Rigopoula Nasopoulos intercepts a pass late for Fort Hamilton. (Robert Cole)
Leshauna Phinazee was limping as much as her Kennedy team in the closing minutes. The Knights star, who also plays basketball at the school, tweaked an already nagging ankle and was helped to the sideline after a Fort Hamilton interception in the end zone.
“It was like my ankle was about to fall off, I swear,” Phinazee said. “I thought I wasn’t going to get back in the game. Thought it was over for me.”
She missed only a few plays, came back but was unable to get to Rigopoula Nasopoulos in time to stop her from catching a Virginia Mancuso pass that gave the Tigers the lead with 57 seconds remaining.
Phinazee made sure that advantage didn’t last long.
On Kennedy’s following play from scrimmage, she caught a 35-yard touchdown from close friend Deaisia Acklin to put the third-seeded Knights up for good in a 46-40 victory against No. 1 Fort Hamilton in the first-ever PSAL girls flag football championship game Wednesday at Mott Haven in The Bronx. The game is played on a 40-yard field with no offensive line.
“I just knew I had to get it,” said Phinazee. who also batted down Fort Hamilton’s final pass attempt. “If I didn’t, I felt it would be over.”
It was the fourth time the pair, who have known each other since they were 7, connected for a score. Phinazee (six catches, 82 yards) credited Acklin, who also ran for two touchdowns, for getting the ball to her in that spot. It was a bit of a broken play as Phinazee moved from the middle to the open sideline. Acklin completed 14-of-23 passes for 162 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 141 yards and two scores for Kennedy (12-0).
“If the pass is on target I know she is going to catch it,” Acklin said.
They and fellow basketball star Joya McFarland, who had a big pass break up early in the second half, were a big part of Kennedy’s unbeaten season. They joined just to have something to do after basketball season ended. McFarland kept telling Phinazee she’s “the best” after the game. The Knights lost to McKee/Staten Island Tech in the Class AA hoops quarterfinals. Treanda Foster, another basketball player, had a touchdown grab for Kennedy, which led by as much as 12 in the second half.
“During basketball season the camaraderie has to be there,” Knights coach Rafael Vallejo said. “When they came out to the field you could tell they were helping each other.”
Fort Hamilton (11-1) felt the momentum had swung back in its favor after Nasopolous’ interception and touchdown gave them a 40-38 lead with less than a minute to play. Daniella Zamora had a great leaping 35-yard TD grab right before the half to put her team up 21-19 at the break. Mancuso completed 14-for-23 for 171 yards. The Tigers had one final drive in the closing seconds, but penalties and incomplete passes kept them out of the end zone.
“She is a very special kid,” Fort Hamilton coach Richard Sherry said of Nasopolous. “She’s been doing it all year.”
He believes the sport is only going to grow as 250 girls tried out for his team, some leaving other sports to do so. The PSAL featured 29 teams in their first season. It’s given those who don’t play other sports a team to join and kids who are already athletes another outlet for their talents. Kennedy was honored to win the first time, but knows it’s not the last.
“I wish they would have made it freshmen year, I would have stopped playing basketball,” Phinazee joked. “We just know this sport is going to be big. Girls basketball started somewhere. … Maybe it will be that for flag football in a couple of years.”