OKEECHOBEE — One of the top flag football teams in the state will be making the trip to Okeechobee to take on the OHS Lady Brahmans on March 28.

The Glades Central Lady Raiders are ranked fifth in the state in the 1A region and head coach Sam Curry likes his team’s chances against the Lady Brahmans.

“I feel great going into the Okeechobee game,” said Curry. “We have had great success against them over the years. They played Jensen Beach earlier this season and lost and when we played Jensen Beach we were able to win so I’m confident we have what it takes to beat them. But this is flag football, anything can happen if you let your guard down. We are pretty focused.”

The Lady Raiders come into the game with a 3-0 record, with their last victory being a 32-0 shut-out of district rival Jensen Beach. In that game GCHS junior Jahmya Philpart had two big touchdown runs while freshman quarterback Ja’Kerria Epps was able to carve up the Jensen defense.

Having a freshman at quarterback was one of the only question marks regarding the 2019 Lady Raiders flag football team. But Curry has been pleased with Epps progress thus far in the season.

“Ja’Kerria is doing well,” said Curry, “she’s starting to understand the game more and connecting with her wide receivers. She has thrown five touchdowns and ran for one in her three starts but she also threw five interceptions in those three starts. Once we can get her to cut down on the mistakes, I think we can have a special team. Our team chemistry is OK, I think it could be better with more good practices. We did a bonding trip over spring break to get the girls together to have some fun outside of flag football.”

After Okeechobee the Lady Raiders will face another top-ranked team in Monsignor Pace on March 29 in Belle Glade. Pace comes into the game with a perfect 4-0 record and is ranked only one spot behind Glades Central by floridahsfootball.com.

Curry admitted that he had the Pace game circled on his schedule this year.

“They’re ranked pretty high on all the flag football rankings and they bring that Miami speed,” explained Curry. “I’m looking forward to seeing how our young team competes against a great team like them. I also have the April 9 game against Fort Pierce Westwood circled just because I know they’re going to bring it and make our girls work for everything. Last year we barely escaped them in the district playoff game and I know they want revenge.”

Glades Central and Okeechobee kick-off on March 28 with JV starting at 6:30 p.m. and varsity at 7:30 p.m.