By Mike Zummo
The Highland Huskies’ flag football debut didn’t go exactly as planned.
The Huskies’ nerves showed as they gave up 35 points in the first half in a 41-6 loss to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders on Thursday at Highland High School.
“They were definitely nervous in the first half,” Highland coach Sam Valentino said. “When you look at the second half, we ended up tying them 6-6, but in the first half, there were nerves, mistakes and all that stuff they had to get out of their system. Then at halftime, they really picked it up.”
The Huskies struggled both offensively and defensively in the first half, as Highland quarterback Katherine Fitzgerald was intercepted four times in the first half leading to 28 of the Crusaders’ 35 first-half points.
However, the offense started moving the ball late in the first half as the time wound down, as Fitzgerald finally got into a groove completing passes to Myaisha Estrada and Aaliyah Ghafoor, getting to the Monroe-Woodbury 9-yard line.
However, an illegal procedure penalty and an incomplete pass took the game to halftime with the Crusaders leading 35-0.
“They struggled with the flag pulling, but the coverage was good,” Valentino said. “They are definitely just struggling in the flag pulling area, but it’s very hard to do.”
The Huskies’ most successful possession of the second half was their first when they marched 60 yards down the field for their only score of the game. The drive started off with four straight running plays by Bethany Childs and Aaliyah Ghafoor, moving the ball into Crusaders’ territory.
Then, Fitzgerald hit Alexis Violaris with a pass and then three straight runs by Fitzgerald put the ball in the end zone with 20:36 to go in the game.
The Huskies’ defense allowed only one touchdown in the second half as the Crusaders experimented with their offense. The score came on the heels of a fifth interception of Fitzgerald.
However, the second half was a vast improvement for the Huskies.
“Their energy was a lot different (in the second half),” Valentino said. “They finally got their nerves out and a little bit of good-old yelling got them going.”
The Huskies had six days to prepare for their next game, a road trip to Newburgh Free Academy to face the Goldbacks.
“They did very well,” Valentino said. “I’m impressed. I think they’re going to keep doing really great things, and they’re going to keep improving game-by-game.”