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PALMER — As it turns out, the fourth time’s the charm for the Wasilla-Redington girls flag football team.
Wasilla-Redington scored a 20-12 win over rival Colony-Palmer Thursday afternoon at Colony High School.
“They beat us three times because of the mistakes we made. We came in and fixed them tonight and we won. That was great,” Wasilla-Redington coach Mat Bredberg said after the win.
Claire Bredberg celebrated her birthday by providing the go-ahead score for Wasilla-Redington. Bredberg returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to break a 12-12 tie.
The game capped the first official season for girls high school flag football in the Mat-Su.
“It’s been a lot of fun. To end it like this is pretty cool,” Mat Bredberg said.
The first season for Valley girls flag football featured the pair of co-op programs. Bredberg said the Wasilla-Redington team drew about 25 players. Earlier this year, Colony-Palmer co-coach Dustin Wilson said his team also had about 25 athletes.
“It’s such a joy to have a bunch of girls who wanted to learn, wanted to play,” Bredberg said. “They learned every day.”
Bredberg said everyone — the coaches, the players, the referees — were starting from scratch, and gained experience throughout the season.
“The learning curve was huge. We went from what’s a line of scrimmage to winning,” Bredberg said.
Bredberg said the Colony-Palmer coaches field time for offseason clinics, and the overall interest in the Valley’s new high school sport continues to grow.
“The girls had fun,” Bredberg said.
Makayla Compton gave Wasilla-Redington an early lead, returning a kick 48 yards for a score. Colony-Palmer quarterback Hallie Clark connected with Shaelyn McGann for a pair of touchdown passes in the first half to give Colony-Palmer a 12-6 lead.
Wasilla-Redington tied the score at 12 late in the first quarter with Savanna Kroon’s touchdown pass to Claire Bredberg.
Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.
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