The fastest growing sport in America for the past five years is girls flag football. And on May 30, a group of young ladies from Ponte Vedra made history in the sport.
The Panthers Elite went into the prestigious Gridiron Flag Football Tournament in Clay County and became first team ever, boys or girls, to win two divisions. Led by quarterback Olivia Bishop, the Panthers won the 14u and high school tournament on the same day. Wide receiver Olivia Neary, pass rusher Kendall Anderson and the dual threats Finley Tucker and Anna Moses, dominated the competition in the 14u until a tight championship game vs the Clay County Vipers. With the score tied and only 15 seconds left, the speedster Leighton McGarvey scored the championship winning touchdown on a bomb from Bishop.
“I saw Leighton had one-on-one-man coverage and no safety helping on her side, and I knew, game over,” said Bishop, who had 22 TDS and 0 INT on the day.
In the high school tournament, the roster added Braylen McGarvey, Hanna Mason, Sydney Fernandez, Taylor Wyman and Arriana Bonilla-Cuesta. This provided a shot in the arm of energy as the high school team went 5-0 and brought home the second championship of the day.
In the opening game of that tournament, Neary scored four TDS vs the powerhouse travel team, Fusion, in a 33-0 win. In a rematch with Fusion in championship game, Tucker’s TD reception with under a minute left clinched the win 16-3.
On the day the Panthers went 9-0 and outscored opponents 196-30.
Team captain Vivian LeBlanc summed up the day perfectly: “There were a lot of teams here with a dream, but only one team had a mission ... us.”
