Girls flag football has been off to a ripping start in its inaugural WIAA sanctioned season. For Hazen, they were one of 16 teams in the first ever 4A state tournament.
This group of girls — where 12 of them played their first year of football — took on the Lincoln Lynx, but their season came to a close as they fell 15-14 in triple overtime on Feb. 7.
“This year was really special. Last year we had 20 kids in the program and one team. This year we had 50 and three teams. We had only 12 returners and for over half of the varsity team, it’s their first year ever playing. They battled and they are a close knit group,” head coach Gorav Singh said.
Senior Brecken Harris is a soccer player by trade, but joined a good amount of soccer teammates on the football field this winter.
“I’ve never been interested in football before last year. I only played with half of these girls for soccer. But the amount of team spirit that football and flag football has brought to the rest of the soccer team and the rest of the girls in our school is the most amazing experience. I didn’t think I would find this sort of community around flag football,” Harris said.
Hazen entered the state tournament after snagging the final spot in the state tournament in the District 2 tournament the week prior. Hazen fell to Woodinville before beating Redmond and Juanita to punch their ticket to the state tournament.
Brecken Harris tries to avoid a tackler from Lincoln. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Against Lincoln, the game was dominated by the Hazen defense. The Highlanders’ defense including overtime made eight stops inside the red zone against the Lynx. The biggest came at the end of regulation, when Marisa Aoki made a break on a pass, broke it up, but was called for pass interference.
All tied at 14, Lincoln had a chance to win, but Hazen forced an incompletion on an untimed down and forced overtime. The defense in overtime held Lincoln out of the endzone six straight times, in single and double overtime.
“They just trust each other and play aggressive. All season I told them if they are going to make a catch, make it as hard as possible. They have lived by that all season,” Singh said.
To get to overtime, Hazen converted on a massive fourth down in with 7:00 left in the game. It was fourth-and- 2 from the 17-yard line and Hazen had been running lots of routes short over the middle and to the boundary. After calling a timeout, Singh literally drew up a play based on how he thought Lincoln’s defense would react. Quarterback Taylor Kickbush found Aoki open down the seam for the game tying touchdown.
“That play wasn’t in our playbook. I came up with that one on the fly and trusted my players to make a play in the rain. I said we are taking a shot in the endzone and don’t flinch. I said throw it up and let Marisa make a play. Taylor made a great throw and Marisa made a great catch,” Singh said.
Marisa Aoki celebrated by her teammates after scoring a game tying touchdown. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Hazen had been fighting for the upper hand all game. With Lincoln scoring the first touchdown of the game, Hazen went to Keegan Castro at quarterback after alternating between the two all season. Castro responded right away, driving down the field, frequently targeting Mabel Egan.
Egan was the target on the Highlanders’ first touchdown as she reeled in the pass from 9 yards out in the downpour of rain.
“To show that fight in this weather and triple overtime is hard to do. Walking off this field, regardless of how the game went, they fought for every minute. That’s all I can ask for as a coach,” Singh said.
The elements certainly played an impact as neither team really pushed the ball down the field, and relied on short passes and runs for the majority of the game.
Castro and Kickbush both present different play styles for Hazen. Castro is much more of a gunslinger and rips the ball all over the yard, while Kickbush has a more surgical approach, throwing to tight windows across the middle and to the flats.
But both quarterbacks pick each other up and have improved each other’s game all season.
“I don’t make it easy on the quarterbacks, but they both have different strengths, which gives me offensive variety. They can hit the deep ball, quick throw and great at making reads. They help each other out on the sidelines, when one is having a bad day the other builds them up,” Singh said.
Marisa Aoki walks off the field as Lincoln celebrates. Ben Ray / The Reporter
The two went to halftime tied at 7-7 and Lincoln came out in the second half with a scoring drive to take a 14-7 advantage.
Following the Aoki touchdown and defensive stand in regulation, Hazen had the ball first in overtime. The Highlanders went 0-3 on their three tries, forcing the defense to head back out and keep Lincoln out of the endzone again, which they did. In second overtime the defense stayed out on the field, and again held Lincoln out of the endzone.
All Hazen had to do was score on one of their three chances in double overtime to win, and on their second attempt, it looked like they had. Electing to go for one point from the 5-yard line, Kickbush took the snap and had Kaja Uzelac open, who caught the pass. Uzelac caught it and didn’t move, thinking she was in the endzone. But she was on the one yard line, not across the goal line.
“I would tell Kaja not to worry about it. She made plays all game rushing the quarterback on defense. She was the energizer on defense. She made fantastic plays all game. One play doesn’t determine the game,” Singh said.
Hazen missed their next two chances and Lincoln converted on their seventh attempt, first in triple overtime, to send the Highlanders home.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think it was our day. They have nothing to hang their heads about,” Singh said.
For Harris, joining the team making the state tournament is a moment she’ll never forget.
“I want to come back and watch the game. I really want to see what happens with this. … It’s a whole new experience that I am really proud to be a part of at the beginning,” Harris said. “It’s been a life changer.”
