By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
Coach Aaron Clark and sophomore Arianna Clark were huge factors Mastery Charter of Camden winnings its first West Jersey Football League girls flag football championship last year.
The long time travel coach and his daughter, however, both know that there’s still work to be done.
That’s why they were prepared to face Kingsway — a much bigger opponent with a skilled lineup from top to bottom — in a tilt of arguably the two best teams in South Jersey on Friday night. They surely did not disappoint.
Arianna Clark fueled the offensive attack with two receiving touchdowns in the Warriors’ 21-19 victory over Kingsway.
“It was a tough game because we played one of the toughest teams in Jersey,” Arianna said. “We beat them in the playoffs last year, so we knew they were going to come for our heads. We had to play hard — even harder than they wanted to play.”
Arianna has played travel flag football since her elementary days under her father, who serves as Mastery Charter’s head coach. Arianna says that her playing travel correlates to her high school performance, and that’s shown as soon as she steps on the field.
“We knew it was gonna be a tough game,” coach Clark said. “They have a great coaching staff and a great group of girls. We have the experience and we’re used to playing in tight games. We’re probably going to see them again in the (playoff) semifinals at NovaCare.”
Despite the loss, Kingsway coach Susan Massara remains optimistic and said she saw plenty of bright spots against the defending champions.
“I think our girls did really well today,” Massara said. “They played very disciplined. We were all over the field. Mastery just got us on a couple plays, but that’s the game of football.”
One thing both Massara and the Clarks can agree on is that they’ll meet once again down the line this season.
Said Massara: “I’m sure we’ll see them again later in the season, and we’ll give them a better game next time. We’re very evenly matched. It’s about who gets the lucky end of the stick that day, and today they got it.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Kingsway (1-1, 1-0 WJFL Royal) travels to Timber Creek on Monday at 4 p.m. Mastery Charter (2-0, 0-0 WJFL Liberty) travels to New Egypt on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
