Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK seals second straight Long Island flag football title in OT with Class A win over Half Hollow Hills
Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK’s offense celebrates after Rachel Ganz’s touchdown against Half Hollow Hills in the Long Island Class A flag football championship, Thursday, May 23, 2024. Credit: Derrick Dingle/Derrick Dingle
In the short history of varsity flag football on Long Island, Half Hollow Hills and Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK have already developed a theme of playing epic championship games.
Last year, the Hawks got the best of Hills in a one-point win en route to a perfect season. On Thursday, it came down to one final play to keep the same dream alive.
After POB JFK scored a touchdown and a one-point conversion to open overtime, Hills responded with a score of its own. But on this one-point conversion, the Hawks came up with the necessary stop.
Lara Glasser came around the corner for a last-second sack of Hills quarterback Samantha Heyman. The junior middle linebacker lifted the flag in the air and jumped in jubilation as her teammates flooded her to conclude a 20-19 Hawks victory in the Long Island Class A championship at Long Beach Middle School.
“Throughout the game there were so many huge plays, and we knew that that one was just the final big one,” Glasser said. “Right before in the huddle, our coaches told us to be smart and, especially, be decisive. Obviously I’m not a rusher, so that’s typically not my job. But I just saw an opportunity, and I just kind of jumped for it and it ended up well in the end.”
“[Hills is] an awesome team,” POB JFK coach Alec Abramowitz said. “They always have a great game-plan. ... They made us think. They got us frustrated.
“These girls are resilient. They showed it this year [and] last year, and it was just an amazing performance.”
POB JFK (18-0) won its 36th straight game dating back to last season’s opener and advances to the inaugural state Division I semifinal, where it will play the winner of Section II champion Columbia/Section IV winner Corning-Painted Post at 9:30 a.m. on June 1 at Cortland High School.
The Hawks trailed 13-7 with 1:54 left and were pinned at their own 1-yard line after a brilliant Hills punt. But quarterback Jennifer Canarutto seamlessly led a four-play, 52-second, 79-yard drive, finding Rachel Ganz for a 35-yard game-tying touchdown.
“You have to stay confident because there’s still a minute left, and every second counts,” Canarutto said. “You just need to put your all into every second, and at the end of the day you could all say that we tried our best to pull through and we did it.”
POB JFK scored two plays into overtime as Canarutto threw a 20-yard touchdown pass, her third, to Emma Heaney. The one-point conversion pass to Ganz, who caught two touchdown passes, was the deciding point.
Hills (13-2) answered in two plays with Heyman’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Zoe Franks, their second scoring connection, for the game’s final points.
“Our secret is really just having fun,” Glasser said. “... We have just really never put our heads down.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.