- April 25, 2026
Flagler Palm Coast’s flag football team played two district tournament games in one day. After dispatching District 2-4A tournament host University 41-13 in a semifinal on April 22, the Bulldogs sat and waited as Spruce Creek and Ocala Forest played in the other semifinal.
Forest defeated Creek 14-13 in overtime and then soared out to an early lead against FPC on the way to a 26-7 victory in the final.
The teams are scheduled to play again in the Region 1-4A quarterfinals. Fourth-seeded FPC (12-5) will visit No. 5 seed Forest (11-3) at 7 p.m. on April 29. Despite the lower seed, the Wildcats are playing at home by virtue of their district championship.
“We were up [by five touchdowns] at halftime against University,” FPC coach John King said. “We got a chance to get all of our young girls in, and then we sat a little while.”
King said it took a quarter and a half against Forest in the district final for the Bulldogs to get up to speed.
“They already had an advantage by then,” King said. “They’re a very well-coached team, and they took care of business. They deserved to win that game.”
The region tournament is wide open, King said. Three of the top four seeds, including No. 1 Jacksonville Mandarin and No. 2 Sanford Seminole, did not win their district championships. Mandarin will play District 3 champ Ocoee, the eighth seed, on the road in the quarterfinals.
“Having played Tocoi Creek and Forest, I know we can compete against anybody in the region,” King said.
Tocoi Creek upset Mandarin 13-7 in the the District 1 championship game. FPC beat Tocoi 22-6 on March 12.
“No matter who we play this time of year, it’s going to be a challenge,” King said. “We’re ready for the playoffs, and the girls are excited to be there.”
Senior Nereyda Campos, who has committed to play flag football at Daytona State College next year, leads the Bulldogs with 529 yards passing, 305 yards rushing and 21 total touchdowns.
