Sydney Ford leads Davie Western past Fleming Island in FHSAA flag football semifinals

Fleming Island's night looked perfect - for one drive.

Then, one interception later, Davie Western turned on the Sydney Ford show.

Well-drilled and lightning-quick, top-seeded Davie Western halted Fleming Island's deepest-ever flag football playoff run, scoring three first-half touchdowns and downing the Golden Eagles 34-13 in Friday night's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A semifinal at Mandarin.

Sydney Ford passed for five touchdowns for Western (18-0), who advanced to meet Lithia Newsome for the state final, a rematch of the 2021 title game that Newsome won 20-19.

"We had this last year and it's really exciting the first time, but this time, it's all business," Ford said.

Time ran out for the Golden Eagles, who mounted a rally with back-to-back fourth-quarter touchdowns but couldn't overtake the athletic Wildcats.

A few takeaways from the game:

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Sydney Ford stars for Western

Ford didn't need much time to take over.

Combining poise behind center, elusiveness and a very strong arm, she directed Western to the end zone on all three first-half possessions for the Wildcats.

"The biggest thing is that quarterback," Fleming Island head coach Clint Lyons said. "She does an outstanding job of buying extra time. They use those two shielders and she knows how to roll. She baits the rusher one way and she pulls back the other.

"I mean, Lamar Jackson's the MVP of the NFL a few years ago because he buys time and runs around. It's hard to cover people for five seconds."

She connected with Kennedy Allen on a 2-yard goal-line toss, found Veronica McBride downfield for a catch-and-run to the end zone from outside the 20 and drilled a strike to Lauren Holschauer with a back-breaking touchdown as the first half expired to nail down a 21-0 halftime lead.

Ford also threw a pair of touchdowns in the second half.

Turnover swings momentum

Fleming Island (16-2) made it look easy on its opening possession. MyKayla Maddox kept the Wildcats off balance, mixing up passes to Sarah Yirka and Mackenzie Kirk to drive inside the Wildcat 5.

Then Nandi Ramessar changed everything.

The Western defender pounced on a pass near the sideline at the 1 and ran it back nearly 20 yards, squashing the Golden Eagles' chance to seize an early lead.

Ford pointed to the play as the moment that invigorated Western's sideline.

"They go all the way down the field, get to the goal line and then you intercept it," Ford said. "I mean, that gives us motivation to go all the way down and finish it from there."

Golden Eagles fight on

The damage was done, but Fleming Island didn't exit its first-ever final four without a fight.

Fleming Island scored twice in a 90-second span in the fourth quarter to briefly restore hope.

Maddox threw a touchdown pass to the end zone that ricocheted off some hands before senior Brilei Cooper reeled it in for a touchdown.

Then, Maddox contributed on the defensive side, picking off a pass and returning inside the 20 to set up another score two plays later.

Fleming Island also got another second-half pick from senior Mackenzie Kirk.

Although multiple starters are set to graduate, the future is promising, with quarterback Maddox among those with another year still to come. Lyons said the memories from the 2022 season aren't going away.

"It's the best season we've ever had," Lyons said.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Davie Western defeats Fleming Island in FHSAA flag football semifinals