In the fall of 2018, the SDSSAA (Sudbury District Secondary Schools’ Athletic Association) flag football teams opted to make the move to the 7 v 7 version, the league having previously run with a 12 v 12 edition since the sport was first offered to local high-schools back in 1981 or so.
And while not every school was in favour of the move, there were certainly some who adapted very quickly to a very different game. From 2018 to 2022, the Confederation Chargers captured no less than six SDSSAA banners under the leadership of coach Brad Smith and with the help of several others.
Lasalle, Lo-Ellen, Bishop Carter, Champlain, St Benedict and Horizon have all closed the gap notably in recent years, with the Chargers now looking to regain their perch atop the Sudbury flag football mountain.
With coach Dave Lefebvre now leading the charge, the Confederation teams have positioned themselves as definite contenders, sporting a combined record of 4-0 in the first couple of weeks of league play.
On Monday, the Chargers closed out the four game set with back to back outings, their juniors doubling the St Charles College Cardinals 24-12 while the seniors upended the Lasalle Lancers 18-7.
Shifty ball carrier Kara Christine was at the forefront of victory number one on the evening, recording two touchdowns, a field goal and three converts.
A 15 year-old now in grade 10 who enjoyed a very small taste of flag football in intermediate school, Christine is among a couple of dozen outstanding flag football standouts who can do wonders with the ball in their hands. “I have learned not to go in the middle (of the field) as much, to go more to the outside,” she said.
“I found that I was getting trapped in the middle a lot. Now I run out more and if I have to cut in, I can do that.”
Establishing a run game in flag football is important, but success is unlikely without it being accompanied by some sort of aerial threat. With Grace Perron at quarterback and a glut of sure-handed receivers (Sophie Marshall, Reese Morris, Kara Christine) at her disposal, Confederation presents many a challenge to opposing defenses.
“I like that she (Perron) can do either / or – the other team never knows,” said Christine. “She can throw far, but she’s good a doing handoffs, she’s good at doing little short throws.”
Defensively, the Chargers were sparked by interceptions from Mae Bouchard and Tegan Lefebvre, with the Confederation offense able to capitalize on the shortened field. It was somewhat the same story in the evening as a balanced attack led the Val Caron school to victory as Malin Brunette (TD), Lorelei van Drunen (TD) and Avery Brooks (FG, 2 X PATs, S) accounted for the scoring.
The Confederation seniors are sure to be challenged by the likes of the Lo-Ellen Park Knights and Lockerby Vikings (and perhaps a few others), with both of the south end teams also sitting at 2-0. The Vikes made a statement on Tuesday afternoon, outscoring the Horizon Aigles 29-6 as Nora Hoy-Riehl (2 TDs), Sadie Gauvreau and Ava Plarina all reached the end zone for the winning side. For Plarina, her burst to the house amounted to a little déjà vu for the 17 year old who is in her fourth year of competing in flag football.
“I’ve been playing as a wide receiver this year, but in grade nine, I was a slotback,” said Plarina. “Coach (Lance Patrie) told me to go in at slot and we would run the play we used to run in grade nine – because we would always get a touchdown. I was freaking out: like there’s no way this will work.”
“And then we ran the play and it was a touchdown.”
And if folks don’t think that these young ladies are beginning to amass some football IQ, consider the following add-on to the explanation of said touchdown play. “I was wide open,” noted Plarina. “The wide receiver on my side has to run a wide reverse to the the defensive player away – so kudos to whoever (our receiver) was on that side.”
“It would not have been a touchdown if it wasn’t for her.”
Defensively, Lockerby limited Horizon to one late major courtesy of Aviahna Cocchiola, with both Mavis Frawley and Julia Moulaison recording interceptions during the contest. “We had a really good contain of the run today,” said Plarina. “And they like to do a lot of corner deep routes.”
“We knew that prior to the game so we had done a lot of drills to make sure they would not get receptions in the corner of the end zone. I thought we did an amazing job with that too.”
The Lo-Ellen seniors also continue to impress, downing the defending Division B champion Champlain Requins 21-1 as Emma Mourre, Rya D’Amour and Annabelle Richardson also posted six-point scores for the Knights.
Speaking of the Senior Division B ranks, it’s still way to early to call as four teams are tied atop with standings with a record of 1-0: Macdonald-Cartier, Sacré-Coeur, St Benedict and Bishop Carter. But if I were forced to predict a final matchup right now, my money is on a battle between the Panthères (ESMC) and the Bears (STB).
The junior flag football bracket is down to a singular ten-team Division A grouping, currently led by Confederation (as noted above), but with Horizon, Lockerby and St Benedict also all still undefeated.
Regular season play runs through until October 21st, with quarter-final action set for October 26th (Juniors), October 27th (Sr – Division B) and October 28th (Sr – Division A) and city finals on November 4th and 5th – all at the James Jerome Sports Complex.
