For the first time, the New York State Sportswriters Association has selected all-state teams for flag football, and two players from Oneida are among the honorees.
Oneida, the lone Tri-Valley League school participating in the sport that went interscholastic with New York State Public High School Athletic Association sanctioning in the spring of 2024, has won Section III titles in the first two years of competition, in Division II with two levels of play the first year and Class C in a three-tiered 2025 season.
Sophomore Kaylee French was a first-team Class C selection on defense, and junior Alexis DeGroat was a third-team pick on offense. Rachel Morris, a junior at Syracuse’s OnTech Charter school, received honorable mention as the only other Section III player named in Class C; the section had only three Class C teams with Sherburne-Earlville being the third as the lone Center State Conference school participating during its debut season in 2025.
Oneida finished the 2025 season with a 6-8 record, winning all five games within Class C during the regular season and sectional playoffs, and ended the season with a regional playoff loss to Section VII Beekmantown.
The players of the year were teammates Jayden Leederman and Ellie Edwards of state champion Pioneer in Class C, Eve Girardi of Tappan Zee and Olivia Moynihan of Sayville in Class B, and Samantha Heyman of Half Hollow Hills in Class A. Class A Scarsdale and Class B Webster-Schroeder won the other championships.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Oneida teammates among first all-state flag football selections
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
