Anchorage Daily News

Don't be fooled by the false eyelashes, the fake nails, the uniforms that at first glance look like hula skirts.

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Yes, flag football is a game for girls, sometimes even girly-girls. But when Chugiak beat Bartlett 13-6 Saturday in the Cook Inlet Conference championship game, the action was often as physical and ferocious as any seen in a game played by boys wearing pads and helmets.

Quarterbacks threw spirals that were tight and on-target, receivers and defensive backs made acrobatic catches, and more than one player took a serious thumping thanks to the lack of pads and helmets.

There was even a Hail Mary pass at the end -- one defended perfectly by Chugiak's Mariah Bookbinder, who tipped the ball away from Bartlett's Monterika Warren near the end zone as time expired, sealing the Mustangs win.

"She can jump higher than I can," said Bookbinder, who at 5-foot-3 gives up a couple inches to Warren. "We both jumped and I was able to tap the ball. It was really exciting."

Bookbinder's account of the final play was interrupted a couple of times by teammates celebrating on the sidelines and clowning for a TV camera. "Lorrie, stop it!" she said to quarterback Lorrie Clifford, who was pestering her to get in front of the camera and perform the Pterodactyl Call that Bookbinder said she helped invent "to pump up our team and intimidate the other team."

As it turned out, Chugiak didn't need the help of any dinosaurs to win its second straight championship (although Tom Huffer Sr., the near-mythic coach who guided the Chugiak boys team for years, provided inspiration and instruction as he paced the sideline).

Defense did the trick, especially in the second half when the Mustangs took control.

Bookbinder started things by intercepting Bartlett's first pass of the half. Angela Hartford made an athletic running catch along the sideline to move the Mustangs to midfield, Clifford scrambled for a gain of 15 yards and then hit Alev Kelter with a pass that put Chugiak 13 yards away from the end zone. With 2 minutes, 32 seconds left in the quarter, Clifford connected with Lexi Sayer in the end zone for a 13-6 lead.

Bartlett looked like it might answer on its next possession, but Sayer snagged a Yollie Alailefaleula pass to end the threat. Bartlett was on the move on its next possession too, until Kelter intercepted another Alailefaleula pass.

Bartlett got one final chance to tie things when the Golden Bears took over deep in their own territory with 89 seconds to go.

Eighty-nine seconds isn't a long time by most standards, but it goes lightning-quick in flag football, which uses a running clock for most of the game. Even so, Alailefaleula moved Bartlett downfield quickly. Her strong throwing arm kept the Golden Bears in the hunt until the very end, when the deep pass to Warren turned into a jump ball decided by Bookbinder.

"I was hoping that she'd catch it and score," Alailefaleula said, tears running down her cheeks as she watched Chugiak collect its championship trophy. "It's a lot of pressure. I didn't want to let my team down."

Alailefaleula left the game temporarily in the second half when she banged her head hard on the artificial turf at Dimond Alumni Field. Flag football is theoretically a non-contact sport -- instead of tackling the ball carrier, defenders yank one of three long strips, or flags, that hang from belts worn by every player. From a distance, the flowing flags make it look like the players are wearing hula skirts.

Yet contact happens anyway, and Alailefaleula was leveled in a collision. She wound up dizzy and with a lump on her head but returned after a couple of minutes and performed well. Even her hurried, last-second bomb was catchable.

Bartlett coach Steve Stansbury tried to console his team afterward by talking about next year. Most everyone will be back, he said, including Alailefaleula.

The only starter who for sure won't return is senior Gabby Todd, an all-conference selection who gives the Golden Bears both substance and style. Todd showed up for the championship wearing long false eyelashes speckled with gold, a school color.

"She's always wearing makeup and everything -- fake nails, eyelashes," Stansbury said. "She's a girl."

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.

Bartlett 0 6 0 0 -- 6

Chugiak 0 6 7 0 -- 13

Second quarter

Bartlett -- Shayna Everett 39 fumble recovery (pass failed), 11:47.

Chugiak -- Alev Kelter 6 run (run failed), 7:55.

Third quarter

Chugiak -- Lexi Sayer 13 pass from Lorrie Clifford (Angela Hartford pass from Clifford), 2:52.

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