Girls flag football: County teams making progress

SANDUSKY — The Cloverleaf girls flag football team didn't need a lot of time to put its first two games in the rearview mirror.While the Colts are still chasing their first win, they pushed talented Avon Lake to the brink Sunday before coming up just short 12-6.The Colts were tied 6-6 at halftime of the Western Conference Orange Division game. Quarterback Ellie Marshall connected with Maddison Steele in the first half for the Colts' only touchdown.Avon Lake's Ja'Maria Williams opened the second half with a touchdown run from just about midfield. Cloverleaf turned the ball over on downs their next two possessions and, with less than a minute left, threw an interception that sealed the game.Cloverleaf coach Sean Juszczyk was pleased with the progress he saw out of his young team in such a short time. Of Cloverleaf's 14 players, 13 are freshmen and the other a junior."The amount of growth in less than 24 hours from our first two games, you can tell the nerves are starting to settle," Juszczyk said. "To see the maturity that they showed in such a short time with a short turnaround after having back-to-back games to playing this well against an older established team just speaks volumes to these girls and their work ethic and their diligence."It's remarkable. I'm so proud of them. This is going to just keep building and keep building. They're going to be a force."Medina County teams combined to lose all four of their games, with Black River dropping two and Medina one, 31-7 to undefeated Amherst.The Bees led 7-6 early in the first half after Sophia LaVolpa found Norah Shumar for a long passing touchdown, then connected with Brooke Haycook for the extra point. A safety two possessions later started a run of 25 points by the Comets."The girls have really come a long way," Medina coach Kevin Bowers said. "Every day we've gotten better. The growth is going to continue. We were doing some new things today that we hadn't practiced yet, but the girls have such great energy, and they're having so much fun doing it. It's just a great opportunity for everyone."The schedule has not been kind to Black River in the early going, as its three losses have come against teams with a combined 8-1 record, including undefeated Midview and Sandusky.On Sunday, the Middies defeated the Pirates 30-0 in the second game. Midview is the only team in the division yet to allow a point this season."The girls have done everything I've asked them to," Pirates coach Kyle Jenkin said. "We're moving forward. Every day they're getting better. They should be so proud of themselves. All the coaches are super proud of them. We're just going to keep refining and getting better."While Avon Lake defeated the Pirates 36-6, Black River's Laura Szojka etched her name in the history books as the first player to score a touchdown for the program. Quarterback Morgan Kubitz found her receiver open for a deep pass early in the first half."I was so excited," Szojka said. "I think that me and Morgan have worked really hard so far. We were really excited to start off that game so strong. We have to keep working on our offense and on defense just watch the ball better."Contact Chris Sweeney at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.