Sometimes a single play is more important than the final score.
Homewood-Flossmoor flag football trailed Bradley-Bourbonnais 13-0 with only three seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter on Aug. 28. The ball was on the Boilermakers 7-yard line.
It was only the second game for the Vikings, who didn’t score a touchdown in the program’s first contest against Sandburg the night before despite winning 2-0.
Freshman quarterback Jorie Peters took that last snap, broke right and kept her eyes downfield but saw a lane.
“I just decided to take it,” she said. “I play basketball, as well, so if I see an open lane I’m going to take it.”
Peters scrambled into the end zone and was mobbed by teammates. Time expired and H-F lost 13-6, but the first touchdown in school history was in the books.
“Mentally, that’s a humongous weight lifted, “ coach Walter Collins said. “Now, all our girls can know it’s possible. It’s a weight lifted. You can do this. It’s encouraging and it’s a point of reference for everybody.”
Collins said he was happy with the play of his ninth-grader under center. Peters complete 10 of 17 passes for 85 yards and ran for another 26 on five carries.
“The plan was just to get her comfortable, this being her second game in her life,” he said. “We’re just trying to get her as comfortable as possible until she can really take over.”
The Boilermakers (3-0) finished in fourth place in last year’s IHSA state playoffs. It’s the first season in the sport for H-F. Collins said his team spent the summer learning how to throw and catch a football while Bradley-Bourbonnais worked on the more nuanced facets of the game.
Boilers sophomore and second-year quarterback Elise Munsterman looked like a seasoned signal caller for most of the night, completing 17 of 26 passes for 130 yards and two scores without an interception. Sophia Darling was her favorite target. The sophomore hauled in five catches.
“Bradley’s a heck of a team. They were projected to possibly win state this year,” Collins said. “It was a good test for us. It was good for us to see that we can hang in that second half.”
H-F (1-1) noticeably grew from the first to the second half, though. In the first two quarters, when Bradley-Bourbonnais didn’t move the ball it was usually because the Boilermakers made a mistake. After halftime, the Vikings were able to get stops by breaking up passes and making backfield tackles.
Senior Izzy Thurman had a sack and two tackles for loss.
“She’s one heck of an athlete, a constant leader, just an all-around great kid and a heck of a player,” Collins said. “Whatever job you give her, she owns it.”
The Vikings head to the Joliet West Jamboree on Aug. 30 where they’ll play two games, then they’ll host Stagg and Crete-Monee next week.
