the second half underway, Seminole Ridge used the regrouping at half time to get more points on the board by driving down the field on an eight play drive that was capped off by a 1-yard TD catch from Harding to Hollandsworth to take 13-0 lead.

After more of a defensive struggle continued for almost the rest of the 3^rd quarter, Seminole Ridge got the ball back and was able to drive down the field with th efirst play of the 4^th quarter allowing Harding to find Yasmin Salguero in the end zone from 30-yards out to go up 19-0.

With the ball back in hand and realizing time was not their side, Martin County was able to find something to get the goose egg off the board as Elise Liggette was able to find Elizabeth Moberg for a 66-yard TD to cut the score down to 19-7 in favor of Seminole Ridge.

But the excitement wouldn’t last long as Seminole Ridge got the ball back to eat up most almost the rest of the 4^th quarter clock and punched in another touchdown on a shovel pass from Harding to Savannah Martinez to go up 25-7 with an INT by the Lady Hawks on the next Martin County possession to end the game.

Martin County’s Liggette finished 8 of 17 for 128 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs, while Seminole Ridge’s Harding had an outstanding game in the passing game finishing 32 of 45 passing for 330 yards and 3 TDs.

Two Seminole Ridge receivers in Kristi Kemper and Yazmin Salguero finished with over 100 yards receiving with 113 yards and 100 yards respectively. Martin County’s Moberg finished with 8 catches for 101 yards and 1 TD on the day.

Watch Seminole Ridge Head Coach Scott O’Hara talk about his team repeating as state champions here: