By Loyd McIntosh Photos by Kathryn Ellis
Julia Rose is a trailblazer among trailblazers.
A senior at Vestavia Hills High School, Rose is the quarterback for the Rebels’ flag football team, one of the top squads in the state. Rose is turning heads across Alabama and beyond for her skills, leadership and pioneering spirit in a sport that is just starting to gain traction at the high school level.
Flag football was sanctioned by the AHSAA in 2021 when Rose was an eighth grader, with eyes on playing volleyball at the high school level. After failing to make the volleyball team during her freshman year, Rose decided to attend a flag football clinic, immediately realizing this was the sport for her. “I just fell in love with it,” Rose says. “It’s a lot more competitive than I thought it would be, and it’s super fast-paced, which I like.”
In her four years with the Rebels, Rose has developed into one of the sport’s top quarterbacks, earning many accolades and awards in the process. In September, Rose was honored as National Flag Football Player of the week by USA Football and MaxPreps, and judging by her recent statistics and accomplishments, it’s easy to understand why.
Earlier in the season, Rose led Vestavia Hills to the NFL Flag Tournament in Dothan, an important early-season competition featuring some of the state’s best teams. During the tournament, Rose completed 77 of 126 passing attempts, amassing 905 yards and 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions to lead the Rebels to four consecutive wins, including a 20-13 win over Prattville in the title game.
As of this writing on October 1, Rose’s statistics are staggering. According to MaxPreps, Rose has completed 399 of 638 passing attempts, thrown for 4,864 yards, and 82 touchdowns, and she is averaging 282 yards per game, numbers that place her among the nation’s elite quarterbacks.
She is ranked first in Alabama and fourth nationally for passing yards, 10t nationally for total yards and passed the 10,000 career passing yards midway through the season as well. Under her leadership, the Rebels are on an 18-game winning streak and are 19-1 (as of October 1), with their lone loss coming to Moody in the second game of the season.
Sporting her No. 10 jersey and exuding the confidence of elite quarterbacks, Rose commands attention on the field with her leadership and skill. Off the field, Rose is humble, soft-spoken and understands that she’s only as good as her teammates around her.
Among Rose’s favorite receivers is junior Alexis Rubin, the leading receiver for the Rebels and one of Rose’s favorite targets. After 20 games, Rubin has 129 catches, 1,396 yards and 33 touchdowns. Rose says the chemistry with receivers like Rubin, Molly Mac Sharp, Caroline Nintzel and Chloe Leahy is a contributing factor to the team’s success. “I’m just focused on doing my best as the quarterback and helping my team succeed,’ says Rose. “When you have great receivers like I do, it’s really easy to find them open and give them the ball to make plays.”
Rose continues, “I think I have some of the best receivers in the country. We just work really well together and have been able to put together great drives.”
Offensive Coordinator and Associate Head Coach Daniel Davis, coaching under head coach Debra Broome, says Rose is a special athlete with many tangible and intangible skills contributing to her success. Davis = says she has developed the ability to understand what the defense is going to do before the play begins and makes adjustments in an instant. Also a softball player, Davis says Rose has unusual arm strength for a female athlete.
“I like to tell people she has college-level skills playing at the high school level. Her ability to read a defense and identify coverages pre-snap and post-snap is as good as anybody I’ve ever been around,” Davis says. “She’s just got a knack for reading coverages and distributing the ball to the right person. Being able to push it 45 yards downfield on the mark and also being able to hit that five-yard hitch route on the mark is something that you don’t really see at this level. Her arm strength, accuracy and being able to diagnose are what set her apart.”
Aside from physical talent, team chemistry and effective leadership are key components to any team, points that the coaching staff emphasizes daily. Davis says that Rose, along with the other seniors who have built the flag football program from the ground up, is setting the standard for the younger players to follow. “From a team perspective, I would say Julia is one of the many components to our team from a leadership standpoint,” Davis says.
With all of the accolades, awards and winning records, one that has eluded Rose and the Rebels flag football team so far is a state title. Rose’s ultimate goal is to help her team capture a state championship, but more importantly, she hopes to leave a lasting legacy that inspires younger girls to continue building the program. “I just want to leave it all on the field,” Rose says. “A state championship is obviously what we’re looking for, but I would just like to leave the program on a high note for the younger girls to keep playing.”
