BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
PHENIX CITY — In the back end of a magical playoff run that included taking down two of the top five teams, the Smiths Station High School flag football team knew they faced a tall task against Central High School.
With a healthy dose of luck and a historic performance, the Lady Panthers figured they might be able to keep things close and pull off an upset for the ages against one of the nation’s top flag football teams.
Instead, the No. 1 Lady Red Devils continued their relentless march to the 6A/7A flag football state championship game with a 38-7 victory over SSHS at Garrett-Harrison Stadium on Nov. 25.
With the loss, the Lady Panthers finish their season with a 13-4 record and a semifinal appearance, making it the most successful season in the program’s short history. CHS improved to 19-0 and faced No. 2 Vestavia Hills High School (28-1) on Dec. 3 at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium. Results were not available by Monday’s press deadline.
Brooke Norred completed 21 of 33 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown, Lynzie Mounce caught the lone TD, and Korbyn Missildine caught six passes for 87 yards for SSHS.
Mariah Harrison completed 16 of 24 passes for 233 yards and accounted for five total TDs, Amya Brooks caught seven passes for 119 yards and three TDs and Lilly Bell ran for a TD for CHS.
The Lady Red Devils came out looking like a team seeking its third-straight title, scoring two TDs in the first quarter to secure an early 13-0 lead.
CHS’ good fortune then continued into the second quarter, with the Lady Red Devils scoring two more TDs to take a 26-0 lead going into halftime.
In the third quarter, Mounce finally got the Lady Panthers on the board with her TD as CHS also added its fifth score of the game to go up 32-7.
Playing in the fourth quarter was rare for the Lady Red Devils, whose games usually ended long before then because most of their previous outings ended under the mercy rule. CHS capped off the action with one TD in the fourth to end the scoring at 38-7.
