Wakefield takes first WCPSS flag football championship with win over Apex
The Wakefield Wolverines are the first champions of the Wake County Public School System’s girls flag football league.
The Wolverines dominated Apex by a score of 31-19 in the title game.
Senior quarterback Johara Walker threw for five touchdown passes to no interceptions in the title game. A few of the touchdown passes were difficult attempts deep down the field.
Apex and Wakefield met after winning the championship of their respective “regions” - Middle Creek and Rolesville.
Both teams had to play the region runner-up three times today as the format was a double-elimination tournament. After playing the same top four team a few times, they then had to face the other best team once and figure it all out during a 40-minute running clock.
Wakefield finished the inaugural season with a 7-2 overall record. Apex also finished with a 7-2 mark.
The tone for the championship was set by Wakefield’s defense when Apex got the ball on the game’s opening possession.
After Apex standout junior Emily Degnan rushed for a first down, the Wolverines’ defense didn’t allow any more progression by the Cougars and forced a turnover on downs.
One of Apex’s quarterbacks Leah Hulse did not play in the championship game after an injury against Cardinal Gibbons in the semifinal.
Walker found sophomore Lyla Bagwell with a dime into the end zone to put Wolverines up 6-0 after their first drive.
Apex faced a fourth-and-10 on its next possession and threw an incomplete pass to give the ball back to Wakefield.
As soon as Wakefield took over possession, Walker hit junior Sydney Conti on a deep post route for what was the equivalent of an 80-yard touchdown pass after a touchback.
Degnan made a difficult reception off of a tipped ball to give Apex a first down on its next possession. A few plays after that, Wakefield was called for a holding and gave Apex a first down on the 4-yard line.
Sophomore Coco Lavielle found senior Luella Herndon for a touchdown to get Wakefield on the board. Conti made an interception to keep it a 12-6 lead for Wakefield with just over two minutes left in the first half.
On a play that occurred as time in the first half expired, Walker lofted a perfect touch pass to Bagwell into the end zone for a clutch Wolverine touchdown before halftime.
Wakefield led Apex 18-6 after the end-of-half heroics.
On the first possession of the second half, Walker connected on a bomb up the right sideline to Conti to convert on a third down. Wakefield finished off the two touchdown drives for one possession special with a short touchdown throw from Walker to sophomore Brenna Colleran. Wakefield led 24-6 with 17:00 left in the championship.
Trying to get Apex back into it, Degnan rushed for close to a first down but a holding on Wakefield gave Apex anew set of downs for free.
Apex was unable to convert for a touchdown and Wakefield took over with twelve minutes left.
The Wolverines’ next drive was unsuccessful and took just a couple of minutes off the clock.
With seven minutes to go, Degnan scored on a remarkable 15-yard run while pulling off a 720 degree spin move in the process. Apex converted on the point after attempt, making it a 24-13 game.
In clutch fashion, Walker immediately hit Bagwell on a deep bomb down to the 6-yard line. A couple of plays later, Conti made an impressive one-handed touchdown grab to effectively seal the game.
After a trade of possessions, Apex scored as time expired on a pass from freshman Lucy Shannon to junior Yuliya Burdyey.
