The Fleming Island Golden Eagles flag football team suffered a 33-6 loss Saturday afternoon against the Alonso Ravens in the 2A FHSAA State Championship at Mandarin High School.
Fleming Island was quickly down in this game by a score of 20-0 with a few minutes left in the first half. However, Fleming manage their lone-scoring drive courtesy of a five-yard touchdown run from quarterback MyKayala Maddox with 1:54 seconds left of the second quarter.
For a brief moment, Fleming looked to repeat what they had done the previous day with a come-from-behind win over the Western Wildcats in the semi-final. However, the Golden Eagles failed to reach the endzone for the rest of the game, ending their historic season as the 2A FHSAA State Flag Football Runner-Up.
The Golden Eagles finished the season with a 16-1 record, with seven of those wins in the playoffs. Fleming Island dominated the local competition on offense and defense. The Golden Eagles' defense did not allow a single point until the second round of the playoffs in their week 11 win over the Mandarin Mustangs, 32-6.
The Golden Eagles' defense ended the season with 243 total tackles, 20 sacks and 29 interceptions. Gaby Musa led the team in tackles with 68, Ariana Pierce led the team in sacks with 10 and London Jenkins led the team in interceptions with eight.
Along with a stout defense, the Golden Eagles had the best offense in Clay County by a significant margin. In 17 games, Fleming Island scored 472 points, which is 27.76 points per game. Maddox was the focal point of the offense, with 1903 passing yards, 37 touchdowns and four interceptions with 1040 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns. Jenkins was the leading receiver for Fleming Island with 911 yards and 18 touchdowns on 54 receptions.
Fleming Island is a very young team with many returning starters that will push for the 2024 2A FHSAA State Championship. Some of those players include Maddox, Jenkins, Musa, Pierce, Emerson Tees, Megan Cobb, Devyn Dudones and Daisy Fletcher.
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