BALDWIN – Clay High flag football coaches John Stilianou and Jared Moses are both used to pressure situations with both being parts of the Clay High football machine that has seen numerous Final Fours in the past decade.

With that, the Lady Blue Devils won a 20-12 district title from a feisty Orange Park High team for the 4-1A crown on April 24 at Baldwin High.

“They (Orange Park) are very talented and that quarterback (Harlee Sharp) is a good athlete back there,” said Stilianou. “We had a few dropped balls and missed assignments, but we can correct that. We beat them 27-0 in the season and maybe thought they didn’t need to show up. From here on, we have to play as if it’s our last game because it really is.”

In semifinal action on April 23, Clay rolled over Westside 47-0 while Orange Park won a tense 20-19 game over host Baldwin.

In Class 2A, Fleming Island, the defending district 1-2A champion, and Oakleaf both lost in their semifinal matches at Mandarin High; 13-12 to Robert E. Lee for the Golden Eagles and 16-0 to Sandalwood for Oakleaf. Sandalwood beat Lee 24-0 to advance. Fleming Island lost in the region finals to Dr. Phillips of Orlando last year.

In district 5-1A, Keystone Heights beat top seed Lecanto 12-0 in their semifinal but fell to Belleview 33-12 in that championships held at Citrus High School.

Clay moves into the region semifinals with a Thurs., May 2 match at Terry Parker. Last year, Clay defeated Terry Parker but lost to Choctawhatchee in the region finals.

In Clay’s semifinal win over Westside, quarterback Ciara Zino continued her Joe Montana-like dominating play as the Blue Devil signalcaller with a first quarter touchdown pass to Alexis Stilianou from 10 yards out with a PAT pass to Kimber Griffin.

“We have her rolling out and making option decisions on the edge,” said Stilianou. “She’s become more of a runner lately because defenses are sitting back on our receivers. We take what is open.”

Up 7-0 into the second quarter, Clay exploded with scoring blasts; two runs for touchdowns from Zino; one off a Lester Hayes-like interception from safety Lea Plante. Now up 20-0, Griffin snagged a Deion Sanders-like pick six interception for a touchdown from 30 yards out to push the score to 26-0 with a PAT to Abby Hawkins upping the score to 27-0 with 3:30 to the halftime break.

A lofty punt return from Brookelyn Gerush put Clay inside the Westside 20 on the next exchange that turned into a Plante touchdown reception and a 35-0 halftime lead.

After the break, Plante ignited the Clay fans with a zig-zagging, Marcus Allen-like 40 yard run to score the game at 40-0 on the first play of the stanza.

For Orange Park, in their semifinal win over Baldwin, it was a Richard Sherman-like interception in the end zone from Savannah Lyons that was the difference as Baldwin came back to put the score at 20-19 with just 1:55 left in the game.

Baldwin scored first against the Lady Raiders after defender Naeyli Williams nearly snagged a Lem Barney-like interception on Baldwin’s first pass of the game.

From there, after two series exchanges, Baldwin hit a wide open receiver over the middle for a 20 yard touchdown to go up 6-0.

Sharp, showing some Fran Tarkington-like mobility in the pocket wheeled and dealed with passes to Jacie Ankrom, who showed off some Lance Alworth-like smoothness after catching quick out passes, and senior Rosa Sawyer, who has emerged as the Don Maynard of Raider football with her downfield catches, including a 55-yard scoring bomb against Fleming Island last week.

On the first scoring play for Orange Park, Sharp hit center Tori Cole over them middle who made a Gronk-like catch behind the Baldwin linebackers, then lateraled back to Sharp on the run who found Larickya Cummings sneaking downfield like Walter Payton to paydirt from 30 yards out.

Up 7-6 with Sharp’s pass to Sawyer on the PAT, Baldwin responded with a 40 yard run play from their John Riggins-looking tailback, but the Raider defense stiffened to force a punt. From 35 yards out, Cole made a John Mackey-like catch in the end zone to put Orange Park up 14-6 with Sharp adding the PAT point.

Just before the half, after an Ankrom interception that looked like Ronnie Lott-like steal, Sharp just missed Sawyer on the fly like Randy Moss on the final play of the half.

After the break, Sharp showed some Johnny Unitas-like coolness in the pocket before finding Cole at the one yard line. Sharp would plunge the yard in Earl Campbell-like power to give the Raiders a 20-6 lead after a pass to Jordan Kinsall for the PAT.

Baldwin was not letting Orange Park slip away with an easy fourth quarter as they rebounded with two scores; one a pass with just 27 seconds left in the third; the other, a scoring pass just after the two minute mark. Baldwin chose to go for the win, but Lyons made her interception.