Penfield becomes first back-to-back Section V flag football champion

This is the third season of Section V Flag Football and there already may be a dynasty team.

At the very least, there is the first back-to-back champion after the Penfield Patriots defeated Greece Arcadia 31-13 Wednesday in the Section V Class A Championship game.

The Patriots, who scored the first time their offense had the ball, went to overdrive during a spurt in the second half at Monroe Community College. Penfield (11-2), the tournament's No. 2 seed, put together a reversal of a 13-0 Arcadia win over the 2023 Section V Class A champion during the regular season.

Player of the Game

Molly Brown, Penfield. A junior, Brown delivered two touchdowns that put the win out of the Titans' reach and into the grip of the Patriots.

Play of the Game

Penfield had the ball at its 15-yard line on an 80-yard field late in the first half. Sophia Puccia took this snap as the quarterback and took steps to her right, before she tossed a pass to Brown, who was headed to her left.

Brown caught the pass while on the run, shook herself her free from an Arcadia flag-grabber and easily won a race to the end zone with 1:33 remaining in the first half. Penfield led 18-7.

By the numbers

36 - Yards covered on a touchdown pass play to Penfield's Mallory Pietrzak from Puccia on the team's opening drive. Puccia ran to her left, as if she planned to run with the ball, but launched a throw over and behind the Arcadia defense. Penfield's conversion attempt with 22:18 remaining in the first half was stopped well short, so the lead was 6-0.

9:57 - Time remaining in the first half when a six-yard pass to Meghan Quigley became Penfield's second touchdown. Puccia ran the play call in from the sidelines, but Mikayla Mrzywka lined up at quarterback, dodged a pass rusher and threw a pass in the middle of the field to an open Quigley, who stepped into the end zone. Penfield's conversion run attempt was stopped, but it held a 12-point lead with 9:30 remaining in the first half.

2:12 - The amount of time on the clock in the first half when Arcadia scored its first touchdown. Aimee Turner, at receiver, ran a couple of steps toward the middle of field, but then veered left. When Turner did that, she was free and Ashanti Caton lofted a pass that dropped into the receiver's hands for a 19-yard touchdown.

Caton then completed a pass to Kaitlyn Spring for a one-point conversion. Arcadia trailed 12-7, before Brown's big-yardage play for Penfield.

1 - An interception by Penfield freshman Gianna Ciavarri, who returned the ball to the Arcadia 3-yard line with 1:21 remaining in the first half.

13.4 - Seconds remaining the first half, when the Titans kept Penfield's offense out of the end zone after Ciavarri's interception return. Natasha Bell pulled the flag that got the ball back for Arcadia on fourth-and-zone at the Penfield 2.

19:41 - Mark in the second half when Brown delivered the second of her big plays. Arcadia had the ball, 4th-and-zone at its 17-yard line. The Titans needed to reach the 20-yard line, and tried a pass that Brown intercepted on the run and caused Penfield coach Jay Johnson to jump into the air on the team's sideline. Brown scored, Penfield's conversion attempt failed and the Patriots led 24-7.

28 - Yards Puccia ran for Penfield's final touchdown run after she slid on her feet past at least one Arcadia defensive player. The Patriots added a conversion point to take a 31-7 lead.

3 - Interceptions by the Penfield defense.

4 - The seed for the Titans (9-4) in this year's tournament.

More: The flag football champions have been crowned: See the action-packed photos from 2024

They said it

"I told you we needed her. She played both sides of the ball, had a big catch, had a pick-six. She did it all," Penfield coach Jay Johnson on junior Molly Brown.

“That Section V final was my first time playing defense. I tried," Penfield junior Molly Brown, a receiver/running back this and last season.

“We're going to work as hard as we have been all season these next few days. Our coaches are not going to let us slack off just because we won sectionals. We all want to keep going. I don’t know if that means adding new plays and formations, but we’ll work hard.” - Penfield junior Molly Brown

What's next

This time the Penfield Patriots have a direct path into the regional round of the state tournament. The 2023 team played and lost to Class B sectional champion Canisteo-Greenwood for a place in a regional game. This is the first season where there are full-blown state tournaments.

James Johnson, a native of the city of Rochester and a graduate of Edison Tech in the Rochester City School District, has worked as a full-time journalist covering high school sports for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1996. Follow him @jjDandC on X (Twitter). You can contact him at JAMESJ@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V flag football: Penfield becomes first back-to-back champion