By Gary Curreri
Fourth-year Deerfield Beach High School girls flag football coach Cameron Thomas paused for reflection after his team’s heart-breaking 14-12 loss to visiting Atlantic that ended the best season in school history.
“Last year, we went 4-7 and everybody had a point to prove,” Thomas said. “It’s frustrating, but last year at this time, we weren’t here. This is one of the biggest stepping stones we’ve ever had. I’m just happy the girls fought. Most teams lay down when their backs are against the wall, but we continued to fight.”
Deerfield Beach (9-4), which won the first district title in program history, struck first when sophomore quarterback Stefaterra Boykins scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 8:55 left in the first half. Boykins added another 1-yard run in the third quarter, cutting Atlantic’s lead to 14-12. Thomas is looking ahead to next season with 10 of 14 girls returning next year. “We had a couple big missed opportunities, but that’s football,” Thomas said.
“We made school history. It’s our first time here, first time to have this opportunity, and I’m proud of these girls. I can’t be mad at them. They played hard.”
Thomas said this year’s team got along and had good chemistry, which was the main reason they were successful.
Thomas said the play of Boykins, juniors Courtney Lee and Darrion Cowart, along with seniors Terra Johnson and Ashley Johnson contributed to their success.
Thomas said a 7-0 victory over host Douglas during the season was the turning point for the squad.
“They (Douglas) were the No. 2 team in the state and the No. 1 team in the county,” Thomas said. “At that point, they knew we could do it.”
Thomas said he also changed his coaching style in working with the girls and it reaped dividends. He is also the junior varsity football coach and said the girls had asked him to tone it down.
Phillip Scott and Lester Atmore assisted Thomas this season.
“I am so used to coaching boys, I could yell and scream and with girls you can’t,” said Thomas, who has been 5-2 with the Bucks JV football team the past two years.
“They asked me to tone it down a little bit and it worked miracles … This was a fairy tale year for us. We have a saying, ‘if it is destined to be us, let it be us.’”
Atlantic quarterback Justice Porter ran for one score, threw for one and added two extra point passes that proved to be the difference to lead the Eagles to the state tournament.
Atlantic linebacker Andrea Maccow had three interceptions in the game, including her third off a Vanessa Ragnarsson pass with just under 40 seconds left that clinched the Eagles’ victory.
