There was no way anyone involved could have imagined this.
After a few years of trying, when it was announced before the spring that Pentucket had finally green-lit a varsity girls flag football team at the school, the main goal of the athletes involved was to just have fun. Some had previous experience with organized flag, but for a decent majority of the roster, it was their first time playing football.
Crazy that just a few short months later, Pentucket’s inaugural season will end at the house Tom Brady built.
By virtue of winning its two playoff games against Peabody 2 (36-0) and Salem (14-6) last week, the Panthers have qualified for the Tournament of Champions at Gillette Stadium on Friday night. The Panthers have earned the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Division, and will play Fitchburg in the opening round at 6 p.m. The double-elimination tournament will end with one of the eight qualified teams being crowned the Mass. Super Bowl Champions on the Gillette Stadium turf.
“We’re all super excited,” said senior captain Ava DiBurro, who along with fellow captain, Amelia Crowe, spearheaded the effort to get the sport started at the school.
“After we won our two playoff games we were all jumping around and just really happy. At the start of the season, the goal was really to just have fun and get some of the underclassmen introduced to the sport. But I think it’s gone better than anyone could have expected.”
Pentucket has played 19 games this spring, and will enter Gillette Stadium with a 13-6 record.
With the help of Athletic Director Dan Thornton, as well as teachers-turned-coaches Andrew Bub, Lee Lintz and Terrence Conant, girls flag football is now a varsity sport at the school. There has been a youth league in the community for some time with Seacoast Flag, but now future Panthers will have the opportunity to continue playing at the high school level.
Their first ever game: The Panthers beat Cambridge, 25-7.
“I was so excited when we got the team started this year,” said DiBurro. “It had been a while in the making, and I’ve been saying this year that it still doesn’t feel real. We all worked for it and made it happen as a group, that’s what has made it so special.”
And they haven’t slowed down since starting.
Games are two 20-minute halves, with a 35-point mercy rule if a contest gets out of hand. DiBurro has primarily been the team’s quarterback, and has led a high-powered offense that has the Panthers still fighting as one of the eight teams left standing in the state.
Friday night, they’ll get to run onto the field through the same tunnel that so many Patriots have jogged through before.
And with only three seniors on the roster with the rest being underclassmen, Pentucket is set up to have continued success.
“I think it’s going to grow,” said DiBurro. “Some of the underclassmen have already told me that they want to play again next year. We sort of came into the season with no idea of what this team was, but the best way to describe everything that’s happened is: ‘fun.’”