The clock winds down: 60 seconds, 50 seconds, 40 seconds. Down five points with only one thing on her mind, getting down the field as fast as possible, quarterback and senior Ava Alvarez throws the ball back to Athlete and senior Serenity Simon in the rush receiving position, who takes the team on to a historic win.
Going down the sideline at lightning speed into the end zone and setting the score to 26:25 with just four seconds left, on May 11, the Miami Palmetto Senior High Varsity Lady Panthers Flag Football team made history as the first team in Miami-Dade County to win a state championship in flag football.
Named MaxPreps Player of the Game, Simon’s role in the state final versus Lennard High School brought the team to a 20-1 record and made MPSH history. For the teammates around her, watching such a pivotal moment brought sheer pride.
“We just see [Simon’s] lightning speed down the sideline and go for that touchdown, it was just electric. And when [Head Coach Kevin Mujica] put out the seven seniors he was just telling us, ‘We did it, we won,’” captain and senior Sami Anes said.
From the quarterback’s perspective, for Alvarez, getting the ball to the end zone was the only thought in her mind in those final seconds, despite having dislocated her finger before the final plays.
“[The final play] was a very surreal moment from the quarterback’s point of view. It was very much [that] I need to get down the field as fast as I can and score because I need to win the game despite dislocating my finger and popping it right back in,” Alvarez said.
From the coaching perspective, Mujica has played flag football since the age of four, competed at the international level in Israel three years ago and was named the first-ever Miami Dolphins Bill Massey Flag Football Coach of the Year on May 17.
With this level of experience and passion for the game, founding the team in 2021 and leading the group of fierce Lady Panthers to earn a ring came as the perfect way to end a record-breaking year. Seeing three seniors set to further their flag football careers at the collegiate level, Mujica’s pride in the team and hope for the future is strong.
“The fact that [the girls] were able to bring their chemistry in right away and lead this team, to see how we’ve grown from our travel ball season to joining Palmetto with a group of new girls and combining the leadership is just impressive. It’s great to see how they carried themselves, how they were able to overcome adversity, how quickly they were able to click together this year,” Mujica said. “Flag football has been around since 2003. We’re the first team in Dade County to win a state championship, so being able to represent the 305 and Dade County is huge.”
The team’s record now stands as the following:
2023 Dolphins Flag League Champions
2024 Greater Miami Athletic Conference Champions
2024 2A Florida High School Athletic Association Champions
![“I did think [giving out autograph pages] helped give the feel of a signing party. I felt like it was a great way for the seniors to have the ability to interact with all their peers on their last day of school and to make memories they would never forget,” Miami Palmetto Senior High Palm Echo staffer and freshman Lucy Dwyer said.](https://www.thepalmettopanther.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/83215094-9BCB-4A83-A533-E392674F0403-1200x798.jpeg)
