The Maple Ridge Ravens provided plenty of drama in their opening flag football game Tuesday afternoon, but came up just short of the victory against the Eastview Wildcats
As Barrie’s newest high school, Maple Ridge Secondary School is going to be filled with firsts this year.
But even 100 years from now, Mackenzie Blanchard will be the answer to a trivia question: Who scored the first touchdown in the school's history?
The Ravens were down 14-0 in the second half of the Simcoe County Athletic Association 'AAA' junior girls flag football game at Eastview this afternoon when Blanchard ran up the middle and secured six points while her cheering teammates erupted on the sidelines.
While the Ravens didn’t get the two-point conversion, it was smiles all around as the 14-year-old made her way to the sidelines.
A former Innisdale student, Blanchard made the switch to Maple Ridge when it opened last month as the city's newest high school.
While the girls basketball team has already started their season, the Grade 10 student said she was very excited that she will be known as the person with the first touchdown in Maple Ridge history.
“It actually feels really good,” Blanchard told BarrieToday after the game. “We talked a little bit about it as a team before the game, but not a lot. I was just hoping to do something good during the game.”
Maple Ridge made it interesting in the dying minutes of the game as Alivia Dajo, part of the Ravens defence, intercepted an Eastview throw and ran it back for a touchdown to cut the Wildcats' lead to two.
Failure to convert the extra points left the final score 14-12 for the home squad.
Ravens coach Katie Cain, who was previously at Eastview before the switch to Maple Ridge, told BarrieToday she was very happy to be a member of the first-year staff.
“It is amazing. The facility, the energy it's so great,” Cain said. “The kids and staff are so excited to be part of something new, especially during COVID where they are really happy to be in school and in person.”
Maple Ridge, located in the city's south end at Mapleview Drive East and Prince William Way, only has Grade 9 and 10 students for now. But the high school's population will continue to grow in years to come. It has an approved capacity for just over 1,000 students in the 135,684-square-foot facility.
With a flag football team made up of students from other schools coming together, many for the first time, Cain said it wasn’t as difficult as one might expect.
“We have a great group of girls here and we knew going in we weren’t making any cuts. Today, we played everybody equally and overall we have about 35 girls on our roster,” Cain said. “These athletes haven't played a game in two years and it didn’t make sense to us to tell some they couldn't play for another season.”
While some girls made the trip to Eastview on Tuesday, others will likely get the chance when Maple Ridge next plays at Barrie North on Friday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. Eastview’s next game is the same day at 4:30 p.m. at Nantyr Shores in Alcona.
