Inaugural sanctioned girls flag football season kicks off
Photo: Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Sports Information
LAKEWOOD — It was a historical day for high school sports Saturday, Aug. 17.
After two pilot seasons of girls flag football with Chatfield and Arvada West — both Jeffco Public School teams — capturing state titles, Saturday marked opening day for the first season as a Colorado High School Activities Association-sanctioned sport for the highly popular and growing sport of girls flag football.
“I’m so excited. When I heard Colorado was the 11th state to sanction girls flag football I was pumped,” said A-West coach Lacey Abell, who is a member of the U.S. Women’s Flag Football National Team. “I think in general that it is amazing to have this sport available to girls. We see these girls just balling out here in a sport. I can’t be more excited about the growth of this sport.”
Abell takes over the Wildcats’ program that returns the majority of its state championship squad that had a perfect 25-0 record last year. The Wildcats opened the season No. 1 in the CHSAA coaches poll preseason rankings.
“With the preseason rankings there is a bit of a target on us,” Abell said. “I think we are ready to defend it.”
A-West looked ready Saturday morning with a dominating 35-0 victory over Legend in the first games of the season at Trailblazer Stadium.
Senior quarterback Saylor Swanson threw five touchdown passes in the win. Sophomore Katie Hufford and senior Sara Walker both had touchdown catches on fourth-down plays in the first half to give the Wildcats a 13-0 lead.
The larger field dimensions and rule changes that allows the defense to bring multiple rushers makes the quarterback position even more critical this season.
“I like it,” Swanson said of the new rules. “We have to throw a lot of shorter passes. You have to pick apart the defense more than just throwing it deep. I think every once in a while we can go for that deep shot.”
Swanson had a second touchdown pass to Walker early in the third quarter to push the lead to 21-0. Juniors Santana Pena and Alyssa Alberts both had fourth quarter touchdown catches to induce a running clock with a 30-point advantage in the final quarter.
“She (Swanson) is an athlete,” Abell said. “She is also making the smart calls of what she should and shouldn’t do. She has that high (football) IQ and it just gets better and better.”
A-West’s defense was just as impressive shutting out Legend. Junior Linley McReynolds got a defense score with a safety in the second quarter, sacking Legend quarterback Madi Smolen in the end zone.
“I’ve been excited all season,” McReynolds said. “We played club season with other girls on this team. It has been really exciting with all the new rules.”
A-West also got a pair of interceptions with senior Molly Schellpepper and freshman Harper Tillman grabbing picks.
“Offense wins games and defense wins championships,’ Abell said of the Wildcats’ shutout win over the Titans.
Legend did bounce back with a 7-0 shutout win over Pomona in the second of four games played at Trailblazer Stadium. Pomona came in a the top-ranked 4A team in the preseason coaches’ poll.
Mountain Vista — No. 5 in the 5A preseason rankings — did prove in the third game that A-West will face a tough road to defending that state title. The Golden Eagles stunned the Wildcats with a 25-13 victory.
