Flag Girls End Season with State Win

The Dimond High School Varsity Flag Football girls have recently concluded their season with an outstanding State Championship game.

The girls had been practicing several times a week since August, and their hard work all paid off during their final game against the West High School Eagles.

West High School is Dimond’s biggest rival and after losing to them twice in previous games, Dimond finally took the win.

Savanna Wallace, a senior at Dimond and the team’s wide receiver, said, “The best moment of the season was beating West and becoming state champions,   especially for the seniors because it’s our last year. We all wanted this more than anything.”

Wallace is not alone in seeing the championship game as her favorite moment.

Victoria Johansen, a senior at Dimond and one of the team’s captains said, “The best moment of the season was beating West after they beat us two times and we beat them the time it counted.”

Haley Rogers, a sophomore at Dimond and the team’s wide receiver, said, “The best moment of the season was definitely winning State. All the emotion felt throughout the whole game is something I will never forget.”

Marian Sintos, a senior at Dimond and the team’s rusher and guard, said, “The game was so intense because of how close the scores were. Also, personally, I’ve never been a part of a championship game so it was pretty unforgettable.”

This game is something that Dimond’s Varsity girls will never forget. However, there were many memories made throughout the season.

Wallace said, “A memorable game was going in super nervous because we were about to play the defending state champs, Chugiak, for the first time and we shut them out 34-0.”

Makenna Boring, a senior at Dimond and one of the team’s captains, said, “The most memorable game for me was when we first lost to West. It was the first loss we had taken that season and we had all worked really hard.

“Before we had the game, we knew we were good enough to beat them. It was our own mistakes that made us lose. So it was really hard knowing that we could have beaten them, but ended up losing to ourselves,” Boring said.

“I think most of us cried, I certainly did, but remembering that feeling is what made us come back and beat them in the championship.”

Even the best team in the league will have hardships; it is what they do with them that makes them champions.

Desjorey Tasuvana, a senior at Dimond and a team starter on both offense and defense, said, “The hardest part of the season has to be the feeling of not being able to pull through or having the mindset where you’re unsure if you’ll be able to do your part because of how heavy the pressure is.

“There were many times where I didn’t want to disappoint my team, especially my coaches,” she said.

The fear of losing definitely was present among of the teammates and ended up being the most difficult to overcome.

Johansen said, “The hardest part of the season was losing to West one during Homecoming and once the week before State.”

Rogers said, “Losing to West twice was hard. Especially because it was only by one point the second game.”

Losing to West was a tricky mental block for the team to overcome. However, not all of the girls found this to be the biggest challenge.

Sintos said, “For me it was honestly the ladders.”

The ladders are one of the many exhausting drills they have to complete at practice.

Wallace said, “The hardest part of the season was having to tell Navarre that I was going to miss practice a day before a game to get my senior pictures.”

The majority of the team this year is made up of seniors. They were lucky to be able to gain such a large win during their final game.

Boring said, “As a senior, it was our last season. My team really bonded this year. After practices we would go bowling or barbecue or hang out at each others houses or visit Savanna Wallace at Target while she worked. We started the season strong and school made it hard for us to all hang out. I’m sad knowing I’ll never have something like that again.”

Johansen said, “I will miss flag a bunch, but I am just happy I ended my last game as a state champ.”

Tasuvana said, “Right after taking state, not even a week had passed and I missed playing on the field with my teammates. Just the memory of us all giving each other encouragement and telling one another ‘you’re okay keep your head up’ and ‘we got this,’ it really was a blessing.”

Rogers said, “I am going to miss it. I will be waiting for next season.”

Dimond will be back next year to hopefully take on State again.