BY HANNAH EUBANKS
The Cooper City Cowboys Flag Football team left district finals with a win, bringing home a district championship plaque. This was the first time since 2009 that the flag football team has won districts. In order to get to this spot, the girls had to first defeat Everglades High School, at 4:30 on Tuesday, May 2. This win brought them to the championship game where they faced South Broward.
To start off the week at Everglades, the EHS girls had home team advantage at the “swamp,” but this did not hinder Cooper City.The game started out a little rocky, but right before the second quarter began, senior Caitlin Dunn threw the ball to sophomore Galya Vicnansky, who completed the first touchdown of the game; this was soon followed by Emma Anderson, who got the extra point for the Cowboys and ended the quarter leading with a score of 7-0.
The game started out a little rocky, but right before the second quarter began, senior Caitlin Dunn threw the ball to sophomore Galya Vicnansky, who completed the first touchdown of the game; this was soon followed by Emma Anderson, who got the extra point for the Cowboys and ended the quarter leading with a score of 7-0.
Once again, Vicnansky made an amazing catch and was there to get her second touchdown of the game. Freshman Kimberly Slinkosky completed the play to receive the extra point, making the score 14-0. With just 22 seconds remaining, Everglades’ offense managed to weasel past the Cowboy defense and score a touchdown, followed by an extra point. This put the Cowboys ahead by one touchdown and extra point at halftime.
After having a discussion and critiquing their mistakes, the Cowboys focused on defense the entire third quarter, knowing they needed to make sure this was a win. The score remained without much end zone activity by either team.
Finally, as the 4th quarter crept on the clock, the Cowboys began to solidify their win with Vicnansky scoring another touchdown and Slinkosky getting her first touchdown of the night soon after. This ended the game at 26-7, leading them into the championships on Thursday.
This was a well-earned game by the Cowboys, but it was a good reminder that they had to stay working hard and training in order to prepare for Thursday. The Cowboys just needed to find their rhythm and get their heads into the game, and they did.
The big day came on Thursday, May 4th: it was the Cowboys chance to redeem themselves from the previous year at district championships. Except for year, they would be up against the South Broward Bulldogs.
The emotional ties to this game were strong, and tensions rose as it was closer to game time. However, the focus of the game had been brought to a halt, as the game was delayed for almost a hour due to lightning warnings. Once it was time to go on the field, each team had to learn to play with conditions of the field and the weather.
Slinkosky put the Cowboys ahead by scoring a touchdown on the first drive. The game stayed intense, then the Bulldogs scored and made the extra point, making the score 6-7.
The game was going back forth, but finally with just 2 minutes left in the game, the Cowboys gave it their all. All of the hard work, the hours of practices, watching film and learning plays paid off when the Cowboys scored their final touchdown. It was truly nail-biting to watch all the way down to the last seconds of the game.
The Bulldogs had the ball back and managed to run two plays at a chance to score with just 37 seconds. Slinkosky got a sack, which then led to the Bulldogs running out the clock. Cooper City won by one point with a 20-19 final score.
The Cowboys were now the 2017 district champions. They are now on to their next challenge of making it to states, attempting to meet all of the goals of the season and set the standards for next.
Final Score: Cooper City 20, Everglades 19
