Two years after starting program, Palmetto secures first GMAC flag football championship

Just two years after Kevin Mujica practically begged the administration at Miami Palmetto High School to start up a girls flag football program, he returned the favor.

Mujica, after back-to-back 7-3 campaigns his first two seasons, watched his top-seeded Panthers, completely dominate No. 2 seed Homestead, easily defeating the Broncos 33-8 in the GMAC championship game at Traz Powell Stadium on Friday night.

While there were no state titles to be won, you would’ve never known by watching Palmetto (8-0) celebrate after the game, posing with the trophy and showing off its medals in front of a scoreboard that beamed out the final score. A championship that had been dominated by Miami Edison going in (the Red Raiders had won five of the seven previous championships including the last three) now belonged to a Panther team making their GMAC title game debut.

“I practically begged for this a couple of years ago because girls flag was the only program Palmetto did not have,” Mujica said. “When I held that first meeting, close to 80 girls showed up so I was off to a great start. But it’s been a process. I’ve got a lot of girls who are hard workers and play with relentless effort. They come in day in and day out and grind at practice and push each other to be better. Today was another big stepping stone for us. Just super proud of them.”

Mujica also must’ve been pleased that, after she turned him down as a freshman two years ago, that he talked basketball player Ashley Alvarado to come out and give flag a shot.

After helping her team survive a big scare a few hours earlier in a 13-12 overtime win over No. 4 Miami Southridge in a semifinal matchup by catching the game-tying touchdown pass in overtime, Alvarado stepped up and really delivered in the championship game. With her team already up 6-0 thanks to a 5-yard Ava Alvarez-to-Serenity Simon touchdown pass in the first quarter, Alvarado, on the first play of the second quarter, got a perfect read on a Homestead pass in the left flat, picked it off and bolted 45 yards untouched to the end zone to make it 13-0.

On the next series, Palmetto’s Camai Moore, who picked off a first quarter pass that set her team up for the first touchdown drive, got her second interception setting the Panthers up at the Homestead 30. One play later, Palmetto executed a perfect double pass from Alvarez to Sami Ames who then found a wide open Alvarado in the end zone to make it 19-0, a lead the Panthers took to the halftime locker room.

“I’ve never read a play more perfectly and never run so fast in my life,” said Alvarado of her pick-six. “I play basketball and do a lot of anticipating so I think that really helped me to read that pass. That was a huge moment because it put us up by two scores and really allowed us to build the early momentum. What an experience this has been for me. I love my girls, these girls are my family. I never thought we’d be here but here we are, GMAC champs. It’s all about a team effort around here because there’s no I in team.”

When Homestead came out and put together a scoring drive to open the second half, quarterback Jerniyah Fowles finding Jada Taylor for a 17-yard score and converting a subsequent two-point conversion, it was 19-8. The Broncos, who also entered the game undefeated at 7-0 and were also making their GMAC final debut following an 18-13 win over No. 3 seed Edison in the semifinals, then had the Panthers backed up into a third-and-long in their own territory, poised to get the ball back again.

But there was Alvarado again.

A deep pass headed her way and she was surrounded by three Homestead defenders. Alvarado went up high and managed to come down with the ball for a 37-yard gain. Four plays later, Alvarez found Simon again, this time from eight yards out. It was 26-8 early in the fourth quarter and the celebrating started on the Panther sideline.

“I kept pestering her to come put and play flag for us and it’s paid off,” said Mujico of Alvarado. “She’s just a grinder with the heart of a lion. She doesn’t give up, a girl that goes to the wall for me and does whatever you ask her to do. She barely plays offense, these two games today were her first games of playing full-time offense and that catch she made in the second half was huge because it came at a time where it looked like we were losing the momentum.”

Alvarez wrapped up the scoring in the final minute when she took off on a 25-yard quarterback keeper.

The season is still early so plenty of football is left to be played. But the Panthers are hoping their journey will take them all the way to the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa on May 10-11 where the state semifinals and finals will be held.

“What a feeling, we made history today,” Alvarez said. “Now we want to keep this thing going.”