BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — After making it to the quarterfinals in the Alabama High School Athletic Association 6A/7A flag football playoffs last year for the first time in school history, Opelika High School’s flag football team knew it could make it back.
The Lady Bulldogs (8-6) did just that by overcoming a late scare to secure a 15-7 second-round victory over Dothan High School (8-5) at Bulldog Stadium on Nov. 13.
After the game, OHS head coach Tiara Harris credited the preparation her team puts in during practice, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, for giving them the advantage over the Lady Wolves.
“We try to keep all of them encouraged, really, and we keep our defense moving throughout practice,” Harris said. “We have a lot of reps of doing things with defense, keeping them moving, keeping their feet quick, just doing a lot of drills for times like this.”
For Jasmine Smith, who scored both of the Lady Bulldogs’ touchdowns — one on offense and one on defense — her performance was indicative of the leadership role she’s expected to play.
“I think it just shows that my role as a senior on this team is to come and show out and help my team and lead, and when I’m here, to come out and give my all and play every game like it’s my last game,” Smith said. “We’ve just got to keep on our A-game the whole game and stay up no matter what.”
Junior pass rusher Harper Threat reveled in the chance to play in such an important game at home in a season that featured few home games and said the team’s commitment to consistent energy helped them secure the win.
“It feels amazing because this is like our third home game,” Threat said. “We haven’t really had any home games for real, so it’s kind of exciting that we had a playoff game here and won. All we did was just stay on our A-game and make sure we had the same type of energy. I really feel like when we had that one touchdown [Smith’s 40-yard pick six], it obviously brought the energy up.”
Despite several big plays from both teams on both sides of the ball throughout the first quarter, neither team could consistently move the ball much past midfield.
Then, Makayla Shambry broke the deadlock with a gorgeous, high-looping 54-yard TD pass to Smith with 7:03 left in the second quarter that gave OHS a 6-0 lead after the extra point attempt was no good.
On the Wolves’ very next drive, Smith extended the Lady Bulldogs’ lead after stepping in front of a DHS pass at midfield and raced 40 yards for a pick six with 4:30 left in the second quarter. Jaylee Williams converted the extra point attempt with a short catch from Shambry that made it 13-0.
Not long after that pick six, Khyleigh Maddox intercepted the ball near the DHS 35 yard line and ran through numerous flag pull attempts to the Lady Wolves’ 15 yard line. However, self-inflicted mistakes and pre-snap penalties by OHS prevented them from adding to their lead.
Just when it appeared that the first half would end with OHS up 13-0, Threat sacked DHS’ quarterback in the end zone for a safety to put the Lady Bulldogs up 15-0 with 1:08 left before halftime.
Following halftime, the game became a defensive stalemate between the two teams until the Lady Wolves shrank the deficit with a one-yard TD pass and a successful extra point conversion with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
DHS then nearly fought back to within a two-point conversion attempt away from tying the game by returning an interception down to the OHS one yard line. With time having expired, the referees determined that the Lady Bulldogs did not commit a penalty and ended the game.
OHS faced No. 10 nationally-ranked Central High School (17-0) at Garrett-Harrison Stadium on Nov. 18. While the Lady Red Devils defeated OHS 54-0 on Sept. 2, Harris said her team had put that game in the rearview mirror while building on their steady improvement since then.
“I’m going to be looking for them to keep the same energy that they’ve had and keep themselves up regardless, because it’s easy to let something psyche you out, especially with them being so highly ranked,” Harris said. “But we’re just going to go out there and give it our all and do what we know to do.”
The Observer will include coverage of that game in our Nov. 26 edition.
