This year's Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Flag Football State Championships, held May 10th and 11th in Tampa, featured only four Class 1A teams and four Class 2A teams playing on their respective teams. The event attracted attention at the venue. each competition. After all, Wellington High School, one of the teams in the Class 2A bracket, defeated Fort Pierce Central High School 12-7 in the Class 2A state quarterfinals on Friday, May 3, leading to Tampa. I have earned the right to participate.
Historically, the FHSAA Flag Football Championships have been held on Florida high school campuses, but this year the event received a major upgrade. The venue for this year's FHSAA Championship Flag Football event was the expansive Advent Health His Training Center, the indoor practice facility of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This massive structure is a bright, indoor, air-conditioned environment with an artificial turf playing surface, a Buccaneers logo in the center of the field, and one wall featuring a series of giant Buccaneers-highlighting walls. Filled with banners. Since he entered the NFL in 1976, he has had a lot of success, including his two Super Bowl wins in 2003 and 2021.
As for Wellington's girls varsity flag football team, the Wolverines faced the Longhorns from Ruskin's Leonard High School on Friday, May 10, in the Class 2A semifinals. Kickoff was originally set for 7 p.m., but the start of the game was delayed because there were two classes ahead. The 1A semifinal match was longer than expected.
With Leonard as an opponent, Wellington faced a team that was effectively twins. Both teams had talented and strong quarterbacks. Both teams had solid receiver athletic corps. Both teams played aggressive, ball-chasing defenses. Both teams had players who could rush the quarterback. And both teams were hungry for victory.
Of all the semi-final matches, the Wellington vs. Leonard match was expected to be the most competitive and it did not disappoint.
As expected, both quarterbacks, Wellington's Keelin Coleman and Leonard's Abby Elwell, rose to the occasion and led by example. Coleman completed 19 of 28 passes for 259 yards, and Elwell completed 19 of 26 passes for 192 yards.
The receivers also made a series of incredible and sometimes acrobatic receptions, the defense was challenging, and the pass rushers never stopped chasing Coleman and Elwell.
For Wellington, Coleman led his team into the red zone twice in the first half and into Leonard's field three times in the second half. Throughout the game, Leonard's defense was defiant, keeping the Wolverines out of the end zone.
As for Wellington's defense, they were strong and decisive except for one play. At 9:28 of the second quarter, Elwell completed a 17-yard touchdown pass with teammate Kate Keith. One point his PAT attempt was successful, giving the Longhorns a 7-0 lead that they never relinquished. This was the only touchdown of the game, and Leonard won 7-0.
It's ironic that Keith scored Leonard's only touchdown. Keith was the one who stopped Wellington from getting a touchdown when he picked off Coleman's pass near the goal line on Wellington's first drive, ending Wellington's most promising drive. game.
“It was a great experience in Tampa,” Wellington High School flag football head coach Robert Carovey said. “The Tampa Bay Bucs really support women's flag football like no one else. In the game, the girls gave it their all and kept fighting until the end. We didn't give up and kept playing. We really liked the whole experience.”
Looking back, the Wolverines (15-4) had a memorable and historic season this spring. Under Carovy, Wellington produced a series of important firsts, including its first regional championship (12-6 over Seminole Ridge High School on April 30) and first-ever state quarterfinal victory (12-7 over Ft. was recorded. May 3 against Pierce Central), advancing to the flag football state finals for the first time.
As for the Leonard Longhorns, who advanced to the Class 2A championship game against the Panthers at Palmetto High School in Miami on Saturday, May 11, this game featured the most lead changes, making it perhaps the best in the history of this FHSAA event. It was the most exciting match ever. . In the end, Palmetto came back and beat Leonard 26-25, scoring the winning touchdown on a 15-yard run with less than 10 seconds left. Leonard then made a valiant attempt to win the game on the final play of the game. The Longhorns had to crisscross the field with a catch and a series of lateral shots, but they were stopped by a flag on the sideline deep in Palmetto territory. of the field.
“That Class 2A championship game was better than advertised and probably the best high school flag football game I've ever seen,” said Newsome High School Flag Football Director Anthony Silvestri, who served as a color commentator on the NFHS Network livestream. It was the most exciting thing I've ever done.” broadcast of the match.
In the Class 1A championship final, Tampa's Robinson High School Knights defeated Pembroke Pines Charter School 27-6 to win their eighth straight Class 1A state title.
