By National Scout: Marc Henry @marchen44
The second season of the FWISD Girls Flag Football league is in full swing. Teams are playing with sense of urgency, as the end of the season is approaching fast. Western Hills and Carter Riverside both needed wins to continue to push for the playoffs. The mission and goal of The Platform is to Expose The Unexposed and provide coverage to athletes in all sports. We spotlight playmakers from Western Hills and Carter Riverside who were essential to their teams.
Veronica Thomas | Carter Riverside | Class of 2023
Thomas has the skill set to play on both sides of the football. Defensively, she can line up at any position and attack the ball carrier. She takes proper angles to the runner, she closes the gap quickly when she attacks and she has the speed to run down her opponent. Offensively, Veronica has the versatility to line up at multiple positions, at wide receiver she understands how to get open, she has strong hands that attack the ball in flight well, she makes the contested grab look routine and when she takes a handoff, she is elusive in the open field and has the speed to run past defenders. Thomas displayed the traits in her game needed to play at the next level.
Anjell Smith | Western Hills | Class of 2025
Smith has the skills that coaches at the next level would be drooling over. Anjell is cat quick, she has the speed to be beat defenders at the line of scrimmage and she has the ability to get open consistently. Smith has great hands, she has a large catch radius that enables her to extend to make grabs in heavy traffic and her strong hands allow her to play the football aggressively. As a runner, Smith is gifted, she has a burst that allows her to run past defenders and she has the speed to make a house call from any distance. As a defender, Smith plays aggressively but under control, she tracks the ball carrier well, while taking proper angles and in pass defense she plays the football with a ballhawk mentality. Against Carter Riverside, Anjell had an interception, where she played the ball well and made a play on the football and returned the pick into their opponent’s territory. College Flag Programs need to tap in with Smith early.
Gabryl Huckleberry | Western Hills | Class of 2023
Huckleberry is quick in space, she is shifty in the open field and has a burst to explode past defenders. Gabryl plays tough, she has a fiesty, gritty game and she can make catches in heavy traffic. Against Carter Riverside, Huckleberry caught a pass over the middle in stride, hit a spin move in the open field and exploded to the endzone for six. Defensively, she plays aggressively, Huckleberry is not afraid to mix it up and she plays with a fearless mentality. College Flag Programs looking for a plug and player should take a look at Huckleberry.
