Tags Posts tagged with "girls flag football"

girls flag football

In leading the Hauppauge Eagles flag football team to a perfect regular season, freshman quarterback, middle linebacker and punter Taylor Mileti virtually never stepped off the field.  She will now have to wait 10 long months to step back on it.

After beating Longwood in the opening round of the playoffs last Thursday, Half Hollow Hills rolled into town and shut out the Eagles 13-0 on Monday in the Section XI semi-final game. Hauppauge’s inaugural season ended after 12 straight wins and a League I regular season title. They were the number one seed coming into this playoff tournament and Hills was seeded fourth.

Mileti’s father Steve is the Eagles head coach. 

“They have a very good team over there and they earned that victory,” said Coach Mileti. “They played a good man coverage, and the ball just didn’t bounce our way today.”

Half Hollow Hills has a two-way superstar of their own in Jahniya McCreary. Aside from scoring both Hills touchdowns, McCreary had seven flag pulls, an interception, and a sack from her middle linebacker position. The Lady Thunderbirds defense gave Mileti and her offense no room to breathe for most of the afternoon.

“We came in hungry and had a mission to win,” said the senior McCreary. “We remembered what happened the last time we played them and did not want that to happen again.”

Hauppauge beat Half Hollow Hills 6-0 on April 14 when Mileti scored a late touchdown on a 50-yard run.

“Jahniya is one of the best players on Long Island,” said Hills head coach Michael Lupa. “She flies to the ball on defense and is a threat to score from anywhere on the field on offense. She was the most valuable player of the game tonight.”

After a scoreless first half, McCreary scored on the T’Birds opening possession of the second half when she took a wildcat snap and sliced up the middle for a two-yard touchdown run. McCreary had six catches for 140 yards on the day, including a bomb of a touchdown from 48 yards from quarterback Sami Heyman to seal the game with under six minutes remaining. Heyman, who like Mileti is also a freshman, was 7 for 12 for 185 yards on the day. 

But it was the Thunderbird defense that set the tone in this tilt.

“They had a fast pass rush which made it difficult to complete passes,” said Taylor Mileti. “We had such an amazing season and we all worked so hard to get to this point. Losing this game definitely hurt but it’s just one game and we will come back and work hard next season to get to the next level.”

As Half Hollow Hills (13-2) prepares to take on Patchogue-Medford for the Suffolk County Championship on Thursday, Mileti, along with her disappointed teammates, will need to step away from the field — finally.

The Flag Football Force is strong in the reigning Long Island Champion Walt Whitman Wildcats. The Northport Lady Tigers found out the hard way.

On May the Fourth, Whitman blanked Northport 21-0, putting on a dazzling display of defensive dominance and offensive efficiency. The Lady Tigers, who have been beset by a rash of injuries, were on the business end of the Lady Cat light saber and dropped to 3-4-1 on the season and into seventh place in Suffolk Division I.  They will need to win their final two games against Amityville and North Babylon to qualify for the playoffs.

Whitman improved to 5-1 with the home win and are in the hunt for the division crown, which has developed into quite an interesting four-horse race. The Wildcats, along with Hauppauge, Half Hollow Hills and Sayville have a combined record of 24-4 at the start of this week and are fighting for first. The other seven teams in Division I are all below the .500 mark. This list now includes Northport. 

Tiger Head Coach Pat Campbell is not focused on the standings. He still has hope.

“This is our first year doing this thing, and I’m proud of way our girls have fought,” Campbell said. “That team [Whitman] won the Long Island Championship for a reason, and they have a really good defense that flies around the ball and gets to flags quickly. I thought we hung tough, but we made a few mistakes, and they took advantage.”

In what seems to be a trend across the flag football world, defensive touchdowns via interceptions are just as common as offensive touchdowns. That is exactly how the Lady Cats struck early in this game.

With Northport freshman quarterback Grace Gilmartin pinned against her own goal line, Lady Cat linebacker Brittny Cisneros Campos stepped in front of a short Gilmartin pass and waltzed in for a pick-six with 6:19 remaining in the first half. Just like that, the Empire had struck.

“Defense led the way for us today,” said Whitman Head Coach Ralph Milazzo. “Brittny is all over the place and has been the leader of our defense all year.”

Cisneros Campos, an 11th grader who wears number 11, led Whitman with nine flag pulls, four of which were behind the line of scrimmage, against Northport in addition to her interception and was part of a defense that swarmed around the ball from the opening whistle to the final gun. They had three interceptions on the day, four sacks and an incredible 12 total tackles for loss. Lady Cat DL Mary Pohalski had half a dozen of these TFLs.

“I never expected to have a defensive touchdown,” said the giddy Cisneros Campos. “It felt amazing to score one.”

Giving up a defensive touchdown and falling behind early is a pattern that is not unfamiliar to Lady Tiger fans, as this scenario has occurred in games against Half Hollow Hills and Hauppauge — both losses. 

Exacerbating matters, Northport is now on its sixth starting center — the position that is responsible for snapping the ball to and protecting quarterback Gilmartin from the defensive rush. Starting center Isabella Bica was lost to a wrist injury three weeks ago, and Sarah Power, Nina Corbett, Brooke Kershow and Nina Scala have all gone through what has become a revolving door for Campbell at this critical position. 

Stephanie Milonas, who is a quick scatback type of runner and pass-catcher, filled in dutifully on this day. She was fine snapping the ball, but the Wildcat defensive front was easily able to generate constant penetration and chaos in the freshman Gilmartin’s backfield.

“There are no excuses, and we always say, ‘next girl up,’ but we need to do a better job of blocking,” said Campbell, whose offense couldn’t generate much in the way of passing or rushing yards because of the relentless Whitman pressure.

The Wildcats would get another touchdown just before halftime that was set up by another interception, this time by Whitman cornerback Britany Delao Romero, who read a pass intended for WR Kenzie Bliven and returned it all the way to the Tiger 8-yard line. Two plays later, it was 14-0 in favor of Whitman.

As the defense grabbed many of the headlines for the Wildcats, senior quarterback Ava Seifert played an efficient game, completing 21 of 33 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns. She sprayed the ball around to five different receivers, including nine completions to Wildcat basketball superstar Iris Hoffman. Seifert is hungry for another long, successful playoff run.

“It would be a really cool way to end my senior year and athletic career at Walt Whitman High School,” said Seifert of the prospect of another Long Island Championship. “Our coaches have put a lot of effort into making us successful and preparing us for each game.”

Milazzo has been pleased by Seifert’s handling of the offense and its ability to play complimentary football with his ferocious defense.

“Ava has been great for us,” Milazzo said. “She’s been in our system for two years with a lot of pressure on her shoulders and she continues to step up and make great plays.”

In its final two games, it is Northport who will need to find a way to step up and make great plays if this young team, made up of mostly underclassmen, is to fulfill their playoff destiny — while they still have control of it.

With two games of the inaugural flag football season left, the Patriots of Ward Melville (5-1-1), in second place one game behind top seeded Patchogue, hosted the Sharks of Eastport-South Manor (3-4) in a League II matchup May 9. 

The Patriots struck first when sophomore Julia Dank broke free and went the distance for the score 10 minutes into the opening half followed by a touchdown pass from Kaitlyn Lawrence to Lydia Cuff to make it a two-score game. Eastport-South Manor answered when they scored with 16 seconds left and with the point after, trailed 12-7 at the halftime break. Dank scored again to open the second half on a 22-yard run but again Ward Melville failed at the point after attempt, to edge ahead 18-7. Both teams traded touchdowns late in the game, but Ward Melville slammed the door shut winning 25-13.

The Patriots retake the field May 11 with a road game against William Floyd before post season play begins Tuesday, May 16. 

The Hauppauge girls flag football team remained undefeated after shutting out the Northport Lady Tigers on Monday, 21-0.

They are now 6-0 in their maiden season, have the most wins on all of Long Island, and are 5-0 in League I play. Northport, who had their three-game winning streak snapped, falls to 3-2.

Hauppauge freshman quarterback Taylor Mileti was 9 for 13 and tossed two touchdowns passes. She played well in all three phases of the game, collecting 10 flag pulls on defense, had two interceptions and punted the ball effectively on special teams. One of her punts was downed at the Northport one-yard line and on the next play from scrimmage, Hauppauge was able to force a Lady Tiger safety for two points. Eagle receiver Melissa O’Connor had seven receptions for 46 yards, and H Back Meredith Terracciano had caught a 40-yard TD bomb from Mileti in the first half.

Northport Freshman quarterback Grace Gilmartin had a much rougher day as she threw six interceptions, the last of which was returned for a touchdown at the final gun by Francesca Gatien. Gilmartin was pressured by a relentless Lady Eagle pass rush that was aided and abetted by an injury to Northport center Isabella Bica.  Northport’s replacement centers were having trouble snapping the ball back to Gilmartin with sufficient velocity, and she was forced to scramble and hurry her throws. In Northport’s two losses this year, they have committed a combined 10 turnovers.

Despite giving the six turnovers, Northport’s defense was responsible for 12 of Hauppauge’s points as Tiger defensive linemates Kenzie Bliven and Caroline Bender combined for 14 flag pulls — five of which were behind the line of scrimmage.

Hauppauge tried to roll a lucky seven in a row when they traveled to Huntington on Wednesday. Results were not available at press time. Northport will look to get back on the winning track on the road at Lindenhurst on Friday, April 21.

— Photos by Steven Zaitz 

by -
0 1509

The Hauppauge Lady Eagles Flag Football opened their regular season on Wednesday, March 29, but not before they had a rainy scrimmage against Sachem North on Monday, March 27.

Hauppauge is led by Steve Mileti, who is the boys head football coach for the storied West Islip Lions. They dominated this scrimmage, scoring numerous touchdowns and enjoying long gains, all the while not allowing the Flaming Arrows much of anything on this cold, damp afternoon.

Hauppauge running back Meredith Terracciano had a long touchdown gallop, and wide receiver Sarah Dukofsky caught a bomb from quarterback Taylor Mileti, the coach’s daughter, for another score. Sachem never managed to reach the end zone.

Hauppauge’s season started officially Wednesday evening  on the road vs. Harborfields. The result was unavailable at press time.

All photos by Steven Zaitz

Hauppauge High School was the scene this past Saturday for over 200 girls who will participate in flag football this year.  Suffolk County footballers from as far away as East Hampton and Eastport-South Manor were put through their paces at eight different drill stations as they steam ahead toward opening day. 

A little closer to home, Northport, Huntington, Sachem East, Amityville, Patchogue Medford, and of course, host Hauppauge all threw, ran, stretched and caught passes from coaches.  Eagles Head Coach Steve Mileti ran the running back and flag-grabbing drill and Northport Head Coach Pat Campbell and Assistant Coach Perry Marinelli taught receivers how to catch the ball and run routes. 

There was spirit of team building as the groups, comprised of a mash-up of girls from the participating schools, rotated around in 10-minute shifts, laughing and getting to know each other along the way. 

The girls flag football season starts locally on March 29 when Hauppauge travels to Harborfields. Northport’s first game is on April 3 on the road against Half Hollow Hills.