Ladies day out: Inaugural flag football games big hit for Beaufort County schools

Published 1:55 am Tuesday, November 19, 2024

By Jason O. Boyd

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They were moments to marvel at and admire last Saturday at Washington High School’s J.G. Choppy Wagner Stadium.

Gracie Smith jumped into the air and snagged the football for an interception. She then raced to the other end of the field for a Northside touchdown against Havelock.

One game later, Carly Woolard was slinging the pigskin around like she had been doing it all her life. She was showing off her catching skills in throwing four touchdowns for Washington against New Bern.

Later in the afternoon, Southside’s Jaden Johnson was streaking across the field with the ball on offense. She then turned around and was chasing down Northside receivers on defense in their game.

Flag football was a big hit last Saturday. The season kicked off in a big way, with six schools coming together to play three games each during the day. It was the start of a pilot program that has been met with resounding success and lots of optimism.

“Oh it’s been a good experience you know to be outside instead of the gym,” said Northside flag football head coach Michelle Leathers, who also leads the school’s volleyball and girls basketball teams. “Just being able to do something different, you know, great experience.

“We’re multitasking actually. We’re doing basketball and flag. But you know it’s been a good time, we had a good time, great experience for the girls. Still trying to play smart, still trying to make adjustments.”

How it all went

The NC High School Athletic Association is allowing schools to participate in the sport to gauge interest in adding it as a sanctioned sport. The board of directors will meet at a later date to discuss its fate. Meanwhile, schools in Charlotte, Greensboro, Wilmington and Raleigh have been playing a modified season for over a year. That continues with a state-playoff-style format that will begin this weekend

Southside, Northside and Washington joined West Craven, Havelock and New Bern in one half of a league also comprised of Pitt County schools North Pitt, Ayden-Grifton, Farmville Central, J.H. Rose, D.H. Conley and South Central. The two halves will play games through early December, culminating in a single-elimination tournament to determine an overall champion on Dec. 14 in Greenville.

“I think it’s a little bit of both, and I think a lot of it is, especially in the first games, you saw a bunch of girls with jitters,” Washington Athletics Director Will Tyson said. “You could tell they were nervous, and now after watching the second and the third games, the girls are smiling more, they’re having a little bit more fun. Even win or lose, they seem to be having a great time.”

Teams played the three games over six hours. Most games took less than an hour to play. Northside and Havelock went just over an hour due to overtime having to determine the Rams’ win over the Panthers. 

The same teams will each play three games this Saturday at Washington High School before taking the following weekend off for Thanksgiving. The final week will feature four games for each team. Those games will be played at West Craven High School.

Outside of some minor things here and there, the day went off without a hitch. People came in and out to watch games then go grab lunch and come back for the other games. Tyson said they will need to devise a way to keep up with people coming and going. Overall, everything else went well with concessions and even a snow cone vendor available.

“Yeah, it’s been a pretty smooth morning,” Tyson said. “We’ve had a good steady crowd. The teams have all come in and brought a good, decent amount of people with them.

“We’ve already figured out a few things that we need to correct for next week, so we’re going to put those in place, and it’ll make things go even smoother for next week. But even with the no cash at the gate, it’s been really smooth.”

In many ways, the games played Saturday were a trailblazing moment for the schools and their athletes. The buzz at the stadium was matched by those games played in Greenville. It’s a pretty good sign of things to come for the ladies involved now and those who will play the sport down the road.

“So they were looking at it as, well, this is kind of like powder puff,” Horton said. “I said, Dude, this is flag football. It’s totally different.’

“The girls have had a blast learning what the game’s about, how to play, how to play with control, don’t get too excited. Being the first day, man, it’s really good to see that high school is starting to bring this in.”

How the teams looked

Northside and Washington each went 2-1 in the three games they played while Southside went 0-3.

The Panthers looked good on both sides of the field and had a chance to go 3-0 for the day. Havelock scored a late touchdown then scored again in overtime to collect the win.

Northside Athletics Director Jared Adams served as offensive coordinator while Panthers volleyball and girls basketball coach Michelle Leathers was the defensive coordinator. Both coaches had moments that brought smiles to their faces, including in wins over county foes Washington and Southside.

Gracie Smith was one of the stars, getting two interceptions and returning one for a touchdown against Havelock.

“It’s definitely a really great thing that they got going on,” Smith said. “It’s very fun. It’s a good way to just have fun with another sport other than the solid three sports that are for girls at in high school.

“I mean it’s an honor. Like this is a little 1A school that kind of just came out and now we’re out here with a bunch of bigger schools playing and it’s all just, I mean, it’s just kind of crazy. You would have never thought, like if you look back four years ago, you would have never thought at all Northside was going to have a flag football team for girls.”

Washington had several players shine in its games, especially against New Bern. Carly Woolard showed off her passing skills as the Pam Pack got four touchdowns through the air. There is a mix of passing and rushing that each team has to complete during the course of the game. Washington and Woolard certainly had that part of the offense down pat.

“I just started this year,” Woolard said. “I’ve never even thought about doing it, but I usually play softball. The throws are so different. But it’s really, it’s so, so fun. And the group of girls is absolutely amazing.”

Southside struggled but looked good at times on the field. The Seahawks had issues with getting enough players and almost had to issue a forfeit. But the ladies who played showed a lot of heart and determination and are hopeful to build upon that.

“Honestly, it’s really fun,” Johnson said. “I’m from Charlotte so a lot of my friends already down there, you know, they’ve already been, you know, hip to it. So we’re kind of like the last of NC to finally get adapted to actual flag football, not just powder puffs for homecoming and stuff.

“You know, we have had a little bit of setbacks, like, you know, last-minute players, a really small team. So our chemistry was kind of off. But, you know, our next games, we’re going to be right there.”

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