A big part of the success being enjoyed by the Keiser University women’s flag football team this spring can be attributed to the contributions by four graduates of Seminole Ridge High School — Haylie Young, Sophia Caprio, Chloe Griffin and Emma Wagenman.
The Seahawks flag football team — led by head coach Samantha Harris, herself a 2007 graduate of Seminole Ridge — has put together an impressive 10-1 start to its current season, thanks largely to the contributions of the four former Hawks.
As the starting quarterback, Young has completed more than 80 percent of her passes this spring; she is 228-for-282 through the first 11 games. She has also thrown 56 touchdown passes and just four interceptions. Young has passed for 2,367 yards, and her longest pass completion is for 79 yards to Ashlea Klam, which is the longest pass completion in program history. That record pass completion took place on Thursday, March 27 during the team’s 65-0 win at home against Point University from Georgia. Young also has two rushing touchdowns on the season.
Through the first 11 games, Caprio has caught 54 passes for 419 yards and seven touchdowns. Her longest catch was for 17 yards. After 11 games, Griffin has 39 catches for 539 yards and nine touchdowns. Her longest reception was for 66 yards. Griffin also has three rushing attempts for 11 yards and has also completed one pass attempt for 12 yards.
Wagenman is making her mark on defense. So far on the season, she has recorded 10 solo tackles, of which four have been quarterback sacks. On offense, she has caught one pass for 12 yards. After the team’s first 11 games, Keiser’s offense is averaging 52.7 points per game, while the defense has only allowed 39 points for the entire season. Seven of Keiser’s wins have been shutouts.
To date, Keiser’s only loss has been a 20-19 defeat on the road at Sun Conference rival Thomas University of Thomasville, Georgia, on March 19. That game featured a pair of dueling quarterbacks with high school roots in the western communities — Young from Seminole Ridge for Keiser and freshman Keelin Coleman for Thomas, who graduated from Wellington High School last May.
In that game, Coleman threw a game-tying touchdown pass with a minute left in the fourth quarter, followed by the go-ahead and eventual game-winning point-after-touchdown pass. In that game, Coleman was 19-for-29 for 214 yards and two touchdowns. For that performance, she was named the Sun Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
The Seahawks will conclude their 15-game regular season schedule on April 12 when they play Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens. After that, the squad will attempt to win the three-day Sun Conference postseason tournament set for April 17-19. Then, they will play in the NAIA’s flag football national finals in Atlanta, Georgia, in early May.
