Flag football is a relatively new sport for Illinois high schools. Romeoville was one of the first schools in the area to field a team last season, while Plainfield East is in its first season this year.

The Spartans showed that experience Monday night in a 33-6 Southwest Prairie Conference win as five different players scored.

For most of the last two seasons, it has been receiver Milan Cadet that has been the engine that makes the Spartans’ offense go. On the first drive of the game for the Spartans (13-4, 3-1), Cadet had a 36-yard reception from quarterback Jenna Jarmus, and then Cadet ran it in from a yard out. Jarmus’ conversion pass was good to Jamiyah Player, and Romeoville owned a quick 7-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, it was the last time that Cadet saw the field as a leg injury kept her sidelined for the rest of the game.

That didn’t faze Jarmus and the rest of the team, though. They continued to score, and the defense, anchored by linebackers Elani Trejo and Payton Williams, kept the speedy Bengals’ offense in check.

After an interception by the Spartans’ Natalie Pina, Romeoville drove 18 yards on two plays, with Jarmus running it in from 10 yards out. She completed the conversion pass to Alynah Barin for a 14-0 lead with 4:07 left in the first quarter.

“It felt super good to win tonight without having Milan for most of the game,” Jarmus said. “It was nice to see everyone else step up with our top receiver out. All of the receivers ran their routes well, and I was able to get everyone involved.

“I definitely think it helps to have a year of experience. Last year, I was just concentrating on getting the ball out and not getting sacked. This year, I am able to read the defenses and coverages to determine where I should throw the ball. And, all of our receivers are really good at catching it when I throw it to them.”

One such receiver was Delilah Carli. One of the smallest players on the field, Carli made several big plays. While she stands barely five feet tall, Carli was very difficult to corral in the open field with her quick, shifty moves. She caught five passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Plainfield East (2-11, 2-4) got its offense on track in the second quarter, putting together an eight-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a one-yard run by quarterback Jaylin Milano to cut the Spartans’ lead to 14-6. It was the last time the Bengals scored, though, thanks to the efforts of the Romeoville defense.

“Everyone on the defense played well,” Trejo said. “We only allowed one touchdown, which is pretty good. Defense is definitely a learning experience. If you give up a play, you learn from it and move on. We do a good job of not letting it get to us if the other team makes a big play. We just move on to the next one.

“We are looking forward to the rest of the year. We won a regional championship last year, and we want to do that again and get further than we did last year. Everyone on this team is working for that goal. We are all very close and work well together. I don’t play offense, but I am cheering for the offense when they are on the field. And the offense is cheering for the defense when we are out there.”

Romeoville coach Chaz Kuhn was happy with Monday’s results as well.

“We had Milan go down early,” Kuhn said. “But, it opened up a lot of opportunities for a lot of other girls to step up, and they did. We had five different players score tonight and were able to show that we are not just a one-person team.

“That will only make us better when Milan is able to play again. We’ll have her out there, and the rest of the girls will have a lot more confidence to make plays because they have already done it.”