Durant flag football made their way into the week riding an undefeated 5-0 start to the season. Fielding a team filled with dual-sport athletes that have largely come over from Durant’s strong girls basketball and soccer teams, 2023 has already proved a massive step forward from the Cougars’ 4-7 record in 2022. To start the season, Durant outscored their opponents 144-39 over the aforementioned five-game win streak — featuring shutouts in 19-0 and 47-0 wins over Sumner and Strawberry Crest earlier in March. And to keep the wins rolling, Durant came away with a dominating 47-0 win over the Falcons on Monday to move to 6-0 on the year.
Durant and Leto opened the night with a junior varsity matchup, with the Cougars JV team also putting together a strong start of their own as they entered Monday’s contest with a record of 4-0-1. A pair of touchdowns in the first half — along with two interceptions on the defensive end — had the Cougars’ junior varsity squad in the drivers seat with a 14-0 lead at halftime. A pick-six to open the second half, another interception late in the contest and two more offensive scores allowed Durant’s JV team to run away with a 33-0 victory and move to 5-0-1, remaining undefeated themselves.
In the varsity matchup, Leto’s offense took the field first but was abruptly brought to a halt as senior Emma Harnage hauled in an interception near midfield and the subsequent return gave Durant possession inside of Leto territory. Durant then found themselves on the scoreboard in the blink of an eye as senior quarterback Maggie Lauber hit senior Ki’ajanae Gordon streaking over the middle of the field for a 19-yard touchdown on their first offensive play of the game. The one-point attempt was converted on another completion in the end zone from Lauber to Gordon and Durant took a 7-0 lead. Leto’s offense took the field for their second drive of the contest and were once again stopped quickly with another strong defensive play from the Cougars, this time coming by way of an interception from Lauber that gave Durant another offensive opportunity just inside of Leto’s territory near midfield — the 40-yard line for flag football. And in similar fashion to their first offensive possession, the Cougars flew right down the field as Gordon took the snap under center and found Lauber deep downfield for another one-play drive. Lauber then found sophomore McKayla Hubbard for the one-point conversion and Durant had quickly built a 14-0 lead.
While the Cougars were unable to come up with their third interception in as many chances, they were still able to hold the Falcons’ offense from crossing midfield on their next drive, taking over on downs inside Leto territory after a fourth down stop. A short run from Lauber and a completion to Harnage gave Durant a first down inside the Leto 20-yard line and Lauber once again hit Gordon for a 17-yard touchdown. The one-point attempt was stifled by the Leto defense, but the Cougars were able to extend their lead to 20-0.
As Leto took the field again, Durant sophomore Nikeya King moved the Falcons backward on a second down sack before Lauber hauled in her second interception of the game — the Cougars’ third interception of the first half. And despite another turnover forced, Durant was held scoreless for the first time as a fourth down pass was knocked down later in the series, turning the ball over on downs to Leto in Falcons territory. But despite the defensive stand, Leto was unable to convert as sacks from the Durant defense on first and second down ultimately led to a punt. After a first down completion to Gordon and a first down carry from freshman Jordan Smith, Lauber escaped the pocket and avoided multiple defenders on her way to a long touchdown run, extending the Cougars’ lead to 27 after the one-point play.
One more first half interception coming from sophomore Maya Euell led to one more offensive score on an 11-yard touchdown from Lauber to freshman Bella Guzman and Durant took a 34-0 lead into halftime.
Starting the second half on offense, Durant once again made quick work of the Leto defense as they moved down the field with ease and scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Lauber as Gordon broke free up the seam — the duo’s fourth touchdown connection of the night — to give the Cougars a 40-0 lead and kickstart a running clock for the remainder of the contest. Lauber added her fourth touchdown of the game late in the fourth with a connection to Emma Harnage. With a 47-0 lead, the Durant defense never faltered as they ran out the clock on their huge win to move to 6-0.
Behind Lauber’s three interceptions, Harnage and Euell followed behind with one each. Freshman Emily Blair finished the contest with two sacks and King rounded out the unit with one of her own. Offensively, Lauber completed 16 of her 23 attempts for 144 yards and four touchdowns, also adding 54 rushing yards on four carries and hauling in one pass that went for a 39-yard touchdown from Gordon. Gordon completed two of her four attempts for 70 yards and a touchdown while also adding a team-high seven receptions for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Behind Gordon, Harnage hauled in three receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown, Hubbard added four receptions for 29 yards, junior Hannah Simmons totaled one reception for 16 yards and Guzman totaled two receptions for 10 yards and a touchdown.
Armwood and Durant now both sit undefeated atop the 2A District 6 standings at 6-0, with Durant at 3-0 and Armwood at 1-0 in district play. Behind the undefeated duo, Steinbrenner is at 8-2 and Wharton is at 6-3 with Hillsborough, Tampa Bay Tech, Gaither, Plant City and Strawberry Crest rounding out the group.
Durant will host 4-2 Brandon on Thursday before finishing their seasons with a pair of road games against 6-1 Lennard on April 3 and 4-4 East Bay on April 13.