Lakewood Ranch flag football off to record start

Lakewood Ranch High School has so many athletic options for girls in the spring season, you might expect Coach Eli Weaver would have a hard time fielding a flag football team.

Girls can compete in track and field, lacrosse, softball, tennis and beach volleyball in the spring. But it's hard to say no to Weaver. 

Now in his ninth year of coaching flag football at Lakewood Ranch, Weaver has pitched the sport to countless girls at Lakewood Ranch with a welcoming philosophy. 

“I’ll take anybody,” Weaver said. “For me, it’s not about how fast you are, how strong you are, how high you can jump or anything. It’s about what’s inside your heart. Any one of these girls will tell you, I recruit everybody. Once I get that core group of girls who want to be out here, I can turn them into good flag football players.”

That was enough to convince senior Amy Zeitler to quit cheerleading to play flag football year-round. 

A running back and defensive back, Zeitler has turned into a team captain and one of Lakewood Ranch’s standout players. That might have never happened if not for Weaver’s persistence.

“Weaver was constantly asking me, and I’m really glad that he did,” said Zeitler, who also competes in track and field. “I did cheer before, and he looks for athletic people. He tries to recruit as many people as he can to keep the program alive.”

Photo by Vinnie Portell

Weaver’s recruitment efforts have had a trickle-down effect. 

Senior quarterback Caroline Johnson said she has loved football since she started playing catch with her dad in her family’s basement in Pennsylvania at 2-years-old, but she played soccer and softball for most of her youth. 

Zeitler eventually convinced Johnson to play for the flag football team last season, and that addition has helped turn Lakewood Ranch into a team with an explosive offense. 

Weaver knows what it takes for an offense to put up points. 

He was the offensive coordinator for Boca Ciega High School in Gulfport while teaching and coaching at Lakewood Ranch until the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then that he decided to stay closer to home and go all-in on flag football.

Weaver created the East Manatee Monarchs Flag Football Club later that year. Through that extra practice and a few years of development, this season's senior-laden Mustangs are off to their best start. 

They improved to 9-1 with a dominating 32-6 win over Braden River on March 12 and are currently ranked No. 48 overall among 319 teams in Florida, according to MaxPreps.

The Mustangs take their competition seriously. Weaver implored his players not to let up even after taking a 26-0 lead into halftime against the Pirates. After the game was over, Weaver selected Zeitler to use a sledgehammer to smash a brick painted with Braden River's logo.

A brick painted with the Manatee Hurricanes logo — the only team to beat Lakewood Ranch this season — was laid next to it.

Johnson and Zeitler have been what Weaver calls ‘the catalysts’ of the offense, but Lakewood Ranch’s defense has been the team’s strength this season.

Photo by Vinnie Portell

It’s allowed just 3.6 points per game and has shut out seven of its opponents. 

That defensive impact was obvious when I came by to watch Lakewood Ranch’s win over Braden River. 

Zeitler and senior Meaghan Breyfogle each had a pair of interceptions that helped spark the offense, and several players broke up passes and came up with quick flag pulls.

The Mustangs can’t afford to be satisfied just yet.

Lakewood Ranch plays in one of the best districts in the state. Five teams in the six-team district are ranked inside the top-100 teams in the state, headlined by Lennard (No. 10), Bloomingdale (No. 25) and Newsome (No. 47). 

Despite that stiff competition, Lakewood Ranch is in a position to compete thanks to the foundation that has been established by Weaver and his players.

“It’s a little different than in prior years,” Weaver said. “These girls have been together for such a long time. We play the sport year-round, so after the spring season is over, we play club season into the summer and the fall. Most of these seniors have been playing since their freshman year, and their leadership has trickled down.”