The Seminole Ridge High School girls varsity flag football team has begun its defense of last year’s Class 3A state title. The Hawks season-opening game was held Thursday, Feb. 19 at cross-county rival Spanish River High School. The result was not available at press time.
Not only did last year’s team from Seminole Ridge win the state title — the sixth state championship in school history — the Hawks finished the season ranked as the top high school girls flag football team in the nation.
And if you look at the roster of returning players, there’s no reason why the Hawks won’t do as well this year as they did last year.
But for this year’s team to do as well as last year’s squad, it’s more than just “rinse and repeat,” according to Seminole Ridge head coach Scott O’Hara.
“This year’s team has to establish its own unique identity and do things its way,” he said. “The current group can’t try to be last year’s squad. This new unit has to strive to achieve its own goals and outcomes and not live on the achievements of the past.”
The biggest reason why expectations are so high for Seminole Ridge is because of the presence of the team’s returning starting quarterback, junior Aubrey Fogel. In last year’s two games at the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Class 3A state final four, Fogel’s statistical production was impressive.
In the state semifinal game against East Bay High School, Fogel completed 18 of 36 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns. In the state championship game against Lawton Chiles High School, Fogel completed 28 of 36 passes for 291 yards and four touchdowns.
O’Hara, now in his 11th season as head coach, has strong words of praise for his talented signal-caller.
“Aubrey is an unbelievably mature young lady who is a real student of the game and whose leadership and hard work helped lead us to a state championship last season,” O’Hara said.
While Fogel has a prominent role on the team, her roster of teammates is just as important. The list of other returning players from last year’s team include Carrie Didio, Jazlyn Ruiz, Chachi Saunders, Ja’Niah Tejeda, Avaree Brant, Maeson Frost, Samantha Musgrave, Ava Aiken, Kylin Chieffalo, Addison Kratman and Abigail Nosworthy.
The list of newcomers to the team includes three sophomores — Courtney Mahoney-Ross, Ava Dowdell and Angelina Romanski — plus three freshmen — Parker Harris, Holli Hughes and Isabella Neto.
While Fogel is one of the established leaders of the team, three other players have made a big impression on O’Hara during the preseason practices.
“All the players impressed me in our preseason practices, but I was really captivated by the leadership of Maeson Frost, Carrie Didio and Jazlyn Ruiz,” he said.
While O’Hara is the head coach, the credit for the team’s success needs to be shared with his corps of assistant coaches — Ron Taylor, Vivianna Parson, Mike Romanski and Cayley Chieffalo. Last year’s team mom, Carrie Chieffalo, has returned as well.
As the regular season unfolds and extends into the district and regional playoff games in April and May, there’s strong optimism that the Hawks will once again conclude their season at the state finals, which will be held May 15-16 in Tampa at the AdventHealth Training Center, the official indoor training facility of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
