The562’s coverage of girls’ flag football is sponsored by the Los Angeles Chargers.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Tuesday night’s flag football matchup between Lakewood and Knight had a bit of everything that you might expect for two teams’ first ever playoff game—a delayed kickoff, sluggish starts, and a whole lot of energy.
The Lancers battled through the emotions of their first round matchup in the CIF-SS Division 3 bracket, getting a game winning touchdown with a minute left from QB Dionna Bradley to standout athlete Nyemah King for a 18-12 victory.
“I was hyped, I was so hyped. It felt amazing,” said Nyemah King after the game. “I was really really determined to get that catch after missing a few opportunities earlier in the game and that’s how I got it. All my teammates were giving me love after too so it was a great moment to get that win.”
“(Bradley) has a strong arm and she makes sure she finds her receivers out there,” added coach Leilani Utupo. “For Nyemah, when you throw any ball up she’s ready to make the catch so we can always count on her for those big plays and she came up huge.”
The victory marks Lakewood’s first ever flag football post-season win in the first year of CIF-SS playoffs for the sport. The Lancers will look to continue their run in the Division 3 bracket with a second round matchup on Saturday at Upland.
“It’s a great accomplishment for the girls and for the coaching staff,” Utupo said of their first playoff win. “We’ve come a long way with the actual program so it means a lot internally for us. We also have 12 seniors so they’re making their mark here and I know they’ll end up doing great things out in the real world too.”
Kickoff of the playoff opener was pushed back an hour to delays with Knight’s transportation, and the hold up certainly showed in the pair’s slow start at the beginning of the game. The teams traded four turnovers on downs to open the first half, and came up empty on eight of their nine combined possessions.
Lakewood striked first on their third drive of the night after Bradley found King for their first connection of the game. Running back Allie Honeycutt then followed it up with a 25-yard touchdown rush, spinning and cutting around flag-pullers for an impressive score. The Lancers went into the half with a 6-0 lead.
Knight would immediately tie the game up to open the second half on a touchdown from Desiree Ahumada to Zaria Anderson. Honeycutt then followed it up for Lakewood with back-to-back impressive plays including a short toss taken 10-yard into the endzone to regain the lead for Lakewood, 12-6.
Honeycutt carried a heavy load for her team in their playoff opener, finishing the game with two touchdowns and a handful of eye-popping plays. After the game, she lit up with excitement when talking about contributing to her team’s win.
“It means so much just to feel like you actually have a place on the team and can do something for the team,” she said. “At the end of the day it’s not an individual sport it’s a team sport so whatever I can do to contribute to the team, getting yardage and touchdowns, it just felt incredible.”
After Knight knotted the game back up on the next drive from a connection of Ahumada to Gabriella Herrera, Lakewood would eventually end up with the ball and 1:29 left on the clock. Bradley then dropped back and launched an almost 40-yard bomb down the field to Nyemah King for the go-ahead game-winner.
King and Bradley both play basketball together during the winter and have enjoyed flag football as a new challenge. The pair were unable to connect on any of their signature deep balls earlier in the game, but King said it was only a matter of time before their chemistry would come out on top.
“We have a really really tight bond,” said King. “We hang out at school, during basketball, and during football. We have enough trust in each other that when she feels like she’s in a pinch she knows I can make a play for her.”
Lakewood will make the 40-mile bus ride to Upland on Saturday in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs.
