After what seemed like a long time coming, girls flag football finally named its first champion as a WPIAL-sanctioned sport.
In a battle of two unbeaten teams, Shaler jumped out to an early lead and shut down a potent Plum attack to come away with the championship, 34-0, on Thursday at Upper St. Clair high school.
When the medals were being hung around the necks of the victors, the tears that flowed were tears of joy and proved just how much passion the players have for the sport.
“It’s impossible to put my feelings into words,” said Shaler sophomore Lil Trgovic. “We worked so hard last year but came up short, and to win it this year is the best thing to happen to me. Flag is the best sport out there. Winning the WPIAL title means the world to me.”
After losing in the semifinals last year to eventual champion Upper St. Clair, Shaler went undefeated to win the inaugural WPIAL girls flag football title.
“We were so close last year, and I promised my girls that I was going to get them a WPIAL title,” Shaler coach Rob Heinrich said. “It means the world to me. These kids worked hard, they deserve it.”
Added senior quarterback Paige Querio: “We got back on our feet after that loss last year and knew we had things we needed to work on to be successful. We added a lot of new things as well. But it was our love of the game that really fueled us.”
From the outset, it was clear that Shaler had the faster players and their speed made them elusive on offense and suffocating on defense, swarming to Plum ball carriers and not allowing receivers to gain anything after the catch.
Led by Querio, who is a team captain, and Trgovic, Shaler punched hard and fast into the Plum defense and put up points quickly.
“It’s like thunder and lighting,” Heinrich said. “Lily is so quick, so elusive and can be a distraction. Paige can go down the field with it and can hand it to Lily, who can take it to the house any time she touches the ball. It’s a dynamic one-two punch.”
On its opening possession, Shaler (17-0) capitalized on a 40-yard pass from Querio to Emily Thomas. Trgovic then scored on a 5-yard run, and the Titans tacked on a one-point try to take a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Plum (16-1) quarterback Kaiden Young was intercepted by Titan defender Zoey Cieslak, who took it 26 yards for a touchdown. Again, the Titans added the extra point and were up 14-0 with five minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Titans would finish off their third drive of the first half a minute into the second quarter, when Querio found Alexis Claycomb streaking across the middle for a 6-yard touchdown. Querio found Trgovic in the back of the end zone to put Shaler up three scores.
Querio finished the championship game completing 16 of 19 passes for 120 yards and two TDs.
It was a tough night for the Plum offense, which averaged nearly 30 points a game heading into the championship game.
Young was held in check, completing 17 of 33 passes for 107 yards with two interceptions. On the ground, the Mustangs could muster only 35 yards.
Although down 21-0 going into the half, Plum could lean on the fact it had forced Shaler to turn the ball over on downs its last two possessions of the half.
Coming out of the break, the Mustangs again forced Shaler into turning the ball over on downs and had a good drive going. But Young’s pass out in the flat was deflected and intercepted by Shaler’s Octavia Dixon, who returned it to the Plum 3-yard line.
Thomas punched it in on the next play, and Trgovic added the extra point to put the game virtually out of the reach with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.
Shaler added one more score as Querio found Trgovic for a 30-yard TD pass midway through the fourth to put the game on ice.
Trgovic led the Titans on the ground with 60 yards on 15 carries and a TD. She also caught four passes for 47 yards and a touchdown.
The Mustangs defeated No. 3 Moon out of Section 4 by a score of 26-13 in the second semifinal of the evening behind seven interceptions by the defense and a pair of touchdown passes by Young.
West had three interceptions and caught a touchdown pass, Hayden Wawrzyniak picked off Moon quarterback Sydney Ray twice and also caught a touchdown.
Brooke Dugas returned another interception 64 yards for a score, Isla Filo took a handoff 65 yards for a touchdown and Young also had an interception for Plum.
In the first semifinal matchup, Shaler took down No. 2 seed Mt. Lebanon (14-2) out of Section 2 by a score of 26-13.
Caroline Decheck scored early in the first quarter to give the Titans a 6-0 lead that they would hold onto going into the half.
Ava Silva caught a 3-yard pass from Caroline Rost as Mt. Lebanon pulled even at 6-6.
Shaler’s Cieslak had a 63-yard pick-6, and Trgovic ran the ball in from 25 yards to give the Titans a 19-6 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Mt. Lebanon answered on their next drive as Lily Schaerli scored from 1 yard. Shaler would strike again as Thomas punched in another score to seal the win for the Titans.