After two days of games, a state champion has been crowned in Class 1A for Flag Football for the 2021 season after the 2020 season saw no champion crowned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is a recap of all the action from this weekend’s Class 1A action from Mandarin High School in Jacksonville.
STATE SEMIFINALS
FAMU DRS 20, Jensen Beach 13
The Baby Rattlers got off to a hot start in the first-half to this state semifinal scoring three touchdowns on Jade Dubose’s passes with two landing in the hands of receiver Ameari Logan and one to Suraya Wash to build a 20-0 lead at half. The Falcons would storm back to with in eight during the second half thanks to a spark by an interception by the defense and two touchdown passes by Ja’Shya Christie. However, it wouldn’t be enough for the Falcons to amount the full comeback allowing the Baby Rattlers to move on to the Class 1A State Championship Game. Dubose finished the game 11-of-28 passing for 252 yards and three touchdowns while Logan had 100 yards receiving on 7 catches and two touchdowns. The Falcons finished the season 12-7 overall.
Robinson 27, Miami Edison 8
The Knights who came into the game with a 48 game winning streak and an undefeated record on the line took care of business despite the give all effort by the Red Raiders of Miami Edison. Quarterback Sydney Stout who came into the game with over 5,000 yards passing and 100 touchdowns thrown added more yardage to her stats and four more touchdowns as she went 10-of-17 passing for 207 yards in the game. One the receiving end of Stout’s four touchdown passes Jaylen Stasio for two of them, while Kateijon Robinson accounted for the other two touchdowns. Stasio lead the Knights in receiving with 99 yards. All of the Knights’ points came in the first and third quarters. The Red Raiders would score with about 7:30 left in the game on a Lonesha Howell pass to Alexandra “Mama” Jones which was capped off with Ronisha Gibbs two-point conversion to bring the game within 19. The Red Raiders finished the season 10-2 overall.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Robinson 33, FAMU DRS 7
The Knights may have saved their most dominating performance of the season for last with a total thrashing of FAMU DRS Baby Rattlers in the Class 1A State Championship. The Baby Rattler would see their first drive stall quickly after gaining one first down just to see the Knights cash in very quickly with a Jaylen Stasio touchdown reception from Sydney Stout with 7:30 left in the first quarter to make it 7-0. FAMU would fall in the same position again, seeing the Knights once again capitalize with the ball quickly with 1:30 left in the first quarter on a Stout pass to Bella Dolce from five yards out to extend the lead for the Knights to 14-0. Stout would make two more touchdown throws in the second quarter to extend the lead out 28-0 before going into the half. Knights, who got the ball to start the second half, found paydirt in two plays when Stout found Katejion Robinson to put the lead at 33-0 for the Knights, ensuring the Class 1A State Championship trophy would stay in Hillsborough County. Katie Kemp and Dolce would each make interceptions to keep the Baby Rattlers off the board until the last possession of the game that saw Jade Dubose connect to Shaviya Williams to take the goose egg off the scoreboard to make it 33-7. Robinson finishes the season as the first team in the state to go undefeated under the new 15-game schedule provisions with a 22-0 overall record and extending their current winning streak to 50 games. FAMU DRS finishes the 2021 season with a 12-4 overall record.