The Brockport Women’s Flag Football team hosted Elmira College for the second matchup of inaugural Empire 8 Flag Football season. The Golden Eagles found consistency in defense, as the Golden Eagles defeated the Elmira Soaring Eagles 38-12 in the Battle of the Birds.
We feel great,” Head Flag Football Coach Charrise Everett said. “The girls faced a little adversity with the penalty, but we didn’t quit. We didn’t quit. We recomposed ourselves, and we kept playing, and we got the victory. They should feel really good.”
Brockport won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, with Elmira receiving the opening kickoff. Following a roughing the passer call on the Brockport rusher, Analysia Sosa, Elmira took advantage and open the game with a bang, as quarterback Hannah Smith threw a touchdown to wide receiver Kylie Hook to go up 6-0 early following a failed point-after-attempt. This was a controversial call on the Brockport sideline. Everett and her team believe that Hook had her flag pulled several yards away from the endzone.
“I’m watching the film,” says Everett. “But I’m quite sure she was about four yards short. But it is what it is, nothing we can change. We just got to put more points up than them, and that’s what we did.”
Later in the first quarter, first year Brockport quarterback Madison Beardsley threw an interception to Hook. The Golden Eagles responded with an interception of their own, with defensive back Ava Seelbach getting her first pick of the night.
Senior quarterback Megan Gerber got Brockport’s first touchdown of the night, rushing for 18 yards into the endzone, spinning through multiple defenders without her flag being pulled. With a failed point-after-attempt, Brockport tied Elmira 6-6.
After a punt back to Brockport, wide receiver Addy VanDewater brought in her first touchdown of the day on a 25-yard throw from Beardsley. The first year stays hot after coming off a five-reception, 156-yard game with four touchdowns.
Gerber was unable to convert the PAT, leaving the Golden Eagles to open the second quarter ahead 12-6.
Following both teams being unable to move the ball. Elmira took advantage of another Brockport defensive penalty, with Smith finding wide receiver Faith Igber open down the seam for a 22-yard touchdown. Elmira failed the PAT, tying Brockport 12-12 with nearly seven minutes remaining in the first half.
Brockport did not hesitate to respond, with Beardsley finding tight end Trelani Harper, who ran into the endzone for a 10-yard touchdown following a roughing the passer penalty on the Elmira defense. Beardsley completed the first PAT of the night, putting Brockport up 19-12 with four minutes remaining in the half.
On the next drive, Smith threw another interception to Seelbach, marking her second interception of the night. Brockport’s offense ended its second half with a deep touchdown from Beardsley to VanDewater for her second of the half.
With another failed PAT and preventing any Elmira scoring, Brockport went into halftime with a 25-12 lead.
Brockport began the second half with the ball. The third quarter resulted in no scoring on either side, with both Brockport and Elmira unable to find the endzone. Brockport’s Harper made an impressive catch before the end of the quarter, bringing down the ball with multiple defenders fighting with her mid-air.
The fourth quarter opened with a Brockport sack from the versatile Lauren Cundra, who lined up all across the Brockport defense.
“I think I got beat a couple times back at safety, but this defense is really good at making adjustments,” Cundra said. “We have a lot of players that can step in, and we put someone back at safety. I went to rusher and I just did my job.”
In their first fourth-quarter offensive drive, Beardsley found Harper for the tight end’s second touchdown of the night. The 34-yard pass set Brockport ahead 31-12 after another failed PAT from the Golden Eagles
Following a sack from Sosa, Brockport’s third of the night, Elmira was forced to punt the ball back to Brockport with four minutes remaining in the game. Caitlynn Haugh fielded the punt and almost returned it for a touchdown, coming up two yards short.
However, VanDewater ensured Haugh’s efforts did not go to waste, immediately catching her third touchdown pass from Beardsley. With the PAT completed, Brockport went up 38-12 and Elmira was unable to add to the scoreboard, as Brockport did not allow a single score the entire second half.
Beardsley ended her day going 13/25 with 218 passing yards and 5 passing touchdowns while leading Brockport in rushing, going for 94 yards on 15 attempts.
Gerber rushed a total of 5 times for a gain of 38 yards and a touchdown on the ground, with one pass attempt. Haugh contributed one rush for 11 yards.
Harper led Brockport’s receiving corps in, finishing with three catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns. VanDeWater led in touchdowns, snagging 4 passes for 53 yards and 3 scores. Haugh contributed 3 catches for 30 yards, while Grace Guarino contributed two catches for 50 yards.
Defensively, junior defensive back Ariana Kennedy led Brockport with 10 total flag pulls, with Cundra and outside linebacker Ava Leyh both contributing with 7 pulls. Cundra finished her night with two TFLs, along with Seelbach, who also contributed two interceptions. Gerber tacked on a flag pull and a TFL of her own. Harper only punted once, going for 25 yards.
With the win, Brockport extends its win streak to four, but the Golden Eagles know there is much more to improve.
“They’re silly penalties that are costly,” Everett said. “We’ve just got to be more disciplined. But they’re just silly penalties we shouldn’t be having, because we’re bailing the team out. Third and long, and we get a penalty, and it’s an automatic first down. So that’s something that we are just going to have to continually work on. I love their aggressiveness, but we got to be smart while we’re being aggressive.”
Cundra highlighted the team’s athletic ability and versatility, allowing for more flexibility in play-calling and greater fluidity in their defensive strategy.
“I can do different things than like Sosa [Analysia Sosa] can when she’s rushing,” Cundra said. “I think against this quarterback, we had to get there fast, get our arms up if we needed to. We have a bunch of pieces, and we can just get the job done if we need to.”
With two Empire 8 matchups remaining before the conference tournament, the Golden Eagles are eyeing a first seed qualification. Cundra has confidence and believes that Brockport is poised to earn the top spot.
“We’re feeling good,” Cunda said. “We take it one game at a time, but, as our coach said, this is one of three this week. We got to get two more and be the one seed. We don’t plan to lose any more games from here on out.”
The Golden Eagles hope to continue their streak before playoff competition. Brockport Flag Football (6-2, 5-1) will travel to face SUNY Geneseo (10-4, 5-1) this Friday, April 17th, with hopes of redeeming their inaugural home loss at 6 p.m.
