Three seasons.
Three appearances in the Eagles Girls Flag Football League Championships.
An opportunity to do what no team in Eagles Girls Flag Football has ever done – win multiple state titles.
The Abington Lady Ghosts will bring a perfect 12-0 record to the NovaCare Complex for the 2025 Eagles Girls Flag Football League Championships, but it wasn't without a last-minute scare from conference rival North Penn. The Knights intercepted Lady Ghosts star quarterback Maya Johnson late in the fourth quarter as Abington was driving, looking to either run out the clock or tack on additional points to put the game out of reach. Johnson hustled to pull the flag near Abington's 30-yard line. The Lady Ghosts' defense backed up the offense to stall North Penn and preserve the 20-13 triumph on Monday.
"What a whirlwind," said Abington Head Coach Melissa Brizzell, who is the Eagles Girls Flag Football Coach of the Week. "You could tell they (North Penn) did a phenomenal job getting prepared with a very strong defense to go against our offense. I give the coach and the girls a lot of credit for how they came out tough. After seeing the way the girls played, I feel like we are even more ready to go down to NovaCare."
The Lady Ghosts will be one of the final four teams from Pennsylvania to compete on Saturday, May 31 with the goal of becoming the first two-time champion in league history. They aren't alone as the inaugural Pennsylvania champions from Lansdale Catholic booked its trip to the NovaCare Complex by winning the Catholic League title.
"This is why they want to do this. They want to be down at NovaCare. They want to be around that environment. They want to be around the Eagles players. The Eagles won the championship and we want to follow them," Brizzell said. "We weren't in the first season, so we didn't have the chance to be the first team to win. It was Lansdale Catholic and I know Lansdale Catholic is going to be down there. I want to be the first team to win it two times. That's where we can have our legacy. That's what I've been telling the girls.
"We are one team and it's not just the coaches and the players. It's the coaches, the players, the families, the Abington community, everybody getting behind us because we are doing this as a team and to be able to represent Abington. We have one goal and that's to win another state championship."
Growing up outside of Albany, New York, Brizzell was an outstanding athlete who played several sports throughout her childhood. She was also a collegiate athlete as a member of the volleyball team while earning her bachelor's degree at Hartwick College. She moved to the Philadelphia region to earn a master's degree in marriage and family therapy from MCP Hahnemann University (now Drexel University) and has since earned a second master's degree in school counseling from the College of New Jersey.
A counselor in the Abington School District for 18 years, Brizzell has coached several of the junior high and varsity sports programs. After the first year of the Eagles Girls Flag Football League, she was approached by one of her students Sydney Brice about starting a team at Abington. Brice played flag football and knew firsthand how the sport could benefit the school.
"I love sports. I believe it's a place where you can build a positive team. I'm a school counselor and I believe it helps people learn life lessons and be able to grow as indivduals," Brizzell said.
She tabbed Francis Bowe, a social studies teacher in the district, to be her co-coach, which she says was the best move she could have made when starting the program. The relationships the two had with the students allowed the team to flourish out of the gate, as the Lady Ghosts went undefeated and captured the state title in their first season.
Johnson, the senior quarterback who was at the helm of the 2023 championship squad, was the first player to be nominated by the Eagles for the Maxwell Football Club's inaugural Girls National Flag Football Player of the Year in 2024.
"Maya is a phenomenal leader for the girls in many different ways," Brizzell said. "She's just a very composed player."
Brizzell's ability to build Abington into a consistent winner has not gone unnoticed. She has accepted the job at Chestnut Hill College to become the school's first girls flag football head coach, just another example of how rapidly the game has grown.
"I love the sport. I'm enjoying the sport so much. It's just the intensity, the toughness, just the excitement," Brizzell said. "It's awesome to watch and be part of."
But first, there's unfinished business at Abington.
"They've been locked in since the beginning of the season and they are driven to win again," Brizzell said. "They are athletic, you can see that, but it's also they are playing with their minds, their hearts, and they are set on this and they want it. We know that this is a rare team in terms of being able to be successful. We are all just very driven together as one."
