South players and coaches pose with their new gear from NikeTown. Photo by Kathleen Navarre
The NFL called on Alaska, and the South High flag football team answered in a big way against a team from The Big Easy.
Jillian Preston threw for two touchdowns and the Wolverines picked off four passes on defense in Thursday’s 13-0 victory over reigning Louisiana state champion De La Salle in the Nike Football Kickoff Classic in Beaverton, Oregon.
Brianna Bailey and Niveah Heartwell hauled in TD catches while Heartwell and Skylar Lind had two interceptions and Katrina Bush had two sacks for South.
The game was televised live on the NFL Network’s YouTube page and the pre-game show talked about De La Salle’s vaunted ‘no fly zone’ defense that helped the team go 10-0 and win the state’s inaugural state tournament last spring.
But the Alaskans flipped the script and shut out the Cavaliers behind first-year coach Travis Lyons’ bend-but-don’t-break defense. The Wolverines contained plays to the middle of the field and didn’t get burned on laterals.
They forced punts on De La Salle’s first two drives and picked off four passes in the second half to beat the second-year team out of New Orleans.
Flag football is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and this year made its debut as a high school sport in Louisiana. Meanwhile, Alaska has played flag football since 2006, back when The Last Frontier joined Florida as just the second state to make it an official girls sport.
Now it’s played all over the country.
Thursday’s game was a collaboration between Nike and the NFL as part of a national campaign to kick off the high school football season. The honorary captains were former NFL players Marshall Faulk, Keyshawn Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who watched the game from the South sideline.
They saw the Wolverines put on a show by putting on De La Salle.
South’s Niveah Heartwell and former 10-year NFL player T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Photo by Jocelyn Hemingway
Preston and Bailey connected on seven catches for 80 yards and a TD, including a late-game 28-yard score that sealed the deal with 2:45 left. Preston then found Lexus Luff for the 1-point conversion.
The junior quarterback completed 11-of-20 passes for 116 yards.
Preston orchestrated the offense nicely, spreading the ball around and hitting her targets. Late in the first half, she threw a dart down the right sideline to Heartwell in stride for a 26-yard TD at the 5:53 mark to give South a 6-0 lead.
To start the second half, Preston spread the ball to receivers Bailey, Luff and Jesenia Cortes on a 57-yard drive that included a couple runs by Bailey. The drive stalled after she was intercepted in the end zone.
Lind’s interception and 18-yard return gave the Wolverines great field position. On third and long, Preston hooked up with Bailey on an 18-yard pass play that put the ball at the 2-yard line. But a fourth-down pass was off the hands of the South receiver.
Heartwell’s interception gave the ball back to Wolverines, and this time they found pay dirt after Preston hit Bailey on a short pass and Bailey did the rest.
The junior playmaker zig-zagged through the De La Salle defense for a little shake and bake. Bailey finished with 120 yards of total offense in an MVP type performance.
South (3-0) return to Cook Inlet Conference play Tuesday against East.
