Two years ago, Brockport Flag Football was an idea. One year ago, Brockport Flag Football was a club sport. This year, Brockport Flag Football is the inaugural Empire 8 Flag Football Champions.
“Wow,” Brockport Flag Football head coach Charisse Everett said on becoming the first ever Empire 8 Flag Football champs. “Everyday we spoke about it, we put it on the board every day and we never took our minds off of the end goal, which was winning the Empire 8. The plan never changed from winning and that’s what we did.”
Brockport Flag Football’s first season as a collegiate sport is nothing less than historic. Finishing with a 9-3 overall record and 6-2 in Empire 8 play, the Golden Eagles entered the postseason as the No. 2 seed and pulled out victories over Hartwick (47-18) and Elmira (36-31) to win the first Empire 8 Championship.
The journey didn’t start this season though, it has been years of work. It started at the club level, just learning the game which progressed through the offseason with installments, conditioning, film study and team building to create the future Empire 8 champs.
“We started at the bottom and then brick by brick, just adding something new to practice every week and making sure they were growing and developing the right way,” Everett said. “It was good and having that patience and building that trust is what helped this journey. We grew together, we trusted each other and they were all bought in from the beginning.”
In the inaugural season, Brockport played 10 regular season games, two out of conference with eight contests in the Empire 8. After years of behind-the-scenes work, the Golden Eagles flew to start the season with a 61-0 victory over D’Youville University. Brockport split its out-of-conference schedule though with a 33-13 loss to Robert Wesleyan the following game.
“The first game gave us an opportunity to see where we are and the second game tested us,” Everett explained. “I want to say we failed the test because we didn’t win but we also passed the test because it allowed us to have two games to compare. You have a game where you blew out a team and then you had a game where you had to fight for those 13 points, so it was a matter of seeing what I needed to do to prepare them for the Empire 8.”
In the Empire 8’s first season with flag football, only four other programs of the usual 12 teams had the sport including SUNY Geneseo, Hartwick, Elmira and Russell Sage. The Golden Eagles played these squads twice, once home and once away to round out the regular season.
Conference play is where the Golden Eagles found their stride. Brockport finished with a 6-2 record in the Empire 8, outscoring opponents 242-128 with their only two losses coming to top-seeded SUNY Geneseo (21-13; 27-19).
“I think we just clicked together and we started to realize our potential,” Everett said. “I think that first game against Russell Sage (26-12 W) was when we realized we’re here. Even though we lost to Geneseo, we lost by a touchdown. That was a back and forth game in which the girls didn’t lose sight of our potential and our ability. We knew we could compete with any team and I think knowing that helped us with our success.”
Brockport entered the postseason as the No. 2 seed ahead of No. 3 Hartwick and No. 4 Elmira while sitting behind Geneseo. After sweeping the regular season series over the Hartwick, the Golden Eagles pulled off the trifecta with a 47-18 semifinals victory totaling six touchdowns (five offensive, one defensive) and forcing two turnovers.
With two losses to Geneseo in the regular season, it looked like the Golden Eagles were going to travel to the home of the Knights to battle for the championship. But after a 34-26 upset by No. 4 Elmira, Brockport earned the opportunity to host the first ever Empire 8 Flag Football Championship.
In the championship, Brockport got hit first after Elmira carried its momentum from the semifinals to a 12-0 lead after the first quarter. Brockport responded though as the Golden Eagles outscored the Soaring Eagles 36-19 in the final three quarters to pull out a 36-31 victory and win the first Empire 8 title.
“All Gas No Brakes no matter what,” Everett stated. “We have to play four quarters, it doesn’t matter what the score says you can be up and end up losing and you can be down and end up winning. You don’t quit until :00 shows and the horn sounds and I preach that every pregame, every practice, every snap and every drill you have to give it your all.”
Many Golden Eagles had an impact on Brockport’s successful season and leading the way were dual-sport athletes senior quarterback Megan Gerber and first-year wide receiver Addy VanDewater. Gerber, a four-year Brockport Women’s Soccer athlete and VanDewater, a guard on the Brockport Women’s Basketball squad led Brockport’s high-powered offense.
Brockport averaged 33 points per game while holding opponents to 18. To go along with that the Golden Eagles rushed for 1779 yards (177.9/g) and 14 touchdowns while opponents 970 yards (97.0/g) for 10 touchdowns.
Brockport was just as dangerous through the air, passing for 1994 yards (199.4/g) and 33 touchdowns while opponents notched 1940 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Gerber finished with 915 yards through the air and 15 touchdowns while hauling in 13 receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver. The senior quarterback did most of her damage as a runner though, garnering 1249 yards on the ground with 14 touchdowns, averaging 124.9 yards/game.
When the pass game wasn’t working or the offense stalled, Gerber used her legs with two of her best games coming against Hartwick in the regular season and in the championship vs Elmira. In a 39-18 victory over Hartwick, Gerber rushed for a career-high 318 and five touchdowns. In the championship, the senior totaled 260 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
“Meg’s leadership was important to all of the success too,” Everett said. “Before the championship I went to her and told her ‘You are the person who has been in this position, who has played in a championship game, so they’re going to lean on you.’ It’s her motor to just keep going and I think when other girls see that, they’re like if she can do it, I can do it and they didn’t want to let each other down and hurt her motor. Being able to keep going, attack each play and be encouraging even if she made a mistake it was okay and we would do it again. That’s the next play mentality that we have so I’m definitely going to miss that and her overall presence.”
VanDewater led the receivers on offense with 40 receptions for 622 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging just over 62 yards a game. The first-year’s best game came in a 50-6 victory over Russell Sage where VanDewater caught five passes for 156 yards and four touchdowns.
“She was a quarterback and linebacker in high school but coming in I already knew we had Meg and Madison (Beardsley) so we didn’t need another quarterback. But just watching her from basketball games, she could jump and she can catch,” Everett explained. “It was a surprise to her moving to receiver but she took advantage of every rep, every opportunity and she just got better and better.”
The former defender out of Kenmore West switched to receiver this year, but due to injuries throughout the season, VanDewater went back to her roots on defense at linebacker and did not miss a beat. In a handful of games, the first year finished with 18 tackles including three for loss and three interceptions with two going all the way for touchdowns.
“When she came at first practice she thought she was on defense and when I told her she wasn’t she was like ‘What?’,” Everett commented. “Somebody got hurt though during the season and we needed a linebacker so I went to Addy because she played in high school and it was like magic. She knows the position, she can read the field and she attacks.”
The Brockport defensive mentality matched the high-energy offense. Holding opponents to half of the points they average, Brockport won eight of its nine games by two or more possessions with six coming by 20 or more points.
The complementary ball goes hand-in-hand with the Golden Eagles mindset of “All Gas No Breaks,” when they take the field for every game.
“Defense wins championships so that’s our biggest thing. We have to defend and if we can minimize how many times they cross that goal line we will be successful,” Everett stated. “If we weren’t aggressive we wouldn’t be in situations that we were in during the season at points. We allow someone to get five yards and grab the flag, that’s giving the other team momentum so we need to eliminate it. We are attacking the ball at all times, the game is we have to be better than them on both sides, offense and defense.”
Leading the defensive charge were graduate linebacker Cymbri Jefferson and junior safety Lauren Cundra. Jefferson was top five in tackles (62), sacks (1) and pass break ups (8) while Cundra led the Golden Eagles in interceptions with seven and PBUs with 15 while garnering 46 tackles, five tackles for loss and one sack.
Brockport is already looking ahead to next season to continue its dominance. With three recruits already committed for the 2027 season along with 22 of 30 Golden Eagles set to return for next year, Brockport is not rebuilding, but reloading.
“The biggest thing wasn’t rebuilding, but addition,” Everett said. “We have strong pieces so I was very strategic with recruiting because it’s not just ‘I want girls’. No, I need girls in certain positions because we have a strong team already, so we need to add. The recruiting class is coming in strong, they’re going to add and we’re going to keep going.”
There is no national NCAA DIII tournament this year due to the small number of collegiate flag football teams still, but with the rapid growth of flag football at this level it is inevitable that there will be one in the future. For Brockport, the Golden Eagles will keep preparing for that moment.
“The future is so bright and I’m excited,” Everett stated. “I’m excited that St. John Fisher is joining the Empire 8 next year and that’s just more conference games. But, this speaks to the Empire 8 and the value that they feel in women’s flag football.”
The Golden Eagles have finished the regular season and won the championship but still have Senior Day against Daemen on Friday, May 1 for the final game of the year.
It’s safe to say that the Golden Eagles inaugural season in the Empire 8 was a success. Going from a club to champions, the 2026 Brockport Golden Eagles Flag Football squad will go down in history.
