Bellmore-Merrick girls’ flag football is building its identity from scratch and blazing that trail with considerable success. In just their fifth season, the Chargers hold a 10-5-1 overall record and earned the third seed in the Nassau Conference A playoffs.
“Because the team is so young, for all intents and purposes, we shouldn't really be considering ourselves in contention for the championship game,” coach Matthew Moody said. “But these girls are extremely talented and work so hard.”
With six freshmen and sophomores starting on defense and two starting on offense, older leadership has come at a premium for Bellmore-Merrick, making two-way senior Hailie Siegler a paramount figure in her final year.
“Hailie is the perfect leader for this kind of group of girls, with them being so young,” Moody said. “I met with her after last season and asked her what exactly we can do to build bonding. She really took these girls under her wing.”
In addition to being the most targeted wide receiver, earning 552 receiving yards through the first 14 games, Siegler has also proven to be a force on defense, with Moody noting she racked up a double-digit interception total at safety.
Along with junior wide receiver Katelyn Kuhl, who racked up 509 receiving yards in the same span, Siegler led an offensive core perfectly tailored to freshman quarterback Erini Ballis.
With the help of her older teammates, Ballis caught fire down the stretch and ignited the entire offense, most notably in a 39-25 victory over Freeport on April 30. Siegler and Kuhl finished with nine receiving touchdowns each during the regular season.
Bellmore-Merrick’s air attack helped unlock the offense late in the year, but sophomore running back Victoria Olson was always the anchor. Moody described her as a pure rusher in Conference A, where rushing stats are often dominated by mobile quarterbacks.
Entering the final two games with 1,036 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, Olson proved integral in the regular-season finale against Port Washington. Up 18-12 in the fourth quarter after three passing touchdowns from Ballis, Olson twisted her way to a crucial first down on third-and-15, turning an inside run into an explosive play and hitting a spin move she had been practicing with Moody all year. She finished the game with 92 yards and successfully ran down the clock as the score held.
Olson also proved to be a one-girl wrecking crew on defense, collecting 26 sacks before Bellmore-Merrick’s penultimate game against Syosset. The Chargers ended up with 37 total interceptions, which Moody credited to Olson’s constant pressure.
Bellmore-Merrick was not without their defensive specialists, as Siegler led a precocious group that also included sophomores Kylie McKeon and Madeleine Bhunut, as well as freshman cornerback Christina Eromon. McKeon led the Chargers with 12 interceptions, while Eromon provided the dagger against Port Washington with her fifth pick. Bhunut chipped in with four.
Senior Katlyn Kestenbaum, the starting quarterback last year, has forged a new path as an effective slot receiver, while Moody said sophomore Kim McElroy is the only player who has not missed a single day.
In 2022, Bellmore-Merrick won the inaugural Long Island championship, making an immediate mark in a budding sport. At Moody’s request, players from that championship roster recently paid a visit to the current Chargers squad. Their message was simple: this is just the beginning.
