Washington County falls in first Flag Football State Championship Game appearance

The Lady Hawks reached the state championship game for the first time in program history.

ATLANTA (41NBC/WMGT) – On Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Washington County Lady Hawks appeared in their first flag football state championship game in program history, taking on the Harris County Lady Tigers for the GHSA Division One Flag Football State Title.

The Lady Hawks found themselves trailing after every quarter, including being down 25-0 at halftime, but showed fight in the second half, getting all the way to the goal line before throwing an interception, one of two on the day. The second sealed a 32-0 victory for the Lady Tigers with 2:50 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

After the trophy presentation, Head Coach Jay English, alum and former state champion in the late 90s with WaCo, talks about how proud he is of these young ladies, how good it feels to be an alum back in the state championship and what this means for the future.

“To take pride in Washington County and our athletics, we’re still fairly young as a program, so for them to get here is a great accomplishment,” he said. “Our elementary school, we started a flag football intramural program, and the fifth graders sent us a message, a good luck message. I hope they understand that what they’re doing is building the future for girls like that, and hopefully—this is the fastest growing sport in America—hopefully we’ll keep this thing building, and young girls in Washington County will grow up looking forward to playing flag football. Life’s bigger than the game. Things are gonna hit you in the face. In life, it’s a lot worse than losing a football game. So they need to be proud and be proud they brought the community together. We had some stuff going on back in Washington County, so they brought everybody together.”

He also spoke with us about what this means to him.

“So I posted on Facebook that all I know is Washington County,” he said. “I was born there. I played there, came back, and as coach there. I’ve been there 20 years as a teacher and coach, all I know is Washington County, and for me to do this and bring these girls on this stage for our community at the end of the day, I take serious pride in that.”

English said the future is bright.

“I mean, we got a lot coming back. I got (No.) three and (No.) nine coming back, my two players that make us kind of go, and I’ve got a bunch of young girls that are still learning how to play, and you never know who’s coming up from eighth grade,” he said. “\So no reason we shouldn’t make a run at it next year. So hopefully I’ll see you guys again next year.”

Congrats to the Washington County Lady Hawks on an incredible 14-7 season!