Niceville flag football’s record-setting season got a little sweeter Tuesday night, as the Lady Eagles claimed the first playoff win in program history with a hard-fought 26-19 victory over Pace under light rain at Eagle Stadium.
- The win pushes Niceville to a program-record 16 wins on the heels of a district title, with more football still ahead.
The Lady Eagles set the tone early as Peyton Carter and Layla Hughes picked apart the Pace defense on back-to-back drives. Carter found Hughes wide open on the first score, and Hughes ducked and dodged her way into the end zone for the game’s opening touchdown. On the next drive, Carter connected with Eden Shaw on a pair of solid passes before finding Hughes again, who hauled in a head-top catch to push the lead to 12-0.
Pace answered with a drive highlighted by an Avery McBride completion to Berkley Lutz on third down, with Lutz evading several Eagles to flip the field. McBride hit Natalie Krouch for a touchdown a few plays later.
Niceville responded with a field-flipping Carter-to-Avery Cowles strike, followed by a Carter touchdown pass to Shaw to take an 18-6 lead into halftime.
Pace came alive in the third quarter, with McBride and Josie Arthur moving the ball against the Niceville defense. McBride hit Kenna Pacitti for a touchdown that cut the deficit to one score. After Niceville came up short on the ensuing drive, Pace had a chance to seize the momentum, but Katherine Newkirk came up clutch with an interception of McBride. Carter capitalized with another touchdown pass to Shaw that gave the Lady Eagles enough cushion to close it out.
“Kat has made big plays all year,” Niceville Head Coach Adron Robinson said. “She’s had 4 or 5 blocked punts, she’s had a couple pick sixes, she’s been a ball player for us all year.”
Pace added a late McBride-to-Lutz touchdown, but the onside kick came up short, sealing a four-touchdown night for Carter in the rain. Carter finished 26-of-36 for 264 yards and four touchdowns. Hughes led the receiving corps with 76 yards and two scores, while Shaw added 69 yards and two touchdowns of her own. Cowles also chipped in an interception on defense.
“She’s been solid all year. She’s a vet. She’s the leader of our offense,” Robinson said.
- “I just tried to keep the ball dry, make sure I’m focused, don’t mess up any throws and I did that pretty well,” Carter added.
Niceville travels to Chiles on Monday night for its Sweet 16 matchup. Chiles defeated Lincoln 21-0 on Wednesday night.
“We’re going to enjoy this win. Pace is a really good football team. We’ll think about Chiles tomorrow,” Robinson said. “We had to overcome a lot of mistakes, I’m proud of the girls for overcoming that, but we’ve got to play better if we want to beat Chiles.”
“We struggled against them the first time but I think if we really play as a team we can beat them,” Carter added.
