Girls flag football: Midview sets eyes on future after deep state tournament run

CANTON — The hurt from losing a girls state flag football semifinal game had not begun to heal yet when Leah DiFranco gathered her Midview team in the postgame huddle with an important message. This team, DiFranco told her teammates, set a standard for future Middie girls to follow. With DiFranco leading the way, Midview lost to Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, 21-19, in the semifinal round of the first OHSAA-sponsored girls flag football state tournament at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on May 16. The loss came shortly after the Middies defeated Cincinnati Princeton, 15-14, on the final play of the game in the first round. Thus came to an end the first year of girls flag football at Midview — and what a year it was. Flag football moves toward NCAA Championship status 'GMFB' “I can’t be more proud of these girls,” Coach Seamus Higley said. “They had no idea what it was going to be like in the first season. It was the first year playing for all of them. They played their tails off. We just came up a little short, but I’m proud of them.” Down two points and facing fourth down with less than two minutes remaining, Midview had the ball near midfield with a chance to go ahead or potentially win the game. But Mount Notre Dame got a sack (via a flag pull) to take possession. Two kneels, and the rest of the time ran off the clock. While the semifinal loss had a lot of flare and drama to it, the end of the first game had even more. Midview trailed, 14-7, with less than 8 seconds remaining. Quarterback Dezirae Thomas hit DiFranco for a touchdown pass on the last play of the game, and then hit her again for a two-point conversion to end the game in thrilling fashion, 15-14. Midview quarterback Dezirae Thomas throws a pass during the state girls flag football tournament May 16 in Canton. (Paul DiCicco - For The News-Herald) Midview quarterback Dezirae Thomas throws a pass during the state girls flag football tournament May 16 in Canton. (Paul DiCicco - For The News-Herald) “Not at all,” DiFranco said when asked if she was nervous. “Just another play at the end of the day. We knew we had to convert, and that’s exactly what we did. Dez put it in a perfect sport for me. I just had to go up and grab it.” Said Higley, “(DiFranco) has been doing it all year. She’s not afraid of the moment. Dez Thomas threw a great ball to her. Neither of them are afraid of the moment. … With the players we have, we were confident we could throw it to the end zone and catch it.” While players were understandably upset losing by two points in the semifinal game and being ever so close to the state title game, Higley echoed DiFranco’s words that the first-year success will “set the program forward beyond where we could have ever imagined.” DiFranco said the team had a mission and capitalized on it. “We just wanted to put a banner on the wall, and we just did that,” she said of being a state-qualifying team. “This is an awesome atmosphere. We’re an hour-and-a-half away and our fans still packed the stands rain or shine, so it was awesome. It’s a community event everyone came out to watch.” With both top seeds — Madison from Northeast Ohio and Hamilton Badin from Southwest Ohio — having lost in the first round of the tournament, the state title was up for grabs. Ironically, the first OHSAA-backed state tournament came down to two teams which finished fourth in their respective regional tournaments. Nordonia defeated. Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, 20-19, in the championship game. By the numbers FIRST ROUND Mount Notre Dame 26 Madison 20 Berkshire 34, Cincinnati St. Ursula 18 Midview 15, Cincinnati Princeton 14 Nordonia 6, Hamilton Badin 0 SEMIFINALS Mount Notre Dame 21, Midview 19 Nordonia 38, Berkshire 20 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP