FHSAA Class 2A girls flag football regional finals preview

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The “Elite Eight” is among us in girl’s flag football on Monday night, with the regional finals here as the winners will punch their tickets to Jacksonville for the 2023 FHSAA Flag Football State Championship next weekend at Mandarin High School.

Here is a look at the four games for Monday night for each of the regional finals in Class 2A:

REGION 1

(2) Spruce Creek at (1) Fleming Island, 6: Host Fleming Island (15-0) is looking to punch their tickets to a second straight trip to the state semifinals after knocking down Pace 33-13 at home last week while visiting Spruce Creek (19-1) is looking for their first trip to the state semifinals in program history. The host Golden Eagles have three key athletes they rely on Mykayla Maddox, London Jenkins, and Gabi Musa. Maddox has thrown for 1,903 yards along with 37 touchdowns this season while adding another 1,040 yards rushing along with 25 more touchdowns giving her almost 3,000 yards of total offense. Maddox also has accounted for six defense interceptions and 24 flag pulls. Jenkins is a dominant receiver with 54 catches for 911 yards and 18 touchdowns, but she also adds a touch on defense with 15 flag pulls and eight interceptions. As for Musa, head coach Clint Lyons has expressed that she is the team’s unsung hero with her five interceptions and 11 pass breakups coupled with 68 flag pulls and four sacks. Spruce Creek will rely on key athletes in Taylor Snowden and Katie Herb on both sides of the ball. Snowden has been the lead quarterback this season, throwing over 1,200 yards and 19 touchdowns while adding another 300-plus yards rushing and four more touchdowns. Defensively Snowden has racked up over a dozen flag pulls along with over seven interceptions. For Herb, she has been a dominant running back for the Hawks, rushing for over 1,100 yards and 17 touchdowns while also serving some time at quarterback during the season. Herb also has ten receiving touchdowns and defensively has 18 interceptions, and over 40 flag pulls defensively. Overall, this game has the makings of an epic showdown, but will the speed of Fleming Island be a tough one for Spruce Creek to match?

REGION 2

(2) Lennard at (1) Alonso, 7: There is a lot to love about this rematch here from the regular season, as it has been discussed that visiting Lennard (17-3) and host Alonso (20-0) were likely the two best teams in Class 2A this season and they reside in the same region. Sadly, only one of these programs will emerge with their tickets punched to go to Jacksonville next weekend, and with that, let’s look at what this matchup offers. First, we must go back to look at the fact that Alonso defeated Lennard 18-7 back on March 22. At that point, Lennard had already defeated Robinson, the top overall team in Class 1A this season, who is also in the regional finals. The fact that the visiting Longhorns were competitive with the host Ravens the first time around should have everyone pausing for a moment because this is not a give-me game entirely for Alonso. Yes, Lennard did have to take three overtimes last week to beat Steinbrenner 39-38, while Alonso crushed Newsome, who had made it to the state championship game the previous two years straight. As such, each game in flag football is very different. For the Longhorns, they are going to rely heavily on junior quarterback Abby Elwell who has thrown for over 4,000 yards and 57 touchdowns this season to lead the offense with her favorite targets in Grayce Bird (over 1,000 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns), Kate Keith (over 960 yards receiving and ten touchdowns), and Sydney Elizondo (over 700 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns) to get the ball out of fast. Bird is also one of the leaders on the defense, with 12 interceptions so far to her name. Layla Crawford leads the team in flag pulls with over 100 on the season. For the Ravens, the one name to know is Mieke Rowe, who has been the best quarterback in the entire state this season with 4,427 yards passing and 85 touchdowns, giving her the most touchdown passes on the season. Rowe has a variety of athletes she can pass to but loves finding Makenna Sturgis the most often, who has 60 catches for 1,126 yards receiving and 28 touchdowns. At the same time, Eryn Klaus is another favorite target with 850 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. Defensively, the Ravens are just as powerful, if not more powerful, than the offense, with Ella Bode leading the way with 27 sacks while Lucy Montiegel has 13 interceptions and 14 flag pulls on the season. With all this talent on the field, this should be a fun matchup with two great coaches, Matt Hernandez and Travis Combs, competing against each other.

RELATED: FHSAA Class 1A girls flag football regional finals preview

REGION 3

(6) Seminole Ridge at (4) Spanish River, 7: This was not the expected matchup anyone saw coming in for the Region 3 final, but after visiting Seminole Ridge (13-3), got defeated by Wellington in the district championship, the Hawks landed a rematch for the regional quarterfinals and took care of business against Wellington. After that, the Hawks took care of Palm Beach Gardens to land this matchup with Spanish River (16-4). The host Sharks are looking to punch their ticket to Jacksonville again for the second straight year as they meet Seminole Ridge for the first time this season. It should be noted that Seminole Ridge is looking for the first trip to the state semifinals since 2021. The Hawks this year have relied heavily on defense along with some offense. As such, some key athletes to watch for the visiting Hawks will include Jaida Salguero and Cayley Chieffalo. Salguero has thrown for over 2,840 yards and 50 touchdowns this season, while Chiefflao has received 51 of Salguero’s passes with 715 yards total and ten touchdowns. As we mentioned defense, Chiefflao alone has been the best all-around player, including eight interceptions, four of which have been returned for touchdowns, seven pass breakups, and 43 flag pulls. Angelina Sanchez is someone else to keep an eye on as the rusher on defense for the Hawks, racking up 23 sacks along with 26 flag pulls and six pass breakups. For the host Sharks, several athletes to watch will include quarterback Gianna Pacitti, sister Alessandra Pacitti, and Kaitlyn Ruiz. Alessandra Pacetti and Ruiz will be key players that will impact both sides of the ball for the Sharks.

REGION 4

(2) St. Thomas Aquinas at (1) Western, 7: Here is another rematch from the regular season involving a rising St. Thomas Aquinas (11-2) program that is only in its second season as a program against Western (15-2) that is still on their mission to defend their Class 2A state championship. The last time both these teams met on the field was back near the start of the season, which saw the host Wildcats come away with an 18-14 win. The Raiders have bounced back nicely since being defeated by Cooper City in the district tournament, beating them for the second time last week. As such, the Raiders hope the second time around against the Wildcats will be the same answer with a victory. Some of the key athletes to keep an eye on will include quarterback Stella Gutierrez who has been leading the way passing for the Raiders, while others to keep an eye on includes junior receiver Kamryn Corporan who plays both ways, as well as Nyla McFadden and Isabella Ruffolo. After losing Sydney Ford to graduation, the Wildcats have relied on a quarterback rotation this season, with senior Karly Rayhill and junior Tamara Elliott handling the signal-calling duties. Rayhill has thrown for 1,818 yards and 20 touchdowns, while Elliott has thrown for 1,288 yards and 23 touchdowns. Nandi Ramessar will be the top target for either quarterback on the field, who has 967 yards receiving on 92 catches and 14 touchdowns. On defense is where Western gets it done as twin sisters Kennedy Allen and Keylee Allen have double-digit interceptions, with Keylee having 12 and Kennedy having 11 on the season. Ramessar has seven interceptions as well as she spends time on the defense as well. Overall, this matchup has the makings for an epic matchup for those who will punch their ticket to Jacksonville next weekend.