They took selfies and team shots, winning stage shots, and photos upon photos of a special award that will never be given out again—the Eagles award as Pennsylvania flag football state champions for another year.
With the PIAA officially making girls’ flag football a varsity sport throughout the state in 2027, Monday marked the last time the girls’ state championship would be played at the Eagles’ complex, and the last time the Eagles award would be issued.
It seemed fitting with this special Gwynedd Mercy team and the singular bond this group formed over the last four years would get it, since perhaps no other team may ever be as dominant in the coming years as this 2026 GMA team.
The Monarchs placed an exclamation point on a priceless, poignant season that was as near perfect as perfect gets with a 33-13 victory over a very good, well-coached, and athletic Palumbo Academy squad in what was the last Pennsylvania Flag Football Championship under the NFL and the Eagles’ pilot program.
So, no one wanted to leave afterward because they did not want to leave each other.
“That’s why this is so tough for me,” said Monarchs’ junior Lily Walker, who scored two touchdowns, one on a 21-yard pass that proved to be the backbreaker for Palumbo at the end of the first half and the other on the second of three pick-sixes for GMA. “I missed playing in this game last year. I was at a soccer tournament, and it was one of the most regretful decisions I have ever made in my life. The girls on this team really took me in and keep me alive. I never wanted to miss this again.
“I made up for it. I knew we had to come out and be dogs. Palumbo was a very good team. We spent so much time together there is a bond with us. The emotion comes from how hard we work. We wanted to prove everyone wrong. There were a lot of people that said some things about us, and we wanted to prove people wrong. No one was going to take us down. I’ll always remember us sticking together. I’ll always remember how every girl on this team has each other’s backs. It’s probably why no one wants to leave.”
Throughout the last two years, Sophie Caufield was one of the most athletic players on the Monarchs. She bypassed a Division I soccer scholarship to Richmond to commit more time to flag football and is instead attending Michigan State.
She made a decisive interception in GMA’s PA state championship victory over Lansdale Catholic last season and had two pick sixes on Monday, one a 24-yard TD return in the first quarter bookended by a 25-yard pick six in the fourth.
Against North Penn in the Monarchs’ threepeat win as Suburban Champions, it was Caufield who dove through the air looking like Lynn Swann between two defenders to take down a sideline pass setting up a touchdown.
“I lost my passion for soccer, and I knew nothing about football when I joined the (GMA) flag team my sophomore year,” Caufield said. “There is no other team I was on like this. We are so supportive of one another. We have a few weeks to graduation, and most seniors want to leave, but I want to stay, that’s how much I feel about these girls. I’ll miss our cheers. I hate to be on the other side when we do them. I’ll miss the closeness of everyone.”
Perhaps hit hardest was GMA’s winning quarterback, Keira Quinn, the Maxwell Club national high school flag football Player of the Year. This last month has been difficult for Quinn, playing for her father the last time, GMA head coach Tim Quinn. Each game was a winding ticker to when Keira would be wearing a GMA jersey for the last time.
“This is the last of Gwynedd flag for me,” said Keira, pushing back tears. “I played here as a freshman. I met my best friend here on this field. Palumbo and Coach (Chris) Donnelly are amazing. This is a great way to go out. I wish we could stay here forever. It’s hard. Most seniors want to graduate and leave. If it were up to the seniors on this team, we would stay here forever. It’s why right now, with the all the years playing with everyone here, it’s so hard that it is ending.”
Tim Quinn was the last one to leave the field. The Monarchs’ coach received his accolades, but his attention was elsewhere as he walked off the field—thinking about his players, his daughter Keira, and a group of girls who he will not forget.
“We finally learned how to sing,” said Tim, laughing. “When we started our cheers, no one could sing a tune. I never imaged this, and how this would turn out. When Terry Fasano, the former athletic director at Gwynedd Mercy, asked me three times to coach and I turned her down each time. I finally gave in. Gwynedd has been a blessing in our lives. We jumped into the fire and look where the game is.
“People get the wrong impression of our girls, because of our cheers. The first year we were terrible (with the cheers), and the second year, we had some girls who could carry a tune. By the third year, we had great harmony.”
That, obviously, translated on to the field.
Despite the score, Palumbo made it a competitive game. After the Monarchs scored on their opening possession, and Caufield’s first pick-six made it 13-0, that’s where the score sat until late in the second quarter, when Quinn hit Walker for a 19-0 lead with four seconds left in the half.
“I’m really proud of my kids,” said Donnelly, who has done wonders with the Palumbo program. “The reality is, Gwynedd is a great team. We have a super team, and we have a solid freshman, sophomore and junior classes. We will miss players like Tasci (Xavier), and Raniyah (Bennett), Bea (Kaeli), Ava (McKee) and Reece (Jackson-Roane). They can’t be replaced. But we like where we are going.”
Perhaps the most gifted player on the field was Xavier, who will be going to Chestnut Hill College to play flag football. The speedster does not run so much as she glides when she had the ball.
“Although we fell short, I am very proud of our team,” Xavier said. “That last touchdown at the end of the half killed us; just the wrong play at the wrong time. This has been a journey, and I wouldn’t have done it with anyone else.”
A sentiment certainly shared on both sides of the field on Monday.
Scoring Summary
Palumbo 0 0 7 6-13
Gwynedd Mercy Academy 13 6 0 14-33
1st Quarter
GM – Shiloh Okiro 25 pass from Keira Quinn (Rowan Cunningham pass from Quinn), 9:07
GM –Sophie Caufield 24 INT return (pass failed), 6:29
2nd Quarter
GM – Lily Walker 21 pass from Quinn (pass failed), :04
4th Quarter
P – Reece Jackson-Roane 1 pass from Anyla Byrd (Raniyah Bennett pass from Byrd), 10:12
GM – Walker 35 INT return (Okiro pass from Quinn), 3:10
GM – Caufield 25 INT return (Walker pass from Quinn), 1:26
P – Tasci Xavier 41 pass from Byrd (pass failed), :25
Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball [twitter.com].