Awards and accolades continue to pour out for the Southeast Bulloch flag football team. The Yellow Jackets won an unprecedented fourth-straight state championship last month and finished the season ranked ninth in the country and third in the state by MaxPreps.
The Yellow Jackets were also ranked third in the state and 17th in the nation by USA Today as they were among their inaugural Super-25 flag football rankings in partnership with the NFL.
This past weekend the inaugural NFL Flag High School Girls Showcase team rosters were announced and a pair of Yellow Jackets were among the 30 players who will compete in the first-ever event. Jaci Kitchings and Jadyn Williams will be on the NFC roster which is comprised of players from as far away as Alaska and as close as Phenix City, Ala.
The game will be televised live on ESPN at 1 p.m. prior to the NFL Pro Bowl on Sunday, Feb 2, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Southeast Bulloch head coach Marci Cochran found out about the players being selected prior to the Jackets semifinal game at Dodge County and was excited about giving the news to Williams and Kitchings.
“Well, it was the day before we played Dodge County but I knew I just had to tell them,” Cochran said. “There was a lot of information about the girls they needed but we had to explain we had a semifinal game on the road and we probably weren’t going to be able to get it back to them until Friday, but thankfully they understood.”
Kitchings and Williams were both excited, not only for being selected but also for having another opportunity to play together.
“I was so emotional after the state championship because it was sinking in that this may have been the last time I had to compete with my teammates,” Williams said. “This is such an honor and it seems really cool, but it’s even more special because I get to share it with Jaci.”
The opportunity to play before the NFL Pro Bowl and then meet some of the participants is something Kitchings is looking forward to, as well as another chance to play the game she loves.”
“I am not planning to try and get a flag football scholarship so this is one of the last chances for me to be out there on the field,” Kitchings said. “To be on ESPN is really cool and I know the coach of our team knows a little bit about me and what we run here at SEB so I think I’ll be comfortable with what he asks me to do. We really don’t get a lot of practice time but I know it’s going to fun no matter what.”
The duo may still have two chances to play together as Cochran revealed that Southeast Bulloch has been invited to play in the NFL Flag Football Championships in June in Canton Ohio.
“The neat thing about this is this year’s team gets to play,” Cochran said. “So Jaci and Jadyn both get a chance to come and both have said they want to play. We are supposed to find out all the information some time in the next two weeks, but we have the girls signed up and are planning on visiting the NFL Hall of Fame while we are there.”
