FLAG FOOTBALL: Catholic dominates in win over Spain Park

Catholic quarterback Hayden Fitts squeezes between LeAnna Thomas (5) and Annalise Hunter in the Knights’ win over Spain Park on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

High school flag football is a fast-growing sport and there are plenty of analysts who have jumped on the bandwagon with subjective rankings and predictions.

Catholic, who has won 11 consecutive games since losing the season opener at nationally acclaimed Central-Phenix City, is often overlooked because of back-to-back losses in the 2025 state finals and the 2026 opener. Spain Park, whose only loss this season has been to defending 1A-5A state champion Moody, came to Catholic on Thursday riding a wave of popularity as one of the state’s top flag programs.  

“It lights a fire underneath us,” Catholic senior Avery Sadler said. “It makes us want to prove to people that maybe we should be talked about a little bit more. But I think we were more worried about just playing our game today and making sure we had ourselves under control, more than worrying about the standings.”

The Knights certainly demonstrated they should be part of the conversation, scoring the game’s first three touchdowns on the way to a surprisingly easy 40-13 rout of the Jaguars. And if this week’s slight irritated Catholic coach Whitney Toole, she certainly knew how to handle the perceived lack of respect.

“They’re one of the best teams in the nation,” Toole said. “There’s a reason they’re ranked in the top 25 in the nation. Props to the kids. They came out and did what we’ve practiced the last two days. They executed the plan we had worked on and I couldn’t be prouder of them for that.”

It was Sadler who made sure the Knights came outt victorious on Thursday. Spain Park’s first play from scrimmage was a pass from Abigail Whatley in the direction of Nylah Calhoun. Sadler stepped in front of the ball and returned the interception 18 yards to the end zone to give the Knights a quick and decisive 14-0 lead.

“Going into the game, we knew to keep an eye on No. 8 (Calhoun) and No. 14 (Chenelle Hunter),” Sadler said. “And one of them (Calhoun) was on my side and so I was like, OK, I moved out with them and saw the quarterback’s eyes were straight on her and I was like, OK, here we go. I was like, let’s go, and we kept going, especially offensively.”

The Knights scored on their first two possessions, threw an inteception in the Spain Park end zone on the third and scored on the next two possessions to take command of the game. But it was Sadler’s interception that left the Jaguars fighting an uphill battle the remainder of the game.

“I think it definitely gave us momentum at the beginning of the game,” Toole said. “I think that was a game shifter for us (to convince us) hey, we’re in the game, we can do this, we’re just as good as they are.”

Hayden Fitts completed 11 of 19 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 100 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. Fitts ran two yards to cap the first drive, threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Aria Martinez to make it 20-0 and scored on runs of 10 and 2 yards late in the second quarter and midway through the third to make it 33-13.

Martinez scored on an end around for the game’s final touchdown, providing the margin necessary for officials to halt the game with two minutes left, a fitting end to a dominating performance.

The Jaguars rallied to trim the deficit to 20-13 early in the second quarter with the help of a spectacular one-handed touchdown grab by Calhoun, but another interception by Sadler and one by Frances Ann Rogers kept the Jaguars in check.

About the only thing that threatened the Knights’ confidence was the ruling of the officials after Catholic held Spain Park on a third-quarter possession and the Jaguars punted on fourth and one without declaring beforehand their intentions. Toole protested the call but instead of earning a replay, officials declared Catholic was offside on the hastily run play, giving the Jaguars a first down in Catholic territory.

It was one of several decisions and ball placements by officials that was questioned by both sides.  

“We were really heated,” said Sadler, who finished with a game-high seven stops. “We let it get to us in the moment, but then we realized in the big scheme of things it really doesn’t matter. A call is a call. Every game, you have bad calls and you have good calls. As long as you play your game, I think you’re good.”\

The Knights would later hold the Jaguars on downs at the Catholic 10-yard line, preventing Spain Park from getting back in the game.

“I think they did extremely well, handling their emotions and keeping their frustrations in check,” Toole said. “If anybody messed that one up, it was me. There was definitely some ‘iffy’ calls at a big time in the game, but they handled it the way they were supposed to handle it.”

Catholic will play St. Michael next Tuesday for Senior Night at home, which also could be Catholic’s opening opponent in the upcoming playoffs. The Knights were scheduled to play Austin, which canceled, and St. Michael was part of a tri-match with John Carroll before John Carroll canceled.

The Knights will make up the scheduling losses with road games at Hoover on Oct. 22 and at Northside on Oct. 29.