By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
X @tortreports
PHILADELPHIA — After a 21-19 loss to then-defending West Jersey Football League girls flag football champion Mastery Charter of Camden on April 12, Kingsway coach Susan Massara had a strange sense of confidence.
“I’m sure we’ll see them again later in the season, and we’ll give them a better game next time,” Massara said after that game. “We’re very evenly matched. It’s who gets the lucky end of the stick that day, and today, they got it.”
The Dragons got the lucky end of the stick on Saturday while playing the best they have all season.
Not only did the Dragons avenge their lone loss of the season to Mastery in the West Jersey Football League semifinal, but excellent defense with a sprinkle of big plays led them to their first WJFL title — a 13-6 victory over Egg Harbor Township at the Philadelphia Eagles’ NovaCare Complex.
Tied 6-6 with less than five minutes left in regulation, Junior Katey Mason’s 43-yard game-winning rush on a pitch from quarterback Ava Valente sealed the championship for Kingsway.
“Ava will take the ball and she’ll flick it off to me, and I was running,” Mason said. “I really thought the girl was going to get to me and then I got around her and I just took it in. I was like ‘it’s this or nothing.’ We got it and it feels great. Really the whole season we’ve been looking forward to this moment. My team has been working hard. We’re like a family. We had this end goal and everyone just came together.”
An Eastern University soccer commit, Mason started playing flag football two years ago and she immediately fell in love with it. Now she’ll forever etch her name into the South Jersey record books with her performance yesterday.
Fellow Junior Audrey Donaldson started off the scoring for the Dragons, reeling in the game’s first touchdown on a 42-yard pass from Valente. The pass was caught around 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, but Donaldson outran everyone the rest of the way for the score.
“I was nervous, I didn’t think I was going to make it all the way,” Donaldson said of the play. “I turned and ran as fast as I could. I just dodged her and kept running. I really thought the defender was going to get my flag, but thankfully I dodged her. I knew I had to get there for my team.”
The Dragons also lost to Mastery, 6-0, in the semifinals last year, so being able to avenge both losses felt particularly sweet.
“Last year, losing to Mastery in the semifinal was heartbreaking,” Donaldson said. “This year, we worked toward our goal and knew we would verse them in the semifinals. The win against (Mastery) Camden was well deserved. We worked hard all year to be here and being able to execute our goal was fantastic. Every member of this team has put so much effort into winning this championship and it was really a team effort. I’m proud of every single player on this team, and we couldn’t have gotten here without our amazing coaches (Susan Massara & Mike Husni).”
Valente completed 10 of 17 passes for 136 yards including the touchdown to Donaldson. She carried the ball eight times for 24 yards. Her play throughout the season has put herself squarely in the WJFL MVP conversation. The winner will be announced at the post-season banquet at Auletto’s in Deptford on Tuesday night. The junior finished the season with 30 all-purpose touchdowns (26 passing; 4 rushing) with just six interceptions.
“This is freaking awesome,” an enthusiastic Valente said after the championship. “I’m super excited, I’m super proud of my team, I’m super proud of myself. It’s a great day.”
It was also a great day for Kingsway’s Massara. She knows a thing or two about winning championships, as she was previously the head coach of Woodstown’s field hockey program, leading the Wolverines to five sectional titles in eleven seasons at the helm from 2013 to 2023. She left Woodstown to teach physical education at Kingsway in 2022, reuniting with former Woodstown athletic director and Kingsway’s current athletic boss, June Cioffi.
“I decided to coach flag because June Cioffi asked me to,” Massara explained. “I played football in the backyard my whole life. I’m obsessed with football. I love it. My girls are the absolute best. They come in every day with the best attitudes. They come in and learn every day. They’re amazing athletes from every part of the spectrum — soccer, cheerleading, volleyball, basketball. The opportunity presented itself at the right time.
“We knew Egg harbor was going to be different from earlier in the season. These girls had a goal from Day One this season. They wanted to get back to NovaCare and win it all. This is what they wanted. They went out there and got it. Once the final whistle was blown, it was just elation. We were all so happy. We put all of the pieces of the puzzle together and came out on top.”
Kingsway ends its season with an 11-1 record and a perfect 6-0 mark in the WJFL Royal Division. Egg Harbor Township (7-3, 5-0 WJFL American) made it to the championship in its very first year as a program. EHT had more than 80 players sign up at the beginning of the season. “It was a fantastic season,” said coach Cameron Bell, who also coaches boys basketball at EHT. “You couldn’t ask for much more. It just shows that if you give women and young ladies an opportunity like that, they want to play, they want to be active. It’s a great group of girls.”
The experience included special guests that greeted the players, including Philadelphia Eagles star players Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and Jordan Mailata.
“I want you to truly enjoy this moment and never let anyone say you can’t,” Hurts said while presenting the trophy to the champions. “This is real big, because it wasn’t always this way. Now, everybody has the opportunity to play the game that they love.”
