Years from now, when records have been broken and re-broken, and high school dynasties are set in stone, Saylor Swanson and Sara Walker will be remembered.
Arvada West’s dynamic senior duo put its indelible stamp on girls flag football in its inaugural seasons.
A-West won the state tournament last year when flag football was a pilot program. For their grand encore, Swanson and Walker led the No. 2 Wildcats into Saturday night’s Class 5A championship game against No. 1 Mountain Vista at Jeffco’s Trail Blazer Stadium.
Mountain Vista rallied to beat Legend 37-19 in Saturday’s other semifinal, setting up a title game worthy of the first official CHSAA-sanctioned Class 5A championship.
“This is what we have played for ever since we won last season,” Swanson said Saturday afternoon after A-West demolished Valor Christian 46-12 in the state semifinals at nearby Jeffco Stadium. “The popularity of our sport is growing. It’s amazing. I get asked about it all the time.”
Walker, the unstoppable wide receiver, entered Saturday’s play averaging 84.5 yards per game with 27 touchdown receptions. Swanson, whose ability to connect with Walker on long passes over the top of defenses, had put up remarkable numbers: 395-of-555 passing (71.2%) for 4,300 yards and 72 TDs.
“She’s one of the very few quarterbacks who can really throw the deep ball and actually get it there,” Walker said. “I think I can best anyone for a long distance and she can get it there.”
Chimed in Swanson, laughing, “Plus, she’s a big target.”
Swanson is a petite 5-foot-6. Walker stands an even 6-feet.
A-West entered Saturday’s play with a 15-2 record. Its only losses came to Mountain Vista (35-2) in the second game of the season and to Cherry Creek (27-18) in their sixth game.
Walker said the Wildcats’ early loss to Mountain Vista taught them a few things.
“I think we kind of came into that game with the same mentality we had last year, thinking we were going to win the championship, with no competition,” Walker said. “But it proved pretty quickly that there is a lot of competition and this is a whole different sport.”
How so?
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“The players and the coaches have gotten a lot better,” Walker said. “Plus with some changes in rules and the bigger field, teams are putting in more (complex) game plans. It’s made it a lot tougher on defense. Plus, all of the coaching and the players have gotten a lot better from last year.”
To further cement its place in the birth of girls high school flag football in Colorado, A-West will be featured on a nationally-aired TV special on Sunday afternoon. “Courage in Sports: Gridiron Greatness,” will air at 3 p.m. Sunday on Channel 4 after the Broncos battle the Ravens in Baltimore.
The special, produced by CBS Sports, includes a segment about the Wildcats and the remarkable growth of flag football, which is now sanctioned in 11 states. CBS talked to Swanson, Walker and senior receiver Molly Schellpeper.
“They talked to us about our experiences and the growth of the sport,” Walker said. “And they came to one of our games and filmed it. It was pretty cool.”
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