Western earns second chance at state flag football title; Edison falls in semis

Elation for the Western Wildcats and deflation for the Edison Red Raiders.

That summed up the feelings of the two South Florida teams that reached the state semifinals in flag football on Friday.

Top-ranked Western (18-0) defeated Fleming Island, 34-13, on Friday night to advance to Saturday’s Class 2A championship game. Western will play second-ranked Newsome (20-1) at 4 p.m.

Newsome beat Western, 20-19, in last year’s state final.

Edison (14-2) blew a halftime lead and lost 21-14 to Choctawhatchee in a 1A state semifinal earlier on Friday. The Red Raiders have made it to the state semifinals four times in the past six seasons, but they have yet to win the ultimate title.

In the Western game, senior quarterback Sydney Ford tossed five touchdown passes and was intercepted just once. Western coach James O’Brien estimates that Ford completed 24-of-30 passes for 270 yards.

“She played out of her mind,” O’Brien said. “She’s the best quarterback in the state.”

Veronica McBride caught two TD passes. The other TD receptions were by Nandi Ramessar, Sydney Brennan and Lauren Holschauer.

“Everyone caught everything,” O’Brien said.

In addition, Ramessar had a big interception at the goal line on Fleming Island’s first drive.

By the third quarter, however, Western had a 28-0 lead and started putting in reserves to rest starters for Saturday, O’Brien said.

Ford said Western’s team chemistry was a major key.

“Our pre-game speech was about how it felt last year (to lose in the state final by one point),” Ford said. “We came out really hyped.

“This whole year has been to get to this point. We know how (Newsome plays). We’re glad we get the opportunity (to avenge the loss).”

In the Edison game, quarterback Lonesha Howell tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keisha Voilatre for a 7-0 lead.

A would-be Edison TD was called back due to a penalty, but the Raiders still went into halftime with a 7-0 lead.

“We were in the red zone three times in the first half,” Edison coach Vincent Hall said, “and yet we only got seven points.”

Choctawhatchee took advantage of Edison’s inefficiency, scoring twice in the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead.

With 5:30 left in the fourth quarter, Edison called a double pass, and it worked as Voilatre connected with Alexandra Harris for a 45-yard TD, tying the score 14-14.

However, with two minutes left in the game, Choctawhatchee scored on a long TD pass, helped by the Edison defender slipping and falling.

The Red Raiders had one more chance to tie the score, but they turned the ball over on downs, effectively ending the game.

“We dominated the first half,” Hall said. “But they outplayed us in the second half.

“No team had scored 21 points on us all year. Yet, they scored 21 in the second half.

“It’s disappointing because we felt this was our year.”