Wildkit Girls Set For Flag Football Opener

Right now the defense is ahead of the offense.

But considering that he was in charge of the defensive unit for Evanston’s girls flag football team when it debuted last year, Carlton Rosemond doesn’t mind a bit.

The Wildkit girls --- with the program upgraded from a club team to a full-fledged varsity sport, including a postseason playoff sponsored by the Illinois High School Association --- will open their season Wednesday at Maine South.

Evanston compiled a 9-4 won-loss record under head coach Luella Gesky last fall in its first season. Since then, Gesky has turned the program over to Rosemond, who has played the 7-on-7 “touch” version of the sport himself for more than a decade and currently has two daughters on the varsity roster.

Rosemond expects his team to excel again this fall in a game that features no tackling --- just pulling flags off the hips of players in possession of the ball --- no blocking, no placekicking and almost no running with the ball except for after the catch.

Another difference is that the quarterback has only 7 seconds to either pass the ball or run with it. Teams have 4 downs to try to advance the ball 20 yards --- not just 10 --- for a first down. And every offensive player is eligible to catch a pass.

The Wildkits only allowed one opponent to score more than two touchdowns against them in a game last fall, and that came when ETHS blew an 18-0 lead against Maine South in a 22-18 defeat. Wednesday’s 2024 opener at 6 p.m. in Park Ridge will give the Kits a chance for redemption.

A turnout of approximately 60 players means ETHS will field three full levels of teams --- varsity, junior varsity and freshman/sophomore --- this fall. The varsity schedule will include 21 regular season games, with a state playoff series that will lead to the state championship game to be played at Willowbrook High School.

Rosemond can’t wait to get started.

“It’s exciting to be a part of this (sport) right from the start, but it’s challenging, too,” Rosemond admitted. “I want to hit the ground running and do well. I’m really happy to be a part of this.

“Early on, I think we’ll have to rely on our defense. We’re still working out some kinks on offense. The last couple days (of practice) they’ve all been playing different positions. The goal is to put them in the spots where they can be most successful.”

The first-year head coach bolstered his defense this fall by moving one of his daughters, sophomore KyNia Hunt, from offense to defensive back. Senior Kennedy Murray is shifting to linebacker from wide receiver, too.

Joining them in the defensive starting lineup at last Saturday’s scrimmage at Lazier Field were senior Nyel Rollins, senior Charlie Kingsbury, sophomore Jardon Pringle, sophomore Payton King, senior Yolotzin Alatriste, and sophomore Camille Calixte.

Calixte is a player to watch. As a “designated rusher” --- defenses are allowed to blitz immediately from 7 yards beyond the line of scrimmage --- Calixte made an impact as a freshman that most National Football League teams would pay millions to match.

“I’d say she averaged at least 2 sacks a game last year,” said Rosemond. “She’s probably one of the best pass rushers in the state of Illinois. “She understands the game and she knows how to get in there quick. She takes good angles on the quarterback and she just doesn’t stop. She loves it so much, she doesn’t want to play any offense. She’s proud of what she does and she has a motor that doesn’t stop.”

Facing the pass rush, however, is still a work in progress for the offensive unit. Rosemond has seen junior quarterback Maggie Conforti, a returning starter, improve in that area but flinching in the face of pass rushers --- even though they can’t tackle her physically --- is an issue that still happens too frequently for the coach.

“We don’t want to run a vanilla offense where we just get the ball to one person, like some teams still do,” Rosemond noted. “We need Maggie to be calmer back there against the rush, read the defense and get the ball to the first person who’s open. We base our offense on a lot of quick reads. I’m confident that she can get there.”

Senior Hannah Honore, who starred for the defense last year, should be one of Conforti’s primary targets this time around at wide receiver. That side of the ball should also feature senior Maya Forman, sophomore Rachel Durando-Cohn, sophomore Brielle Rosemond, sophomore Katie Lindsay-Ryan, and sophomore Ce’Airan Nichols-Graham as starters.

Help will also come from sophomore wide receiver Adaoma Uduko.

“Every game is going to be a chess match,” Rosemond promised. “We play 4 different defenses, so you never know what you’ll get from us. Good teams can always figure out a way to win and we just want to be one point better than the other teams.”

The Wildkits will play their home opener on Friday at 7 p.m. against Glenbrook South. ETHS lost twice to the Titans last fall, and the other loss was to eventual state champion Lane Tech.