FLEMING ISLAND - Fleming Island Golden Eagle Flag Football looked to keep things perfect as the 2021 season continued after spring break, and Head Coach Clint Lyons knew this would be a tough one to get past.

“I always worry coming off of spring break,” said Lyons. “I stopped trying to practice over the break years ago because too many of the girls have plans.”

Facing Flagler Palm Coast was a tough opponent because the Bulldogs were already looking up, out of a hole and were ready to right their season after dropping their last three games.

The team wasted no time getting after things as they took the opening drive in for a quick score by Elizabeth Edwards, then gassed up what looked to be a bulldozer like offense to just roll over the Bulldogs all night, needing only a single punt all game. “They executed pretty well for coming off of spring break. As good as we can throw and catch it is as far as we’ll go.” In the end, the Golden Eagles sent the Bulldogs home, tail tucked between their legs with a 40-6 stomping that kept Fleming Island a perfect 3-0 as the team looked to District play Monday, traveling to Atlantic Coast.

Edwards got things kicked in gear early with the first of her two touchdown receptions on the evening to get Fleming Island up 7-0 on the team’s first possession. As the Bulldogs were attempting to even things up, Amelia Sailing said not so fast, jumped the Flagler receiver’s route and picked off the pass, then took it to the house for a pick-six interception with 3:28 until the half 13-0. The Golden Eagles stopped the Bulldog drive and ran their punt back to nearly mid-field. “Flagler Palm Coast is pretty tough to run against. On our normal routes, they corrected pretty good. But, on play action, they got caught looking.” At 3:58, Quarterback Makayla Maddox found Sailing in the endzone to push the score out to 20-0. The Bulldogs would again go three and out, punting back to the Golden Eagles, who worked their way back into the Bulldog end of the field. With 10.1 seconds until the half, facing a fourth down and inches to make the first down, Lyons pulled a rabbit out of the hat and instead of opting for the first down, went for the big prize and tossed one into the endzone where Mackenzie Kirk was sure hands, pulled the ball in and scored to go up 26- with 2.1 seconds to the half. In the third quarter, with 3:20 remaining, Fleming Island pushed the lead out further with another dominant drive capped off with another endzone pass for paydirt and a 33-0 lead. On the return drive, the Bulldogs showed they were not just rolling over as they hit a deep pass down the right sideline, then danced and bobbed around several Golden Eagle defenders who could not get a handle on the receiver’s flags. The first down pass went nearly coast-to-coast to finally put some Bulldog points on the board, 33-6, the first points scored against Fleming Island this season. The Golden Eagles would add one more score in the fourth quarter with a perfectly executed turn back to the quarterback pass as Alicia Reed went just over the goal line and looked for the ball, this time thrown by Kyanna Montoya. The spot pass and score put the team out front with what would end up being the final score, 40-6. “At the end of the day, when you play really good teams, you’re going to have to make a good catch with somebody around you. So we’ll keep throwing and catching and we’ll hope we get it. We’re not going to become masters in one more month, but it’s going to help us against a real good team.”