- November 23, 2024
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Mainland's Brielle Jackson, holding the trophy, and Clinique Maddox (6) celebrate the Bucs' district flag football championship with their teammates. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Bucs celebrate their District 11-1A flag football championship after defeating Seabreeze 13-7 on April 11 at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Kylie Watson runs downfield after making a catch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland quarterback Brielle Jackson celebrates with the district championship trophy. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Jaiden Harvey (right) reaches for the flag after Seabreeze's Sarah Randolph makes a catch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Kaitlin Barber reaches for more yardage after making a catch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze quarterback Caya Asbille throws a pass. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze quarterback Caya Asbille throws a pass before Kiera Williams can get to her. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Kiera Williams makes a catch and runs downfield as Seabreeze's Kylie Watson closes in. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Lauren Lancing reaches for a first down. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Morgan Long runs for yards. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kallie Walker feeds son Owen during Mainland's halftime huddle. Walker, a Mainland teacher and former star quarterback with the Bucs' flag football team, is married to Mainland coach Ethan Simpson. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Bucs celebrate their district championship with a team photo. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Morgan Long gets read to punt the ball for the Sandcrabs. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland quarterback Brielle Jackson celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Emily Skowronski snaps the ball to quarterback Caya Asbille. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland's Kiera Williams (right) catches a touchdown pass. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Lauren Lancing (15) eyes a first down. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Seabreeze's Sarah Randolph reaches for another yard after making a catch as Jaiden Harvey pulls the flag. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Mainland quarterback Brielle Jackson picked up the district championship trophy and swung it like a dance partner.
After celebrating with her teammates, she walked over to Seabreeze coach Todd Barnes and gave him a big hug.
“Your were on fire,” said Barnes after the Bucs defeated the Sandcrabs 13-7 to win the District 11-1A flag football title on April 11 at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
“I started with you,” said Jackson, a junior, who played for Seabreeze the past two seasons before transferring to Mainland.
“You played really good,” Barnes told her. “Keep doing what you did tonight, looking them off, because that works.”
With the district championship, Jackson and her teammates got another chance to show what they can do. The Bucs (9-4) will travel to No. 1 seed Wildwood on Wednesday, April 17, for a Region 3-1A quarterfinal game.
“This is really special, because this is my first year here and we got a district championship.”
— BRIELLE JACKSON, who transferred to Mainland from Seabreeze
“This is really special, because this is my first year here and we got a district championship,” Jackson said.
Last year, Mainland advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history, but the Bucs did not win district. This year, a playoff berth was on the line. With the loss, Seabreeze (12-6) missed the playoffs by one spot as the ninth-ranked team in the region.
“This is how it should be. We’ve had so many years of playing against them to get to championships,” Mainland coach Ethan Simpson said, while holding his seven-month old son, Owen, after the game.
“It always goes down to the wire,” Simpson said. “It was just an exciting game and we knew going into it they were going to be a good team. They have really good coaches, good players, and it’s a rivalry, so it's always a tough game.”
The Bucs scored both of their touchdowns during a four-minute span in the second quarter. Kiera Williams ran in a short touchdown, and Kam Troutman caught an extra-point pass from Jackson.
Jackson then connected with Williams on a touchdown pass to put Mainland up 13-0 with 47 seconds left in the half.
Seabreeze, which beat Atlantic and Deltona by a combined 13-0 score in its first two district tournament games, had trouble moving the ball against Mainland until the fourth quarter.
Seabreeze’s Morgan Long intercepted two passes in the quarter, the second one following an interception by Mainland’s Kaitlin Barber. The Sandcrabs drove down the field and scored with 1:49 left on Caya Asbille’s touchdown pass to Sarah Randolph. Kylie Watson caught the extra-point pass.
But time ran out on the Sandcrabs as the Bucs’ defense held in the final minute to secure the victory.
“It got pretty close. It was kind of scary,” Williams said. “But when you have such great teammates that you know you can trust and love, nobody plays better than the Buc family, and that's where the heart and the soul comes from.”
It was the second straight year that the Sandcrabs missed the playoffs by one spot.
Barnes said they were making mental mistakes early in the game.
“We started off a little slow and we were behind the eight-ball,” Barnes said. “But we saw some things opening up a little bit and we started getting first downs and making some drives.”
Williams and Clinique Maddox each had two sacks for the Bucs. Williams caught seven passes for 72 yards and rushed for 25 yards. Jackson passed for 230 yards.
“For her coming out here and playing against her old team, it was special, not just for her but for all of us,” Williams said. “We had played against her before and we knew how she played. But it’s different with somebody new coming into your family, and you got to adjust to everybody. But we all just work really hard.”
