
The mere fact that none of the seven Division A senior girls flag football teams will finish the fall season undefeated is certainly proof, at least in part, of the parity that exists in the circuit that will also feature not a single squad without a win.
That said, there are so many more intriguing quirks to the results to date as post-season action looms on the horizon for November.
Consider that with a win over the Lo-Ellen Park Knights (2-3) on Monday, the Bishop Carter Gators (4-1) would secure first place, finishing with an identical record to the Lasalle Lancers (already with a 5-1 mark in the books), but having beaten the Lancers 15-7 in their head to head matchup.
The victory on Monday is anything but a given, however, with Lo-Ellen in every single game to date, suffering heartbreaking losses to both the 3-2 Horizon Aigles (15-13) and the 1-4 Lockerby Vikings (7-6).
Bishop Carter, for their part, took it on the chin against the St Charles Cardinals as the Scarlet & Grey bounced BAC 27-7 on October 2nd, but have fallen on hard times since then with three straight losses, the most recent a 36-0 thumping at the hands of Lasalle.
Division A champions from 2020 to 2022, the Confederation Chargers appear to be the odd man out of the playoff hunt, their 1-5 record a little deceiving when you look at scoreboards that read 27-24 and 7-6 in season opening setbacks to the Cardinals and Lancers.
Trying to handicap the upcoming quarters and semi-finals would be a fool's game.
With a record of 3-2 and one outing remaining opposite Lockerby, few would count Horizon out of the chase for the banner, the Valley crew looking dominant in wins over St Charles (35-14) and Confederation (37-7) but blanked 21-0 with an under-manned outfit on Friday versus Bishop Carter.
"We have a really good bond on this team," noted senior Olivia Hinich recently, one of several key playmakers on a team that more than makes up for a lack of quantity with top-end quality.
"There are some new teammates on the team this year so we try and include them. We all just talk a lot on the field. Communication is really important any time it's a team sport."
One of a handful of Aigles' vets who sees time both on offense or defense at various stages of the game, Hinich easily finds positives regardless of where she lines up.
"I love to make points on offense, to make some touchdowns," said the 17 year-old grade 12 student. "For defense, I love encouraging everyone on the field. I stand at the back of the defense, so I get to watch and read the play."
Brooke Dugas, Fannie Gauthier, Kiara Levac and Isabelle Gilbert all reached the end zone in their Valley rivlary matchup with Confed as Horizon head coach Ryan Kirwan tapped into higher level football ideas in order to help his Aigles to try and fly in unison.
"We have our wrist bands that have pictures of our plays and our runs that we do," said Hinich. "That helps a lot."
Emily Winsor capped off the scoring for Horizon with a field goal and four converts while Addison Johnstone (TD) and Abbey Walker (PAT) countered for the Chargers.
On Friday, Sierra Boyuk set the tone, scoring on the very first run from scrimmage with Bishop Carter teammates Kynlee Cresswell (TD), Jillian Landry (TD) and Kaleigh Hamilton (3 X PAT) also joining her on the scoresheet.
With Division A (Jr / Sr) tie-breakers set for Tuesday and Division B quarter-final play monopolizing the James Jerome Sports Complex the next day, the next two weeks promise to be interesting, right across all four brackets of SDSSAA flag football.