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Flag Football: Gaither upsets Freedom 19-8

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A Tribune staff report

Published: April 30, 2009

TAMPA - Gaither proved seeding in a district tournament is meaningless. Two days after knocking out the No. 1 team, the fourth-seeded Cowboys defeated No. 3 Freedom 19-8 to win the District 12 flag football championship Wednesday.

Gaither (5-6) will play at the District 13 champion Saturday in the first round of play-in games.

"Going in, I thought we were talented," Cowboys coach Bill Agatheas said. "I think it was good we got beat early and often this year. It showed the girls how they needed to play if they wanted to win. And right now we're getting hot at the right time."

Quarterback Brittany Howell threw two touchdowns and the Gaither defense frustrated the Patriots the majority of the game.

The Cowboys opened the scoring when Ayanna Fullwood scored from 4 yards at the 6:52 mark of the second quarter to make it 6-0.

Gaither added another score before the half when Howell connected with Demetria Flowers, who also had an interception, on a 29-yard touchdown pass to up the Cowboys' lead to 12-0.

Howell closed out Gaither's scoring when she hit Shanel Sweet on a 21-yard scoring pass with 6:24 left in the third.

Freedom (8-3) avoided the shutout when Monique LaMotte scored from 3 yards out late in the fourth.

Gregg Becnel

District 9: East Bay holds off Bulls

VALRICO - Stopping Bloomingdale's option run game headed by fleet-footed junior quarterback Samantha Copley is a task easier said than done. Copley has spent a season running away from quick defenders, keeping the flags inches away from outstretched fingers.

However, in Wednesday's District 9 final, East Bay matched speed with speed in a defense highlighted by sophomore Andrea Benedetto. With less than a minute left and the Bulls trailing by a touchdown, Benedetto snatched off the flags of Copley a foot from the first-down marker on fourth down, turning the ball over to the Indians and securing East Bay's 12-7 win.

"My heart was pounding and I knew I had to stop them from making that play," Benedetto said. "That was a big deal. A huge deal - that was the game."

The Bulls got on the board first in the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Samantha Copley to Jasmine Artiga. Copley followed with a run for the conversion to give Bloomingdale a 7-0 lead.

The Indians answered on the following drive with a 3-yard run by Layla Johnson. East Bay's score was set up by a clutch 28-yard fourth-down reception by Delaney Poli.

However, the offensive play of the game came on the deciding touchdown, when Janielle Rodriguez stuck with a 35-yard pass from Stephanie Williams that tipped off the hands of a defending Copley in the fourth quarter.

Jarrett Guthrie

District 10: Raiders roll past Armwood

PLANT CITY - Plant City kept its perfect (11-0) record and state title hopes alive by defeating Armwood 34-24 at Raider Stadium for the District 10 title.

Techonqueya Shaw, senior quarterback for the Raiders, dominated the Hawks' defense, completing 16 of 18 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. She rushed for 139 yards on 17 attempts, scoring two touchdowns, plus had the only interception of the game.

Raiders WR/RB Collisha Walker ran for 50 yards and caught three passes, and came up big on critical third downs with two sacks. Tekeyah Clark led the team in receiving yards with 46. Six different players caught passes for the Raiders, who finished second in the state last year.

Armwood's Chanteonna Lumpkin passed for 183 yards and three touchdowns, plus added a 68-yard touchdown run. Danielle Newsome had 118 yards receiving for Armwood (7-3).

Blake Hasenzahl

District 11: Plant edges Chamberlain

There was a minute left in the District 11 final, and Plant led by 14 points with the ball on Chamberlain's 3-yard line. What could possibly go wrong?

Well - after an interception at Chamberlain's goal line followed by a 60-yard pass play for a Chiefs' touchdown, followed by another Chiefs' interception that led to yet another Chief touchdown - Chamberlain stood on Plant's 10-yard with 25 seconds remaining and a chance to tie it at 20.

Chamberlain (10-2) freshman quarterback Clarice Devine took the snap, ran right, lofted the ball toward the end zone and ... the ball fell into the hands of a Plant defender.

"Whooooaa," Plant coach Bo Puckett said. "That did turn out to be a close one."

But in the end it was still a Plant victory, 20-18, giving the 11-1 Panthers the right to move on in the state playoffs.

Plant sophomore quarterback Stephanie Murray completed 25 of 33 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns, and, except for the couple of miscues at the end, was darn near perfect.

Scott Purks

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