Goin’ Deep ready to defend national title

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October 22, 2006

Cody Stark The Huntsville Item Sun Oct 22, 2006, 09:08 PM CDT

Last season, the Goin’ Deep women’s flag football team from Sam Houston State finally got over the hump and won a national championship.

The team rolled to a 23-1 record and capped off a remarkable season with a 28-13 victory over Southern University in the final of the American Collegiate Intramural Sports Flag Football Championships.

Now, with the SHSU intramural season wrapping up, Goin’ Deep has their eyes set on defending their title. It all starts Nov. 16-20 when they travel to the Nebraska regional, where the top two finishers get a free entry to the national championship in Pensacola, Fla.

“We have a lot of newcomers this season, and they are still getting adjusted,” head coach Danny Bennett said. “A lot of new faces, but also a lot of talent. Some of them have never played in a tournament before, but we have some players back that know what it is like.”

Goin’ Deep rolled through the Nebraska regional last year, going 5-0 and not allowing a single point. Then they won six-straight at nationals to hoist the championship trophy for the first time since the team was formed in 1999.

Their only loss of the season came at the Texas regional where they lost in the championship game to North Texas. The team still remembers that game, so they came up with a new goal this season — go undefeated on the way to back-to-back national titles.

“Last year, we were national champions, but we were one game from a perfect season,” team member Ashley Swim said. “We were runnerup at the Texas regional last year. So this season, we want to run the table and go undefeated.”

Goin’ Deep has had players come and go over the years, but they remain undefeated in play at SHSU, the only team to ever accomplish that feat.

At the national tournament last year, they beat rival Stephen F. Austin to reach the final four for the fourth-straight season and fifth time in seven years.

The wins keep coming, but Goin’ Deep is faced with obstacles off the field. The team faces numerous expenses to travel around the country to compete, so they have to hit the streets of Huntsville looking for donations to help cover some of the costs.

“This year, we are going to have raffle,” Bennett said. “The girls have gone around to local business and received donations. They are probably already out selling tickets, and we will have the drawing around the first of December.”

The team recently competed at a 7-on-7 event in Houston, which features a lot of older players, to give the new faces a taste of what it is like to compete in a tournament.

Next up is Nebraska, then Goin’ Deep will head to the Oklahoma regional in December before nationals.

Only time will tell if they can do it again, but they are up to the challenge.

“We are excited to have the chance to defend our title,” Swim said. “We have been working hard and know we have a long road ahead of us. But we are ready to get it started.”

Goin’ Deep team members include Tabitha Brown, Samantha Edelman, Ashley Kirkland, Annie Miller, Jamie Tomasini, April Ward, Arica Washington, Brittani Hashaw, Jessica Hatch, Jennifer Mathews, Kathryn Socha, Jenny Stout and Diana Tejeda.

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