Flag football scores touchdown at Cape
Flag football is the newest girls’ sport at Cape Henlopen High School, and the team is set to begin play this fall.
The sport is already a hit, as 25 girls have been learning how to block, run, pass and catch the USA mid-size pigskin.
“We have a seven-game schedule,” said Cape Athletic Administrator David Frederick. “Most of the teams are upstate. We are technically a club team until we become a sanctioned sport.”
Teams on the schedule include Concord, Middletown, Ursuline, Delaware Military Academy, Odessa, Padua and Saint Mark’s.
The flag football field is a rectangle 40 yards wide by 80 yards long with 10-yard end zones.
The game is seven-on-seven. Everybody is eligible and the defense can rush immediately, but they must start three yards off the ball.
The first rule of flag football is that there's no contact allowed. That includes tackling, diving, blocking and screening. The play is over when the ball hits the ground.
Each player wears a belt with two removable flags attached. A ball carrier is deemed down when one of the flags is pulled from the belt. The offensive player may not spin or dive to evade getting their flag pulled.
Each 20-yard line is a first down, and after a score, the ball is placed at the 14-yard line. There are no kickoffs.
The head coach is Allie Davis, who played on the West Chester club flag football team.
“I am so excited to be a part of the first girls’ flag football team at Cape,” said Davis. “I am aiming to introduce the sport to the girls, and make sure, first and foremost, we have a fun season getting to know the sport and each other. I am so excited and honored to be a part of this team, especially with it being the first year for girls’ flag football at Cape. The girls’ excitement and determination after only one practice is contagious, and I can’t wait to build on that every week.”
Cape opens the season Wednesday, Sept. 10, against Concord at Odessa High School.
Dan has worked for the Cape Gazette for more than 30 years as a photographer and reporter, covering high school sports and happenings around eastern Sussex County. He won a photography award from the National Newspaper Association, and numerous awards from the Maryland, Delaware, D.C. Press Association. A Delaware native, Dan graduated from Cape in 1972 and returned as a teacher and coach in the 1980s. He retired from the classroom in 2016. He was inducted into Cape High’s Legends Stadium in 2016. In his spare time, Dan enjoys spending time with his wife, two sons, grandchildren and dogs.
