Mt. Juliet girls flag football captures Region 4-AA championship against Hendersonville

Mt. Juliet clinched a berth in the inaugural TSSAA Class AA girls flag football state championships with a 40-7 victory over Hendersonville in the Region 4-AA final. DAVID WILSON The taste of Tim Hortons’ doughnuts will be especially sweet on Monday for coach Adam Brown and his Mt. Juliet girls flag football team. Brown and the Golden Bears clinched a spot in the inaugural TSSAA Class AA girls flag football state tournament, held May 14-15 at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro, with a 40-7 win over Hendersonville in the Region 4-AA championship. Mt. Juliet (17-1) sealed regular-season and postseason region titles with a dominant offensive display that included six scoring drives in seven total possessions. Quarterback Addy Osborne and Bellarmine University soccer signee Brooklyn Donohue accounted for all six touchdowns, with Osborne tallying three scores through the air. The Golden Bears limited Hendersonville and standout quarterback Addi George to just one score just weeks after shutting out the Commandos with a 32-0 win at Roger Perry Field. “This group last year was predominantly all freshmen,” Brown said. “We knew we had a good core coming back, and we got Brooklyn Donohue to come back for her senior year because she was thinking about leaving early to play soccer. “I was just thanking her on the sideline for coming back. I told her we were going to get there if she came back, and here we are.” Donohue said her decision to forgo early enrollment at Bellarmine and pursue a girls flag football championship with Mt. Juliet was “simple.” Her relationship with the Golden Bears’ coaching staff, including Brown and assistants Trey Tate and Colt Carver, outweighed a new start in Kentucky. She blossomed once again this spring as the versatile piece in Brown’s option-based system. Donohue rushed for 1,184 yards and 17 TDs while catching 24 passes for 194 yards and three more scores. She was named the Region 4-AA MVP after adding 66 flag pulls, 32 stops for loss, eight sacks and three interceptions on defense. “The coaching last year, just the drive they had for us and the dedication they had knowing we could win was just everything to me,” Donohue said. “In the end, that was the most important. I feel like I enjoyed playing so much.” Donohue and Osborne gnashed Hendersonville’s defense in the first half after the Commandos staved off a last-minute charge by Green Hill to reach the region final. Mt. Juliet scored on all four possessions in the first half, opening up a 27-0 lead. Osborne connected with basketball teammate Isabella Craig for an 8-yard touchdown on the Golden Bears’ first series and followed with a 9-yard score on a QB keeper. Donohue plunged in for a 2-yard TD on Mt. Juliet’s third drive and reeled in a 15-yard pass for another score 57 seconds before halftime. Osborne eluded pressure from Hendersonville’s pass rush and found Donohue while stumbling to the turf, and the speedy soccer star brought in the pass and darted her way down the left sideline into the end zone. “I think what makes us so special is our chemistry,” Donohue said. “We’re best friends off the field and that relationship also helps us on the field. I feel like that is just what sets us apart from everything.” Hendersonville, which rallied from down two scores in the first half against Green Hill, broke through for the first time against Mt. Juliet with a touchdown on its first possession of the second half. The Commandos stopped the Golden Bears on a fourth down near midfield and cashed in the turnover with a 1-yard score from George to Summer Bramlett. It snapped a string of five straight series that ended in a punt. “Our girls have a lot of faith in each other, and you know it’s a tough loss because it’s the second year in a row for us to lose in a championship game,” Hendersonville coach Jennifer Bridenbaugh said. “A lot of them had redemption on their mind, especially after the last time we played Mt. Juliet. They have a lot of pride in themselves and hoped we could go further than tonight.” Mt. Juliet countered Hendersonville’s scoring drive with two more trips to the end zone. Osborne found Ryleigh Clayton on an 11-yard TD pass, and Donohue followed with a 17-yard run on an option pitch for her second rushing score of the night. The Golden Bears open pool play on Thursday against Walker Valley before taking on state title favorite Ravenwood and Arlington. Bracket play begins Friday.