That set up the 1-point conversion attempt, where Watts found Sanders in the backfield, Sanders cut to her right away from the oncoming Tigers toward the pylon, and scored to win the game in walk-off fashion.
“The win feels really good, honestly,” Watts said, after Opelika jumped for joy on the field and posed for photos with the scoreboard after a win for the record books.
“Even playing other sports here, we’ve never, like, won at Auburn. So I just feel like being here and winning on their home field is really good,” Watts said.
Opelika trailed 7-0 at the half. Auburn High engineered a go-ahead drive in the final minute of the second quarter, with quarterback Lilli Wellbaum connecting with hot hand Ivey Davis for three big completions in a row — one a 26-yard gain to the 10, the next a 10-yard touchdown, and the next a successful conversion with 40 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 7-0.
At the start of the third, Auburn High got the ball first and Wellbaum had the Tigers driving again, moving from the Auburn High 14-yard line to the Opelika 16-yard line in eight plays on maybe the most impressive drive of the night.
But that’s when Sanders struck for the first time, with a lightning strike of a pick-six which flipped the momentum and tied the game.
Sanders intercepted the pass at the 7-yard line near the center of the field, then raced left around all the blue jerseys for the 73-yard touchdown return.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
