![\"Prattville](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/EHZFPOW3OFEJJHCKYVOIQMVQVE.jpg\")
Central-Phenix City head coach Mitchell Holt talks with his team prior to a high school flag football game against Prattville Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Phenix City, Ala. (Stew Milne | preps@al.com)Stew Milne<\/p>\nPressure? What pressure? <\/p>\n
You\u2019d think that trying to extend a 37-game winning streak and defending a state championship for a second time would weigh fairly heavily on a coach and his team. Replacing 77.6 percent of your offense with the loss of AL.com\u2019s first Miss Football honoree also might cause a little unease.<\/p>\n
Central-Phenix City flag football head coach Mitchell Holt said his 2025 Red Devils were approaching the season feeling what might be the opposite of pressure. \u201cThey have something of a chip on their shoulders,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause they want to prove they were as much of a part of it as those who graduated. They say, \u2018We were part of the last two years, too. It\u2019s time for us to step into the spotlight.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a lot like two years ago,\u201d Holt said. \u201cEarly on, we have to have patience and do a lot of learning from our mistakes. That might include losing a game, I just hope we don\u2019t lose too many. Last year, we were really good, but we were better at the end of the season than we were at the beginning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still July. We have a lot to clean up, but we don\u2019t have to be our best come August. We have to be our best come October. We have to be patient with ourselves and control what we can with our work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Central-Phenix City head coach Mitchell Holt talks with his team prior to a high school flag football game against Prattville Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 in Phenix City, Ala. (Stew Milne | preps@al.com)Stew Milne<\/p>\n
Last season\u2019s 19-0 squad was led by Gerritt Griggs, now an incoming freshman on the University of Alabama softball team. Besides being selected as the first Miss Football and MaxPreps\u2019 first flag football player of the year for the state, Griggs was the Alabama Sports Writers Association Class 7A Softball Player of the Year and she helped lead Central to the AHSAA basketball final four in Birmingham where she scored 16 points with four 3-pointers in a loss to eventual state champ Hoover.<\/p>\n
On the football field, Griggs threw for 3,283 yards, ran for 469 and caught 7 passes for 140 yards. She scored a team-best 13 rushing touchdowns, threw for 82 scores and scored 3 receiving TDs.<\/p>\n
After the Red Devils finished the season as the No. 1 team in both the USA Today and MaxPreps national rankings, Holt and assistant Troy Jackson were named coaches for the NFC all-star team in the NFL Flag High School Girls Showcase in Orlando. The Central coaches were joined by Griggs \u2013 who was named the game\u2019s MVP \u2013 and slot receiver Lumpkin in the 28-0 win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was first class,\u201d Holt said. \u201cThe girls received their jerseys and gloves, met NFL players and Gerritt filmed a session with (Minnesota Vikings receiver) Justin Jefferson. She got a shadow box with a pennant they did for the game and a flag signed by Jefferson. The game was on the NFL Live broadcast (on ESPN) and one of the girls, I think from Alaska, said, \u2018I guess tomorrow I go back to being a nobody.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of fun. A man my age doesn\u2019t get too many cool things to do, but that was definitely cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides Griggs and AL.com Terrific 22 pick Lumpkin, Central also lost Ally Supan \u2013 another Terrific 22 performer \u2013 to graduation. Lumpkin signed to play on the inaugural flag football team at NCAA Division II Wingate University with Shabreia Brannon and Janiyah Garrett signing with Shelton State Community College as the Alabama Community College Conference launches the sport this season.<\/p>\n
Central returns four (of seven) starters on each side of the ball, Holt said. Two \u2013 rising seniors Mariah Harrison and Colby Cook \u2013 made the Terrific 22 squad last season. Harrison was the backup quarterback and will step in as starter after earning the all-star team spot as a wide receiver and safety. In the 55-7 state championship win over Spain Park, Harrison caught a 17-yard touchdown pass and threw a 46-yard TD pass. On the season, she threw for 640 yards and 15 scores and had 22 receiving TDs on 59 catches for 921 yards.<\/p>\n
Cook played cornerback and wide receiver, where she was the third-leading pass-catcher (59 receptions, 614 yards, 16 TDs). Receiver Savannah Sevier (31 catches, 578 yards, 13 TDs) and two-year starter at center Khloe Broadwater (27 catches, 219 yards, 1 score) also return.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have to change things based on the ability of our kids,\u201d Holt said. \u201cMariah Harrison has a lot of the same abilities as Gerritt, but just a little different. We\u2019ll have to change up our play-calling and what we tried to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrison, Sevier, Cook and Ashlynn Nixon \u2013 a two-year starter at rusher \u2013 are back as defensive starters. Cook led the team last season with 13 interceptions to go with 30 flag pulls. Sevier had 17 stops with 7 interceptions and Harrison had 5 interceptions with 13 pulls.<\/p>\n
![\"AHSAA](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/66S53OEEOFDADCOKOBYXSBOZXY.JPG\")
Central-Phenix City’s Colby Cook scores the game\u2019s first touchdown during the AHSAA Super 7 Class 6A-7A flag football championship at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala., Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024.
(Vasha Hunt | preps.al.com)Vasha Hunt<\/p>\n
Holt said he is expecting big things out of freshman linebacker Lauren Carrero, who played tackle football with the boys team in junior high last year. \u201cShe gets after it,\u201d he said. \u201c(Defensive back\/receiver) Madison Fuller, a 10th grader, is another player who has stood out. She was the starting point guard for the basketball team and she is one of the most improved kids this summer. She played junior varsity last season and went to basketball as soon as their season was over.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Red Devils will host Tallassee for a jamboree game on Aug. 14 before kicking off the season Aug. 21 at home with a tri-match with Vestavia Hills and 2024 1A\/5A state champion Montgomery Catholic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will get everybody\u2019s best shot,\u201d Holt said. \u201cWe did our best to make our schedule as good as we could so we will be tested. We have scheduled Blessed Trinity from north Atlanta, a team that has won championships in Georgia, and they will be a good team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Central plays in Region 3 that includes Auburn, Opelika, Smiths Station and Park Crossing. The 15-game schedule for the Red Devils features a home game against Moody and a road trip to Prattville.<\/p>\n
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