Kimberly Cruz-Cruz

Cheering from the sidelines, the girls flag football team encourages their offense during the first half of their game against the Lewis Lancers on Oct. 14. “[We’re going to] continue to put an effort into our practices and games every single play,” Palle said. “[We will try to] get better at our plays, execute them better and just hustle a lot on defense.”

Jefferson’s girls flag football team won their first game of the season against the John Lewis Lancers on Oct. 14 at Annandale High School. Against Lewis, Jefferson won with a score of 33-12, with a total of five touchdowns during the game.The game marks the beginning of their season as well as the addition of girls flag football as an official sport in Fairfax County Public Schools. The flag football program is officially supported by the Washington Commanders, who provided them with new uniforms and gear.

For their first game, the team divided into three smaller teams that rotated on each play.

“[Coach] threw us into random teams at the beginning [of the game],” senior Stella Chang said. “No one knew what we were doing, but then, we just clicked together. We’re just all here to have fun. It’s okay if we lose, but we want to win [while having] fun and good vibes.”

During their game, senior Mikaela Nowinski hit three touchdowns, running clear of all defending Lewis players, straight into the goal.
“I’ve never hit a touchdown before,” senior Mikaela Nowinski said. “That was my first touchdown, I was so excited. I had all my teammates cheering me on, [and] it was just great,”

As a new team, they are experimenting with their collaboration and finding their roles on the team. This means trying new things to find the right hike, pass or defense play to use going forward. During the game with Lewis, freshman Marisol Sady-Dubon successfully intercepted Lewis’s ball twice.

“[When I intercepted] I was glad I didn’t drop it, but I was really happy that we got the ball and we got to go on offense,” Sady-Dubon said. “It’s a good starting point, we can build off that.”

The team’s first game was met with optimism about the future of their season, and helped give confidence to the rest of the team.

“I wasn’t sure how we [were going to] do compared to the other teams, but I’m really happy we started off with [a] win,” sophomore Jackie Pritchard said. “I think [this] gives us confidence for the next couple [of] games.”

The addition of girls flag football provides an opportunity for girls to experience football at Jefferson.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to play flag football this year, playing both offense and defense,” senior Shirdi Palle said. “I feel bonded to the team already. I’ve been playing football since I was young. I used to play and watch a lot, so being able to [play] in an official capacity, [and] be able to get a touchdown is so fun.”

Although the team played strong—dominating the field and score board the entire game—there is still a lot of room for improvement.

“We need to improve getting open, finding the open space and being able to throw it to the person, because a lot of our game right now is just running,” Pritchard said. “For me, something I could improve on is finding the target better. I really like [our] team, because I think [we’re] very positive, and we’re always cheering each other on; that creates a really positive environment, so no one’s afraid to make a mistake.”

This game is a marker for the girls flag football team this year, one of the staples of Jefferson’s success on the field was their use of teamwork and learning to adapt to each other’s skills.

“We’ve got our running game down pretty solid,” Nowinski said. “I really want our plays to be more complicated, more deceptive and I want to work on a throwing game.”