- November 28, 2024
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The Seabreeze flag football team put up some video game-like offensive numbers this season.
BY MATT MENCARINI | SPORTS EDITOR
I play a lot of video games, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. And while I don’t play Madden, I do dabble in my fair share of NCAA Football, and my stats are impressive. Trust me.
But my virtual achievements are nothing compared to what the Lady Sandcrabs flag football team did this season. They may have lost to Boone 27-14 April 27, in regionals, but the offensive numbers coach Blake Hillman’s team put up this season are jaw dropping (no hyperbole).
The Lady Sandcrabs beat DeLand 12-6 to win back-to-back district titles for the first time.
Seabreeze started the program in 2003, and has won four district titles: 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2013.
But back to the stats.
Senior receiver Brianna Mengel caught 111 passes for 1,181 yards and 16 touchdowns. Oh, and she picked off 16 passes on defense. But no big deal; the Lady Sandcrabs only played 12 games this season.
Alijea Russell, who’s also the starting point guard on the Lady Sandcrabs basketball team, had 85 receptions for 1,040 yards and 19 touchdowns. She had three interceptions on defense.
Freshman quarterback McKenzie Bowlus was 234 for 333 passing (70.2%), for 2,520 yards and 36 touchdowns. She only threw nine interceptions. Remember: She’s a freshman.
Mariah Zirkelbach, a senior linebacker, had 55 flag pulls and three interceptions.
Hillman is also on the coaching staff for the boys football team, which has a pretty explosive offense of its own and averaged 29.8 points per game last season.
Bowlus averaged 210 passing yards per game (12 games total) and Connor Blair, starting quarterback for the boys team, averaged only 140.4 passing yards per game (10 games).
Now I’m not taking anything away from Blair’s season. I was impressed by the junior quarterback and expect bigger things in his senior campaign.
And while I’m aware these are different sports and there really isn’t a running game in flag football, what the Lady Sandcrabs did this season deserves recognition.
When Seabreeze lost to Boone by 13 points, it lost to a team that had won its two previous playoff games by a combined score of 111-6.
So if I’ve learned anything from the Lady ‘Crabs, it’s that, well, maybe I’m not as good at video games as I thought I was.
