Chapel Hill High School’s flag football program is gaining momentum in its third year.
The Lady Panthers have a new coach in Julie Hall and have several veteran returners, including senior defensive backs Cassidy Murphy, Makayla Booker and Maya Bullard.
Senior quarterback Naryah Martinez is a newcomer to the team.
“We're more confident this year than ever,” said Booker, who, like Murphy and Bullard, have been with the team since its inaugural season.
Hall said she grew up playing powder puff football and is excited to see flag football gaining the respect it deserves.
“I love any opportunity to have more women's sports,” she said. “When I was in high school, flag football wasn't a thing. That's why it was always powder puff. It was like, let's just have a funny game where the girls play. And now it's a serious sport where these girls are getting taken seriously and getting college scholarships.”
Bullard said the team improved a lot from the first season to the second season. This year, she said, “we expect to do better,” with a goal of making it to the playoffs.
Murphy added that everybody on the team “puts in work and they deserve to be on the field.”
Martinez comes to flag football from softball and said she has the “foot coordination, the focus, and I can see the field.” She can also throw the ball a long way.
Bullard, Murphy and Booker said they enjoy the challenge of being defenders, reading the opposing players, getting interceptions and sacks and catching flags.
“If you see me position, I don't look at anybody's face during games,” Murphy said. “I look at their body and how their hips move, and that's how I catch my flags. And then I am also a rusher, and I tend to usually go either for the quarterback or the running back. And I've had some sacks in my past, but I like being a rusher because I'm able to get my team some more time to get the ball.”
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