- November 27, 2024
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She was clearly the best flagfootball receiver in the area. It seems as if Kaley Dale was a part of nearly every big play for the Seabreeze Sandcrabs. When the game was on the line, Bright House Network’s Player of the Year, McKenzie Bowlus, found her favorite option for a touchdown. It is only fitting that Dale would be the Ormond Beach Lions Club’s final Student-Athlete Award.
“It is an honor to be picked my school for this award,” she said.
Dale is an all-around athlete. She also played volleyball in the fall and soccer in the winter, while maintaining a 3.5 grade point average in the classroom.
While she played well in the other sports, flag football is where Dale excelled. She finished the season with well over 1,000 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns. All season long, teams tried to shut her down with two defenders, but their attempts were futile.
Dale even recognized Mainland’s effort to triple mark her during the district championship, but she still managed to grab the catch that won the game for the Sandcrabs.
“When I heard that the play was coming to me, I wasn’t nervous at all,” she said. “I just told myself to do what I know, but once I was in the end zone, I was so excited that I was shaking because it hit me that I caught the game-winning touchdown. It felt so nice to beat Mainland because they were the ones that knocked us out last year.”
Catching a football has become second nature to Dale. She’s been doing it her entire life. “Ever since I was little, I would always throw and catch with my
family,” Dale said. “I was the only girl growing up, so I did things that the boys did.”
With Tuesday’s second-round loss to Fleming Island, Dale’s flag football career is over. She will now focus her attention on becoming a nurse practitioner at
Daytona State after graduation this year.
DALE'S BEST MOMENTS: Kaley Dale played her best when it mattered most. In the Sandcrabs’ playoff win, she had 175 yards and three touchdowns. Dale caught the game-winning touchdown against Mainland in the district championship. Down by less than a score in the waning seconds against Spruce Creek, she caught the game-winning touchdown with 4.5 seconds left. In Seabreeze’s 28-7 win over Flagler Palm Coast, Dale caught three touchdown passes along with over 100 receiving yards. She nearly scored in every game this season.
