GREEN COVE SPRINGS - In a recent flag football rankings poll, the undefeated Clay High flag football team, 8-0, was ranked at No. 1 above the nine-time state champion Tampa Robinson team, 6-1-0.

What?

"I'll be honest man," said Clay coach Jared Moses, who got a state semifinal berth last year. "When Robinson is the nine-time state champion, they are number one in my book no matter how many losses they have. They are the standard for flag football in Florida."

Though Moses acknowledged seeing the number one spot, he warns his team to be wary.

"I try and tell them to stay off of that stuff, stay humble, stay grounded," Moses said. "Our strength of schedule should have been better than what we ended up with, but not for not trying. We had phone calls back and forth with Ponte Vedra, Lyman and Final Four Garcia down in South Florida and things just didn't work out."

Moses has a week's worth of games left on the regular season schedule with a season finale against a Tallahassee Chiles team that is ranked 13th in the FHSAA Florida ranks with Clay at 19th and Robinson at fifth. Clay is ranked eighth in Class 2A and 30th in Florida and in the U.S. Robinson is ranked number one in Class 2A.

"I tell the girls every day, it's a little cliche, but we have to focus on us regardless of who we are playing," Moses said. "Fletcher is coming, they are good. Fleming Island is coming. They have been a playoff contender every year and then Chiles is Chiles (9-1). We don't have room to let up."

One wrinkle in the Blue Devils' game plan —though Moses admitted that it is practiced every day in a propensity for the Clay key ball handlers, quarterback Teaghan Moses, with wide outs Tatum Waugh, Charlotte Glavin, Charlotte Andrus and all-around athlete Cora Parker —is a rugby-like finish of most plays that has produced surprising breakaways as it did recently in a 52-0 win over Ridgeview that had 33 points in the first half.

"We do talk about using it, we practice, but it seems the girls have taken a liking to it," Moses said. "It is risky, but it also can be a game changer with the quick grabs of some of the better defensive teams we will face in the playoffs. A good team will know about it."

Clay has Fletcher, Fleming Island and Gainesville before Chiles visits on April 14. Chiles is ranked ninth in the U.S. and in Florida and third in Class 3A behind Seminole Ridge (10-1) and Ponte Vedra (10-0).
"Chiles we saw earlier in preseason at the Jaguars tournament, and they are going to be a good team to play before the playoffs," Moses said.