Girls Flag Football: Fox Lane flag football program takes next step with win over Panas

Clockwise from the top, Piper Ackner carries for the Foxes. Fox Lane quarterback Berit Rose fires a pass. Hannah Sorgisson gets set to snap the ball for Fox Lane. Morgan Clinton carries after an interception. Jim MacLean photos

By JIM MACLEAN

For a team competing in its first season in a new sport, the Fox Lane girls varsity flag football team has come a long way in just a few short weeks.

Fox Lane won its second game of the season with a win over Walter Panas, a program that has been around for a couple of years. The Foxes also suffered a loss to undefeated Tappan Zee as Fox Lane now stands at 2-6-1 overall. The schedule has not been an easy one as the Foxes have battled against three tough undefeated veteran teams, but the Foxes continue to compete and prove they belong.

“We’re very happy with the progress we’ve made, it’s hard when we play certain opponents, but in practice we really see the progress every single day,” Fox Lane coach Rylan Borror said of his team. “We’ve been thrown into the fire with our schedule, but this will be a great experience for them. We have so many young girls that will be back. We have four ninth graders starting on defense. They’re all getting a ton of experience and it will help them down the line. They’re working hard, doing everything we’ve asked and it’s a credit to them for the progress they have made.”

On the road at Walter Panas on April 21, the Foxes came out strong in the first half and pulled off the victory over an established program by a score of 16-6.

Fox Lane got on the scoreboard early in the first half as quarterback Berit Rose connected with Morgan Clinton for a touchdown and an extra point conversion for a 7-0 lead.

The Foxes then recorded a safety to make it 9-0, and just before halftime Rose struck again completing a touchdown pass to Lily Rosenthal to make it 16-0.

Panas was able to get on the scoreboard with a touchdown in the second half to make it 16-6, but the Foxes defense was up to the task and closed out the victory.

“We did a really nice job defensively containing them, only one really long run, but besides that they didn’t get much the entire game,” Borror said of the win over Panas. “Offensively, we scored with 15 seconds to go in the half. Lily made a really nice catch on a vertical route down the sideline. Morgan scored the first touchdown, and both her and Lily are having a great year. Berit had a really good game against Panas, over 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing. She’s doing a really nice job, especially for never having played the position, and never played the sport until this year, and playing the toughest position on the field, she’s doing an awesome job for us.”

At home on Wednesday, Fox Lane hosted Tappan Zee and the Foxes knew it would be a tough one. Tappan Zee is one of the favorites to win the Section 1 title and the Dutchmen entered the game with a 7-0 undefeated record.

Tappan Zee has an explosive offense that has piled up the points this season, but the Foxes were up to the challenge and trailed 21-0 at the half.

Fox Lane had to punt on its first possession of the second half, and Tappan Zee returned the punt for a touchdown to make it 28-0.

Clinton came up with an interception for Fox Lane and the Foxes put together a drive, but Tappan Zee was able to close out the shutout win.

“They are considered to be one of the best teams, their quarterback is phenomenal, their receivers are really good, they pull flags really well, pretty much everything that a good team needs to do, they do it,” Borror said of Tappan Zee. “The first half we did a pretty good job against them and they had to work a little harder for it today. On defense, our two rushers, Bryhana Madrunero-Lozano and Molly Skolnick, are both doing a very nice job and they’re both freshmen.”

Fox Lane was set to travel to Eastchester on Friday, April 25. The Foxes then host undefeated Brewster on Saturday, and then Putnam Valley on Monday, April 28.