By Rubin E. Grant
Vestavia Hills flag football coach Doug Rogers likes to challenge his team.
“We told them we’re going to throw a lot at you,” Rogers said. “Some of it will stick, but not all of it will sink in, so acquire as much of it as you can.”
Obviously, the Rebels’ players have picked things up pretty well. They entered this week with a 10-1 record following a 43-7 victory against Oak Mountain last week and are ranked No. 13 nationally in the USA Today Sports Super 25 poll.
“The girls are smart and athletic,” Rogers said. “They have a good understanding of the game, and they want to have success.”
Vestavia Hills reached the 2023 Class 6A/7A flag football state title game with a 17-0 record but lost to Central-Phenix City 25-0 to finish as runners-up.
Rogers wasn’t sure the Rebels would be able to sustain that kind of success this season.
“My biggest concern was what would we do on defense,” Rogers said. “We pretty much lost everybody off our defense. I wasn’t concerned about our offense ‘cause we had just about everybody back, but it was defense that carried us last year.”
Rogers’ concerns proved to be unfounded. The Rebels’ starting defense did not allow a touchdown in the first six games this season.
“Our defense has been doing a good job,” Rogers said. “The only scores we allowed in the first two games came on turnovers, a couple of pick-6’s.”
The Rebels have been getting solid play from linebackers Molly Mitchell, a senior, and Kate Fitzpatrick, a junior. Two weeks ago, Mitchell had six tackles (flag pulls), two sacks and an interception as Vestavia Hills posted three wins. She had six passes for 140 yards on offense and scored three touchdowns.
“She has really stepped up,” Rogers said. “She’s very versatile. She understands angles really well and shuts them down.”
Fitzpatrick recorded 10 stops in the three wins.
Another key defender has been senior rusher Emily Spooner.
“She’s the captain of the defense,” Rogers said. “If you watch our games, she’s telling the linebackers what they need to do. She’s a solid player.”
Vestavia Hills has plenty of firepower on offense, led by junior quarterback Julie Rose. In the Rebels’ three wins two weeks ago against Mountain Brook (52-0), Opelika (25-0) and John Carroll Catholic (25-6), Rose completed 46 of 94 passes for 653 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“She led us to an undefeated season until the championship game last year as a sophomore,” Rogers said. “She is as hard on herself as anybody. Her expectations are pretty high, so we have to tell her to lighten up a little.”
Rose has a solid receiving corps. Sophomore Callie Davis established an AHSAA flag football record by scoring touchdowns on seven consecutive pass receptions two weeks ago. She finished the week with seven catches for 102 yards and seven scores in three wins.
Sophomore Alexis Rubin had eight receptions for 156 yards and three TDs in those games and senior Layne Turner caught 10 passes for 102 yards and one TD.
Vestavia Hills’ only loss this season came when they let an 18-0 lead slip away and lost 20-18 to Prattville in a Class 6A/7A, Region 5 game on Sept. 10.
The Rebels were scheduled to play Spain Park in another region game Tuesday.
“The idea is to get to the top of the mountain, but we have a lot of good teams to go through,” Rogers said. “We’re going to do all things we need to do to hopefully do that.”
