By Surella Rodriguez - Monsignor Edward Pace HS
Photographer: COURTESY
Members of Msgr. Edward Pace High School's girls flag football team pose with their district championship trophy, April 20, 2021. Next stop: Regional playoffs April 28 on the Pace campus, and a shot at the state championship.
Photographer: COURTESY
Msgr. Edward Pace High School's Rayonna Baker, a senior, has signed her scholarship to St. Thomas University's women's flag football program.
MIAMI GARDENS | Msgr. Edward Pace High School’s girls flag football team kept their undefeated status and won their seventh FHSAA district championship when they defeated the Miami Norland Vikings by a score of 19-6 on April 20, 2021.
Now they are favored to win the regional championship, which will be hosted at Pace this Wednesday, April 28.
The lady Spartans, boasting an 11-0 record, have their eyes set on the FHSAA state championship, which they have not reached since 2013. Last year, they also were undefeated on the path to their first three-peat as district champions before the pandemic cancelled all FHSAA spring sports.
Flag football coaches — and Pace alumni — Derek Duque, ’12, and Kory Fleming, ’16, have developed the program to its current position in Miami-Dade County high school sports. Head coach Duque joined the program in 2015 and for the last seven years has built one of the most dominating teams in South Florida.
Colleges like St. Thomas University are recognizing the talent at Pace by signing multiple athletes. The most recent one is quarterback and safety Rayonna Baker, a senior who signed her scholarship to STU’s women’s flag football program April 22, during the Spring Signing Day at Pace.
