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WEST VALLEY PREPS
Shadow Ridge flag football enjoys special debut at Surprise rival
Willow Canyon finds many positives in 22-21 loss
(Courtesy Alyssa Lopez/For West Valley Preps)
Shadow Ridge flag football senior quarterback Jordyn Scott throws downfield Sept. 19 at Willow Canyon High School. It was the Stallions' first offical game.
(Courtesy Scott Russomano/For West Valley Preps)
Willow Canyon senior wide receiver Izzy Ray turns upfield to run after catching a pass during a Sept. 19 home game against Shadow Ridge.
(Courtesy Alyssa Lopez/For West Valley Preps)
Shadow Ridge senior Sincere Johns running back sprints upfleld with the ball while Willow Canyon senior safety Madison Mendiola tries to cut off the angle and pull her flag Sept. 19 at Willow Canyon High School in Surprise.
For longtime softball players Jordyn Scott and Avery Mackey it was a moment akin to a walkoff home run in a club tournament game.
Only this euphoric highlight came near the end of their first official flag football game for Shadow Ridge, on Sept. 24 at Surprise rival Willow Canyon Sept. 19.
On fouth and goal with less than three minutes remaining, Scott dropped back and quickly tossed the ball straight downfield to Mackey at the 2, and she strided into the end zone. The touchdown tied the game and the ensuing extra point gave the Stallions a 22-21 lead they would defend for a victorious debut.
“We’re on top of the world,” Mackey said.
The Shadow Ridge softball team is competitive, regularly playing a couple rounds into the 6A tournament.
Scott started a couple state tournament games as a pitcher. Now she does not have to wait until spring to feel the butterflies in her stomach before a big game.
“This team is so competitive. We’re so excited to go out and play and do something different, instead of waiting until softball season,” Scott said.
While it was the Stallions’ first ever game, it was the Wildcats’ second. Willow Canyon debuted in style, beating La Joya 28-6 Sept. 17 in Avondale.
The second game reminded Willow Canyon flag football coach Frederick Haynes of how new the sport is to most of the girls. Both teams, for example, did not continue to play until the whistle blew on a couple plays.
Still the coach left the stadium with many positives.
“They felt good after the game on Tuesday. They felt good tonight. They made a couple of mistakes and got in their heads,” Haynes said. “The girl went for the flag and she stopped. If she’d have kept running we would have scored. Now they know to play to the whistle. But we’ll be fine.”
Willow Canyon also created a memorable moment that looked like it would be the game winner.
Trailing 15-14 late in the third, sophomore quarterback Grace Disotell took the snap and quickly pitched back to junior quarterback Sarah Karnitz, lined up at halfback. With the Stallions’ defense drawn in, Karnitz threw deep to junior wide receiving Caylee Walding for a 45-yard touchdown and a 21-15 lead.
“From day one until now ... what a big difference,” Haynes said. “I called a time out and drew it up.”
Sophomore inebacker Nylei Hammer’s third down sack short circuited the Wildcats’ last second attempt to come back.
Shadow Ridge coach Theron Frazer, like Haynes, knows the knowledge of flag football will come with time. He was proud of how this new team responded to adversity.
“The girls fought really hard and did a really good job of staying with it, even though we were down. But they came back and believed in themselves,” Frazer said.
Scott said the Stallions’ communication improved throughout the game, even as the atmosphere became more tense.
“It was really intense because these are our rivals. We’re excited and we came in there with confidence or ‘let’s go. We’re winning.’” Scott said.
Haynes named senior Izzy Ray — another softball star — Disotell and Karnitz as the program’s first captains.
Like Frazer, he is a longtime tackle football coach learning a new game. Goal No. 1? Get better at flag pulling
“That’s the game, catching, thowing and pulling flags. Those are the thee things you’ve got to do,” Haynes said.
Mackey did not pretend this was just another game.
“I feel like the pressure of the game makes the win as big as it is,” Mackie said.
Richard Smith News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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