The second-ever Marist girls flag football season kicked off in the beginning of August and has continued to live up to the hype as the season goes on.
Flag football has become increasingly popular all across the world, and in our community here at Marist, over the last few years.
“I’m very impressed by how fast it has grown at Marist,” says varsity coach Laura McDonough.
This year alone, over 90 girls came to try out, including around 45 freshmen, and a second JV team was added to the program. About 20 were accepted onto each team.
“It’s really cool to see how it’s growing, seeing it in the grade schools, and then seeing those kids who play it in grade school come to play here at Marist,” says varsity quarterback Alia Rowles. The junior is currently playing her second season as a quarterback and has proved to be a great all around player.
Freshmen Avery Corbett and Bella Lacy have also made their mark on the turf. Both girls are playing on varsity and have put in all of the effort they can to help the team. Alongside these two, Rose Hart and Mary Withers have gotten a few chances each to play at the varsity level and look to be promising quarterbacks in the near future.
“We’re so impressed by them,” says McDonough. “I feel they have given our team great strengths in different areas, and we’re very proud of them.”
The team had a few setbacks at the start of the season but quickly managed to get back on track for the opportunity of playoffs in the near future.
“I think a goal we have is getting above 500 by a good amount, and then getting to the playoffs and just taking it game by game and making a deep run in playoffs,” says Rowles.
The varsity girls just recently had a big comeback win against their rival, Mother McAuley. Despite being down by a few heading into the second half, the girls kept their heads on straight and continued to work hard for a good outcome to the game.
“It was really great to see how, even though we got down by a lot at the beginning, I think the whole team just stayed in the game, stayed locked in, and didn’t give up,” said Rowles.
It seems that the girls have great chemistry together off of the field and are very close to figuring out how they can work well together on the field.
With playoffs starting early in October, the girls hope to see some familiar faces in the stands to come cheer them on.
