Girls flag football opening night a big hit

ELYRIA — Friday Night Lights has a new meaning this spring. Medina and Cloverleaf ventured into the world of girls flag football Friday night at Elyria Catholic, as the Northern Ohio Girls Flag Football League began Western Conference Orange Division play for the first time. The Bees and Colts are part of 121 teams across the state playing under support of the Ohio High School Athletic Association and sponsorship by the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. The first official state champion will be crowned in mid-May. Cloverleaf started the season with a 23-6 loss to Elyria, a school that had a program last year. That showed in the first half, as the Pioneers opened a 17-0 lead on a pair of Camryn Kelley touchdown passes and a safety on a dropped snap in the end zone. Elyria made it 23-0 after Alysa Boddy returned an interception for a touchdown. The Cloverleaf nerves subsided as the second half progressed, as the Colts collected their initial first down and put together an eight-play drive capped by a Maddison Steele pass to Rylee Winkelman for the first touchdown in program history. "That was really exciting. We had a lot of nerves with such a young team in that first half," Cloverleaf coach Sean Juszczyk said of his 14-player roster that has 13 freshmen. "I was really impressed how we settled down and played so well in the second half. It really was a tale of two halves." The Colts' second game didn't go quite as well, losing 32-0 to Midview. Medina picked up its first win, beating Oberlin 19-0. The Bees then faced Elyria in a back-and-forth affair that wasn't decided until the final minute, when the Pioneers pulled out a 24-18 win. Freshman Haylie Perdue set the tone with a pick-six on the Pioneers' first possession to give Medina a 6-0 lead. Elyria played from behind the whole game, tying on a Kelley Bella Sauer score. That lead didn't hold, as Perdue hit Morah Shumar on the final play of the first half for a 12-6 lead after the missed point-after attempt. "I thought our team did really well, even when things weren't going our way," said Perdue, who completed 6-of-9 passes. "I really didn't expect to do so much, but my team was right there with me, and we just kept fighting until the end." Elyria wasted no time, tying again on the first play of the second half via another Sauer TD, but the Bees' offense kept rolling when Perdue hit Courtney Snow to snag an 18-12 advantage. Medina nearly went up two scores after Perdue's second interception, but a fourth-down pass by Zakhia Long was broken up in the end zone by Elyria's Kam Scott. The Pioneers used that defensive momentum to get a Sauer-to-Kelley TD pass to knot the game at 18, and Elyria's Alysa Boddy ripped the game away from the Bees with a pick that turned into a Nalani Vinovich score before Boddy added a second interception that sealed the win. "This was such a great opportunity for the girls and the school to experience flag football for the first time," Medina coach Kevin Bowers said. "I think this is going to turn into something big, and it's great to be on the ground floor of this game." Contact James Brady sports@medina-gazette.com. Results Elyria 23, Cloverleaf 6 CLOVERLEAF&emsp;0 6 — 6 ELYRIA&emsp;17 6 — 23 First E — Nalani Vinovich pass from Bella Sauer (Sauer 2-point pass from Camryn Kelly) E — Vinovich pass from Kelley (Vinovich 1-point pass from Kelley) E — Safety (dropped snap in end zone) Second E — Alysa Boddy interception return (pass failed) C — Rylee Winkelman pass from Maddison Steele (pass failed) Other score: Midview 32, Cloverleaf 0 Elyria 24, Medina 18 MEDINA&emsp;12 6 — 18 ELYRIA&emsp;6 18 — 24 First M — Haylie Perdue interception return (run failed) E — Bella Sauer pass from Camryn Kelley (pass failed) M — Morah Shumar pass from Perdue (run failed) Second E — Sauer pass from Kelley (pass failed) M — Courtney Snow pass from Perdue (run failed) E — Kelley pass from Sauer (pass failed) E — Nalani Vinovich pass from Kelley (pass failed) Other score: Medina 19, Oberlin 0