Flag Football: No. 5 Pace continues perfect start with road romp over Gulf Breeze

Coming off its best season in program history, the Pace girls flag football team is answering any questions about being content with its previous success.

Thanks to an unstoppable passing attack and a defense that keys in on pressure and turnovers, the Patriots have stormed out of the gate, winning their first six games of the 2023 campaign. With its start, the team is ranked fifth overall in the state according the latest FHSAA rankings released Monday.

Pace's latest triumph came in an emphatic 37-6 result against Gulf Breeze on Wednesday at Dolphin Stadium.

"Coming out here and playing a good team like Gulf Breeze that has some really good athletes, we knew what we needed to shut down them down," Patriots head coach Chris Raggard said. "As long as we did what we needed to do on offense, we'd be fine."

The star of the show was Amaya Pablo. Whether it was tossing short passes or launching longer throws down the field, the sophomore star quarterback diced up the Dolphins defense to tune of 312 passing yards, six touchdowns and one interception.

"First off, (Pace) is a very talented team. I think Amaya is a great quarterback, a great athlete and she showcased her skills," Dolphins head coach Leland Greene said. "I think our team is growing. We have a lot of girls who haven't played before, and so they'll learning what do on this field. Playing teams like Pace is great for us."

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After senior athletes Katie Crounse and Ashten Dickerson each hauled in touchdowns in the first quarter, the duo added more points to the scoreboard in the second. A Dickerson interception led to Crounse making it a 19-0 game with a 6-yard receiving score.

Gulf Breeze responded thanks to a dazzling run from Meredith Pugh. After taking an option pitch from senior quarterback Carly Churchward, the senior athlete eluded and weaved through a host of Patriots defender before darting down the sideline for a 52-yard score, the longest of the night.

However, the visitors countered in the blink of an eye. Dickerson completed a two-minute drive with an 11-yard finger-tip, touchdown grab on a slant pattern at the end of the first half.

Senior athlete Ava Wheaton got in on the action with a scoring reception in the third and another in the fourth.

"I really think my offense makes it easy on me because we have such good athletes," Pablo said. "They know routes to run and they know how to get it done."

The Patriots' lone failed offensive possession ended with an interception by junior Sienna Thomas.

Meanwhile, Gulf Breeze (3-4) struggled to string together plays in large part to Pace's pressure. The visitors rushed the quarterback with seniors Destiny Reyes-Downes or Haley Dunckel. And at times, they sent both, forcing Churchward to loft the ball sooner than she'd like to.

Reyes-Downes (three) and Dunckel (two) combined for five sacks. Reyes-Downes also had a team-best 10 tackles.

Not only improving its record to 6-0 this season, Pace now owns a 6-0 mark all-time against the Dolphins. The 31-point gap is the second-largest margin of separation in this matchup's history.

Here's three takeaways from Wednesday night.

Familiarity equals points

Racking up just less than 700 points a year ago, the Patriots are averaging 33.2 points per game this season. That mark is actually ahead of their 2022 offensive pace.

There are many factors to Pace's scoring prowess.

The area's best team spreads opposing defenses out with five wide receivers. Pablo is quick to get the ball to her first option, but if the play isn't open, senior center Lucy Gongwer alertly leaks out as an outlet. Gongwer finished with team bests of 10 catches for 109 yards.

If either option isn't available, Pablo has the mobility to scramble and buy time.

The system is tough to stop and the sophomore taking the snaps is an even tougher obstacle for defenses to handle. Yet, according to Raggard, the biggest ingredient to the Patriots' offense is familiarity.

"We have girls that know what to do. For a lot of them, this is their fourth year in the program and they've bought in," Raggard said. "We work in the offseason, we work in the summer, we work in the fall. We go to tournaments, we play a lot of games together, so they get used to one another.

"For two years, they've had (Pablo) at the helm at quarterback. They have that rapport with her. ... If they see her scrambling, they know where to find that open spot."

Pablo added: "Having so many seniors and people from last year has just helped build our team and have our chemistry be as good or even better as it was last year."

Gongwer leads the team this season in receiving with 33 catches. She is followed by junior Berkleigh Jernigan (20), Wheaton (18) and Dickerson (17). Those four receivers were also the team's top-four pass-catchers from a year ago.

One leader down, two more step up

While Pace's offense is working with the same parts, the defense is without a player who was a program staple.

This is the Patriots' first-ever season without Aryana Hughes, who graduated last year after being named PNJ's Defensive Player of the Year. Raggard calls Hughes the "heart and soul" of his team's previous defenses.

Enter Reyes-Downes and Dunckel into the equation. The former has a team-best seven sacks this season from the linebacker position while the latter is second with four sacks from the rusher position.

With Hughes gone, Reyes-Downes has taken over the leadership responsibilities.

"This year for sure, I've taken more of a captain role on defense where if anyone has any questions, they can come to me because I pretty much know how to play every position on the field," she said. "I'm normally the one dictating what kind of defense we're in."

On Wednesday, both defensive impact players had impressive stops on arguably the best athlete on the field. Reyes-Downes collected an open-field tackle on Pugh while Dunckel halted Pugh behind the line of scrimmage for a loss.

'Learning season'

In addition to her touchdown scamper, Pugh had a devastating juke past Patriots defense during a second-half reception.

However, there weren't many more highlights from a Gulf Breeze team searching for ways to get more people involve.

"Offensively, we have to put more stuff together and score more points," Greene said. "When people lock onto Meredith, it makes it real tough to get creative and get the ball to other people. She's a talented player, but we have a team full of talented players and we have to figure out a way to get them the ball."

Of the Dolphins' four defeats, two have been by shutout. Still, despite the offensive woes, Greene and his players have high hopes moving forward.

"Just like I told them tonight, our goal is the district championship," he said. "So we want to learn from these games. We don't get play all summer like a lot of other teams, this is kind of our learning season."

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Flag Football: High-octane offense leads unbeaten Pace past Gulf Breeze