FARMINGTON -- All their lives boys are taught not to hit girls.
This is a mindset a football coach could unwittingly take advantage of without ever considering a psychological ploy simply through play-selection. Erica Stotler, a second-generation Cardinal, is playing football and if Farmington seventh-grade coach Spencer Adams chooses to utilize her as a lead blocker -- imagine the effect upon a group of defenders with their backs to the wall in a short-yardage goal line situation when the only way they can get to the ball carrier is past a girl.
Looking a whole lot like Supergirl with her bluish-green eyes and long, blond hair flowing out of her red Cardinal uniform, Erica wants to have an impact. Erica has never played football before, yet she is undeterred by the challenge, wants to become an attorney and would like to play college football.
"It's just showing that girls can do anything guys can do is what made me want to play it," Erica said. "My teammates have been good. They've been pretty supportive."
Her best friend in school is Grace Mitchell and among the football team she counts wide receiver Aiden Robinson, center Garrett Taylor, wide receiver Elliot Thompson and wide receiver/free safety Cayson Pense among her top supporters. Erica's mother, Amber Stotler, has encouraged her in the endeavor.
"My mom kind of told me I could do it," Erica said. "She made me feel comfortable doing it."
Erica stands 5-feet-2 and weighs 115 pounds. She said her mother is 5-feet-7 and so is her dad, Eric, whom she's named after. Eric played quarterback for Farmington in high school and his twin brother, Erica's Uncle Derick Stotler, played running back for the Cardinals. Eric also supports the idea of his daughter playing football.
"He was kind of like my mom. He thought it was pretty cool. He's pretty proud," Erica said.
"It's an interesting dynamic," Adams said. "She's doing a good job. We're glad to have her. It seems she's enjoying the sport and is eager to learn."
Adams said each year seventh-grade football draws a lot of kids, who haven't played before.
"They have a lot of enthusiasm to learn. Every year we start from the ground up in seventh grade," Adams said. "She's the first girl I've ever coached. It's a learning experience for me as a coach and it's a learning experience for her. As far as I know she's the first girl we've ever had [come out for football]."
Still, questions remain about the physicality of the sport when girls enter the playing arena against boys. Girls have experienced serious injuries playing football against other girls and against boys. In the early 90s, a girl playing wide receiver on a freshman boys team absorbed a hit in practice that was hard enough to break her ribs and end her season and in 2012, a member of the Arkansas Rampage women's football team sustained a concussion during a playoff game at Dallas with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. The 2012 Rampage coach, former Razorback Jermaine Petty, realizing the seriousness of the injury, took her helmet away and locked it in the trunk of a car to keep her from running back out onto the field and the Rampage finished the day with 10 players.
Mariya McGillivary, a wide receiver for the Kansas Phoenix 2012 team, played football in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th grades against boys. She could easily recall the hardest hit she has taken.
"One time I got kicked in the stomach and was out for like five minutes," McGillivary said.
By week three Erica admitted she has taken some good hits, mostly from teammates during practice.
"They kind of hurt but not too bad," she said.
"She's doing well. She's never played before so she kind of started with a clean slate," Adams said. "She is picking up everything we're teaching her. It's nice to see somebody who has never played before picking up the game and enjoying it."
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Nykolaus Comer, who is among the biggest, strongest, most-experienced seventh-graders at 5-feet-6, 230 pounds. Nykolaus has invested six years developing his football skills among various Farmington youth programs starting out with Kiwanis football at 6-years-old before going into the Cardinal Peewee program. This summer Nykolaus made the USA National team and sharpened his knowledge of the game and skills during a week-long camp held at Canton, Ohio. Both Nykolaus and Erica are exceptions to the typical seventh-grader coming out for football at Randall G. Lynch Middle School which had a total of 56 kids come out.
"We're seeing the numbers rise at every level," Adams said.
That's good news for Cardinal fans and the seventh-grade season should be quite interesting.
Sports on 09/30/2015