Florida High flag football blank Middleburg, advance to program first regional final

The season of "firsts" continues for Florida High flag football.

After picking up the program's first victories over Lincoln and the school's first district title, the Seminoles (13-1) are heading to the regional final for the first time after blanking No. 3 Middleburg 41-0 in the 1A Region 1 semifinal Tuesday night.

The shutout over Middleburg maintained the Seminoles' home shutout streak, its ninth straight and 11th of the season overall, and booked Florida High a date with region top seed Choctawhatchee in the regional final.

Florida High head coach Sam Brown said the historic run this season has been sparked by his team's consistency, and he feels the Seminoles won't need to change much heading into the region final.

"We still have the exact same approach to everything," Brown said. "It's not like anything's going to be new. It's going to be the same dimensions on the field, the same type of football and we are going to have the same goals. So we're going to come out and play the exact same way."

Led by senior Rachel White, sophomore Daniella White and seventh-grader Annelise Cardenas, Florida High jumped out to a lead over Middleburg within two minutes of the start of play. Scoring four touchdowns in the first half, the Seminoles added two more in the second to put the game to bed.

Rachel White said it felt good for the team to put together a strong performance against Middleburg and advance to the regional final.

"It was awesome out there," White said. "This is the first time we are able to go to the regional championship. I'm so proud of everyone on our team and our coaches."

Florida High learned from Alonso defeat

The Seminoles only played one game in the 2024 Captial City flag football classic before rain washed the tournament away, facing flag football powerhouse Alonso.

The Friday night primetime game on March 8, ended with Florida High being shut out by the Ravens 40-0, the team's only loss this season. Brown said the loss was a valuable experience for his team, and it motivated the Seminoles to work harder.

"We were very grateful for the chance to play Alonso and for us to learn from one of the best out there," Brown said. "We lost 40-0 this season, so its not like we are so far removed from being able to be beaten. Whenever I tell the team to lock in we got work to do, they remember just a month ago we got beaten 40-0."

"It's not like we are above reproach or we are an invulnerable team, so we absolutely have to work and it helps us to lock in even easier because they know that they can be beaten."

White said the team took the loss to heart and it helped spark the run the Seminoles are currently on. The senior said it was a reminder that the team needs to play its best every game.

"It's motivation," White said. "We know what can happen if we don't play our best and we know what we can do when we do play our best."

Florida High will face Choctawhatchee in the 1A Region 1 final on Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m.

Chiles beach volleyball win program's first district title

On the sand at Tom Brown Park, history was made for Chiles.

The Timberwolves beach volleyball team defeated Lincoln 5-0 to claim the school's first district title in beach volleyball, avenging last season's loss to Leon in the final.

Sitting at 14-3 and ranking as one of the top teams in Florida, Chiles is looking to replicate the run its indoor volleyball team went on this season, making it to the state semifinals.

The beach volleyball state championships will be held at Florida State on May 10 and 11.

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida high flag football blank Middleburg, advance to first region final