Peabody Patriots Girls All-stars at the NFL youth flag football nationals 11/18/06
For the second year in a row Peabody, MA was represented at the NFL National finals of
flag football in Orlando, FL. The Peabody Girls All-star team recently attended the Patriots
regional qualifier held in Roxbury, MA, however after loosing in the final to the Mo Steeletts
of Miami, FL, the Peabody Patriots thought their chances of making the nationals were over,
but as luck would have it the girls team from the New York Giants regional qualifier had to
pull out due to unknown reasons and the place was offered to our Peabody girls. Full of
hope and excitement and with some last minute preparations the team got ready for the trip.
All 8 girls from the qualifier made the trip and they were Kayleigh Ryan, Deanna Moreschi,
Ashley Bouchard, Mary-Catherine Dunne, Michaela Merchant, Filida Seeley and returning
from last years team, Erika Weiser and Samantha Famolare along with their coach Austin
Bradshaw.
The team flew out of Logan airport early Friday morning and for three of the girls it was their
fist ever time on a plane. Once in Florida the team was transported to Disney’s All-star
sports resort to check in and get registered for the tournament. Upon registration each
player received a gift bag, customized flag jersey, banquet tickets, breakfast and lunch
tickets, Disney passes and $20 each spending money. The evening banquet was a
welcoming to the event for the players and coaches where Ex-Patriot Cedric Jones gave a
presentation on what the NFL is trying to achieve through its youth development programs,
after the banquet the team visited the interactive “Disney Quest” where the girls had fun on
all the rides.
Breakfast was served early on Saturday morning and the team took Disney’s transportation
to the Wide World of Sports complex ready for the days action. Peabody’s first game was
against The Demons of New York and the Peabody girls took the early lead when Kayleigh
Ryan of PVMHS intercepted a pass and returned it for a TD. Both teams had only one more
possession each and it was half time as the halves were only 8 minutes long. In the second
half Erika Weiser continued to call the defense and put pressure on the Demons QB,
recording 2 sacks. As with the first half, the game went quickly but the Peabody girls were
rewarded with their first win and the first ever shut out by a Peabody team at the Nationals.
The second game for the Peabody Patriots was against the Cincinnati Bengals of Texas.
The Patriots started with the ball, but found moving the ball against the Bengals tough
going. The girls from Texas scored just before half time on a tipped ball which fell into the
hands of the Bengals receiver. A quick half time talk and the Patriots started the second
half on defense and for the second game in a row Kayleigh Ryan intercepted a pass and
returned it just short of Bengals territory. First year QB Samantha Farmolare strung
together some accurate passes to Deanna Moreschi and with some nice runs from Ashley
Bouchard the Patriots drove down the field but were stopped in their tracks after throwing
an interception on 3rd down. With just 2 minutes remaining in the game the Patriots played
a tight defense to try and get the ball back but an experienced Bengals team took
advantage and went deep down the sideline for their second score of the game. The final
score was the Bengals 14 Patriots 0. After the game all the girls from Texas went over to the
Patriots sidelines and presented each girl on the team with a necklace.
The third game in the group was against the Packers of Los Angeles and the Peabody
Patriots again started with the ball. Samantha once again called out the plays and drove the
ball down field but a little inexperience caused another interception and this time the
Patriots were made to pay as the Packers ran the ball back for the TD. After a 3 and out
from the Patriots offense the defense was once again on the field and Michaela Merchant
had some nice flag pulls but Kayleigh Ryan came up big again with her third interception of
the day and returned it to the Packers 12 yard line. After a short run from Ashley and an
incomplete pass the Patriots had third and goal to tie the score, Samantha avoided the rush
and found center Filida Seeley in the End zone, but the score did not count as Samantha
was judged to be over the line of scrimmage when she threw the pass. On the Packers next
possession they threw the ball down the sideline and scored again. In the second half the
defense held strong and the offense got going when Samantha hit Kayleigh for a 40 yard
TD pass. With time running out the Packers put the nail in the coffin with a time consuming
drive down the field resulting in a TD run, final score Packers 21, Patriots 7. The last game
in the group was against the 49ers of Las Vegas. Both Ashley and Michaela ran the reverse
and fake reverse well to move the ball down field but the Peabody girls could not punch it
into the end zone. Mary-Catherine and Deanna played the corners of the defensive line
while Kayleigh and Michaela played the last line of defense, Erika as she had all day called
a good defense and put pressure on the QB, however it was not enough against the girls
from Las Vegas as they put up 14 points by half time. In the second half Kayleigh had her
4th interception of the day but again the offense struggled and another interception on the
Patriots own 5 yard sealed the deal as the 49ers crossed the goal line to take the game by
a score of 20-0.
After lunch and a chat with Boomer Esiason the girls were refreshed and ready for the play-
offs, the teams were seeded and the Patriots received a #6 seed, therefore had to go
against the #2 seeded 49ers whom they had previously lost to
20-0. A slight change of tactics and a little motivation had the girls ready for the play-offs,
win and they would go on to the Semi-finals, a loss and the tournament would be over. The
Patriots started on defense and from the get go Kayleigh had her 5th interception of the
day but once again the Patriots could not get the ball into the end zone. The 49ers running
attack was too much for the Peabody girls as they moved the ball down field and then on
3rd down the 49ers through a TD pass that would be the difference in the game, the final
score was the 49ers 7, Patriots 0.
After the tournament the team were transported back to the hotel to change and head back
out to Disney for a fun filled night at the Magical Kingdom. Sunday morning the team
packed up their things and their memories they will last them a lifetime. The girls from
Peabody played great the whole tournament and represented the city well. Each and every
girl played with the pride and class that we come to expect from our players.
We would like to extend a big thank you to all the parents that made the trip and the parents
that could not make the trip but trusted myself and my wife Janel to look after everyone.
We hope that all our teams practice hard and prepare themselves for next years regional
qualifier and maybe next year we can have more teams representing Peabody and our
league.
By Austin Bradshaw
League Organizer
For the second year in a row Peabody, MA was represented at the NFL National finals of
flag football in Orlando, FL. The Peabody Girls All-star team recently attended the Patriots
regional qualifier held in Roxbury, MA, however after loosing in the final to the Mo Steeletts
of Miami, FL, the Peabody Patriots thought their chances of making the nationals were over,
but as luck would have it the girls team from the New York Giants regional qualifier had to
pull out due to unknown reasons and the place was offered to our Peabody girls. Full of
hope and excitement and with some last minute preparations the team got ready for the trip.
All 8 girls from the qualifier made the trip and they were Kayleigh Ryan, Deanna Moreschi,
Ashley Bouchard, Mary-Catherine Dunne, Michaela Merchant, Filida Seeley and returning
from last years team, Erika Weiser and Samantha Famolare along with their coach Austin
Bradshaw.
The team flew out of Logan airport early Friday morning and for three of the girls it was their
fist ever time on a plane. Once in Florida the team was transported to Disney’s All-star
sports resort to check in and get registered for the tournament. Upon registration each
player received a gift bag, customized flag jersey, banquet tickets, breakfast and lunch
tickets, Disney passes and $20 each spending money. The evening banquet was a
welcoming to the event for the players and coaches where Ex-Patriot Cedric Jones gave a
presentation on what the NFL is trying to achieve through its youth development programs,
after the banquet the team visited the interactive “Disney Quest” where the girls had fun on
all the rides.
Breakfast was served early on Saturday morning and the team took Disney’s transportation
to the Wide World of Sports complex ready for the days action. Peabody’s first game was
against The Demons of New York and the Peabody girls took the early lead when Kayleigh
Ryan of PVMHS intercepted a pass and returned it for a TD. Both teams had only one more
possession each and it was half time as the halves were only 8 minutes long. In the second
half Erika Weiser continued to call the defense and put pressure on the Demons QB,
recording 2 sacks. As with the first half, the game went quickly but the Peabody girls were
rewarded with their first win and the first ever shut out by a Peabody team at the Nationals.
The second game for the Peabody Patriots was against the Cincinnati Bengals of Texas.
The Patriots started with the ball, but found moving the ball against the Bengals tough
going. The girls from Texas scored just before half time on a tipped ball which fell into the
hands of the Bengals receiver. A quick half time talk and the Patriots started the second
half on defense and for the second game in a row Kayleigh Ryan intercepted a pass and
returned it just short of Bengals territory. First year QB Samantha Farmolare strung
together some accurate passes to Deanna Moreschi and with some nice runs from Ashley
Bouchard the Patriots drove down the field but were stopped in their tracks after throwing
an interception on 3rd down. With just 2 minutes remaining in the game the Patriots played
a tight defense to try and get the ball back but an experienced Bengals team took
advantage and went deep down the sideline for their second score of the game. The final
score was the Bengals 14 Patriots 0. After the game all the girls from Texas went over to the
Patriots sidelines and presented each girl on the team with a necklace.
The third game in the group was against the Packers of Los Angeles and the Peabody
Patriots again started with the ball. Samantha once again called out the plays and drove the
ball down field but a little inexperience caused another interception and this time the
Patriots were made to pay as the Packers ran the ball back for the TD. After a 3 and out
from the Patriots offense the defense was once again on the field and Michaela Merchant
had some nice flag pulls but Kayleigh Ryan came up big again with her third interception of
the day and returned it to the Packers 12 yard line. After a short run from Ashley and an
incomplete pass the Patriots had third and goal to tie the score, Samantha avoided the rush
and found center Filida Seeley in the End zone, but the score did not count as Samantha
was judged to be over the line of scrimmage when she threw the pass. On the Packers next
possession they threw the ball down the sideline and scored again. In the second half the
defense held strong and the offense got going when Samantha hit Kayleigh for a 40 yard
TD pass. With time running out the Packers put the nail in the coffin with a time consuming
drive down the field resulting in a TD run, final score Packers 21, Patriots 7. The last game
in the group was against the 49ers of Las Vegas. Both Ashley and Michaela ran the reverse
and fake reverse well to move the ball down field but the Peabody girls could not punch it
into the end zone. Mary-Catherine and Deanna played the corners of the defensive line
while Kayleigh and Michaela played the last line of defense, Erika as she had all day called
a good defense and put pressure on the QB, however it was not enough against the girls
from Las Vegas as they put up 14 points by half time. In the second half Kayleigh had her
4th interception of the day but again the offense struggled and another interception on the
Patriots own 5 yard sealed the deal as the 49ers crossed the goal line to take the game by
a score of 20-0.
After lunch and a chat with Boomer Esiason the girls were refreshed and ready for the play-
offs, the teams were seeded and the Patriots received a #6 seed, therefore had to go
against the #2 seeded 49ers whom they had previously lost to
20-0. A slight change of tactics and a little motivation had the girls ready for the play-offs,
win and they would go on to the Semi-finals, a loss and the tournament would be over. The
Patriots started on defense and from the get go Kayleigh had her 5th interception of the
day but once again the Patriots could not get the ball into the end zone. The 49ers running
attack was too much for the Peabody girls as they moved the ball down field and then on
3rd down the 49ers through a TD pass that would be the difference in the game, the final
score was the 49ers 7, Patriots 0.
After the tournament the team were transported back to the hotel to change and head back
out to Disney for a fun filled night at the Magical Kingdom. Sunday morning the team
packed up their things and their memories they will last them a lifetime. The girls from
Peabody played great the whole tournament and represented the city well. Each and every
girl played with the pride and class that we come to expect from our players.
We would like to extend a big thank you to all the parents that made the trip and the parents
that could not make the trip but trusted myself and my wife Janel to look after everyone.
We hope that all our teams practice hard and prepare themselves for next years regional
qualifier and maybe next year we can have more teams representing Peabody and our
league.
By Austin Bradshaw
League Organizer
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