Set up in the shotgun, Marymount quarterback Kayiesha Thomas lets fly with a beautifully spiralled ball, sending it in flight some forty plus yards downfield.

Streaking along the sidelines, Bella Massimiliano secures the sphere, without breaking stride, and sprints another thirty yards or so across the goal line.

Put a set of hefty set of shoulder pads on these two and the highlight you’ve just witnessed is eerily reminiscent of a Steven Sola (or Noah Parsons) to Quin Mazzuchin connection that Lo-Ellen Park Knights’ fans have seen many times over in recent years.

The very next evening, under the lights of the James Jerome Sports Complex, the Horizon tandem of Desirée Charbonneau (QB) and Tessa Ranger (WR) hook up on a near identical play.

To be sure, those who enjoy boys tackle football are thrilled with the twelve team contingent split evenly between juniors and seniors this fall. But with 28 teams spread across four divisions of play, the fairer sex are not about to lag behind, stealing the spotlight for all of the early week encounters on the turf, with fans coming out in droves.

For good reason – the product on the field is damn entertaining.

“It’s a sport that is not offered at all when you’re younger,” noted Ranger, the diminutive wideout who was a long-time mainstay with Sudbury Lady Wolves A/AA teams. “As soon as I hit high-school, that was my goal, to make the flag football team that I had never played before.”

The level playing field of that entry point speaks to schools that might not typically be considered traditional sporting juggernauts, at least not in recent times.

“We have a reputation now. It’s not: oh, we’re Sudbury Secondary – we’re bound to lose anymore,” noted 17 year-old defensive captain Sophie Coutu as the North Stars completed a 38-0 whitewashing of the Rivière-des-Francais Muskies, improving to 5-0.

One of seven or eight seniors who started with SSS in grade nine, Coutu noted the helping hand that teachers Craig Johnstone, Mario Parisotto and Kaylan O’Reilly have provided. “Our coaching staff makes all the difference,” she said. “We used to not have any plays. We were learning to play from the refs on the field.”

“Now we have great coaches who really put us to work.”

While the offense on Tuesday would come courtesy of majors from Sophie Tchuente Simo, Grace Beange, Haydee Johnson and Alyssa Howard-Smith, a team effort defensively helped Secondary to their second straight shutout.

“We’re an aggressive team,” noted Coutu. “Half of our team is also on the wrestling team. We like to get in there, looking at the flag, and nothing else. Well, the ball and the flag.”

Eyes on the ball is also key for Bella Massimiliano, joining Emma King and older sister Mya Massimiliano in the TD parade as Marymount stopped the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes 20-7, now sitting in third place (Senior – Division A) at 3-2.

“This year, our QB (Kayiesha Thomas) is way more experienced,” noted Bella, a 15 year old grade 11 student. “She’s able to get out of the pocket and throw a deep ball. I have to keep running my route, don’t stop running. Even if you think you can’t catch it, just keep running and you’ll get there.”

With the likes of Lasalle (4-0) and Bishop Carter (4-1) just above them and Lo-Ellen and Horizon (both 2-2) nipping at their heels, Massimiliano is aware that the remaining regular season games and post-season encounters for the Regals are likely to be a dogfight.

“I think the key for us is to show up for practice to get those simple things down: catching a ball, pulling the flags – and just keep focusing on our plays.”

If the senior ranks are flush with athletes who have come a long way in the flag football ranks, the junior brackets are the breeding ground for that development, the setting where speedsters like Olaterere Awosika are first introduced to the finer nuances of the sport.

“It was a shock, honestly, at the first tryout,” said the grade 10 rookie who ran for a pair of touchdowns as the St Benedict Junior Bears made it five wins in as many games, downing the Chelmsford Flyers 35-0. “I usually just run in a straight line and I tried doing that and people would just come and get my flag.”

“My dad and brother, we would go to the field and practice footwork to get around people while you’re running and still keep the momentum and the speed,” added the Nigerian-born sprinter, in Sudbury since grade eight.”

“It was a lot of extra practice on my own time.”

Lauren Bouchard (TD), Ava Woods (2 X TD) and Reece Chaumont-Fortier (five converts) rounded out the scoring for the Bears who played near flawless defensive football, from start to finish. “I have tried defense, but again, I run in a straight line and I’m not the best at stopping, turning around and trying to get others’ flags.”

In that department, she defers to Chaumont-Fortier, Cora Dippong and the balance of the St Benedict defenders.

Scoring her teams only two touchdowns in a huge 14-6 win over the Lo-Ellen Park Knights, Tessa Ranger defers to very few, if any, defenders when a ball is thrown her way. “I really have to stand my ground,” noted the talented young teen who gives up some height to virtually every opponent who has covered her.

“That’s my ball and I am getting that before they do.”

A defender for her first two years of flag football, Ranger has flourished under the watchful eye of new head coach and former Sudbury Spartans’ defensive back Ozzy Flores. “He saw my speed on offense and started to use me as a receiver,” noted Ranger.

“Coach taught us to use our “pinkies” – and to make sure we catch the ball before you run. When the ball is in the air, track it as much as you can. Don’t take your eyes off the ball.”

Given the nature of SDSSAA flag football, listening to the coach is critical.

“Everybody is new; you’re not the only one,” stressed Coutu. “We’re all learning together – it’s beautiful.”