South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida, has the state’s only varsity quarterback who also quarterbacks the girls’ flag-football team and is a star point guard on the girls’ basketball team. Senior Erin DiMeglio, South Plantation’s third-string quarterback, first drew the attention of the football coach with passes that were too hard to be catchable by her flag-football teammates. He asked her to throw to the boys during a workout, and then she asked to throw in a helmet, and then she asked to throw in pads, and then she asked to play, and the coach said no way, and then “she wore me down and she wore her parents down,” he says.
When the Seminole Ridge Community High School announcer told the crowd Erin DiMeglio was at quarterback, there was little reaction, because the name Erin, when pronounced, does not connote a gender. But then everyone saw her ponytail swaying as she jogged onto the field. Then there was some buzz. Is that the girl? Can she play? Can she throw?
South Plantation Coach Doug Gatewood knew that the answer to all three questions was yes. The one question he did not know the answer to, and did not want to know, was whether she could take a hit. So when DiMeglio dropped back for her first pass, saw no open receivers, and began to roll to her left, Gatewood felt queasy.
“Go down, Rock,” he said quietly. “Go down.”
DiMeglio, who is 5 feet 5 inches and 140 pounds, did not go down, but she did fire a pinpoint pass to a receiver, who turned upfield for a 10-yard gain. Fans cheered. Cheerleaders chanted Erin’s name.
Okay, quasi-unrelated, and just a personal thing for me: I hate to see a quarterback slide. I understand why they do it, and there’s sense and logic to it. But when I actually see it happen, my automatic thought is, Oh, just take the hit, you big weenie. And this is fully in the knowledge that my own response would be less drop-and-slide than kneel-cower-and-pray. So I already have some affection for DiMeglio just for staying on her feet and completing the pass.
I also like that apparently her nickname is “Rock.” That’s a cool nickname.
DiMeglio took two snaps from shotgun at the end of her team’s first game of the regular season and handed off both times. If South Plantation can manage a few more blowouts like this weekend’s 31-14, she could get a chance at her goal of throwing a touchdown in a varsity game. So that’s on y’all, offense.
Awesome story! Erin – if you happen to read this article, hit me up for an interview. Girls playing football is one of the hottest topics on my site and I’m sure there would be a ton of ladies who would love to hear from you.
There was a girl on the football team in my high school. She messed up her back doing one of the other billion sports she played and couldn’t play football after that. It was a shame.
I hope she does get to throw a touchdown pass in a varsity game, and chances may be good in an area where 31-14 is considered a blowout.
While I was in high school, there was a girl on our football team the year they went to State…the school bussed as many students as wanted to go, and the team ended up winning by a landslide. In the final quarter, all of the students were chanting the girl’s name, encouraging the coach to finally put her in, but he never did. Still bums me out.
Caperton, aren’t you an UGA fan? Hope your ready for a loss this weekend. M-I-Z!
Look who gets to sit at the grownups’ table! Good for you!
Z-O-U!
I dont get the surprise. What does a quarterback do? Throw the egg around doesnt he? It isnt like you need to be hercules to do that. Precision is more important.
*she
;)
This is the third time I’ve seen this bloke commenting on an article without demonstrating evidence of having actually read it. I feel like I’m teaching high school again.
only 9 posts here, oh wait it’s a positive story where no one is being tortured or oppressed, with a coach in a sport that is typically vilified as a bastion of sexism rewarding talent without reference to where it came from.
…or most people here aren’t that into football.
Also: Nobody found much to disagree with and there was nothing to protest against. That does not generate large threads.
The only really objectionable content is these weird folks who suffer from spelling problems and the delusion that a mobile quarterback and a noisy stadium will be enough to make up for a baby O-line against a top-10 team with a strong defense and a free safety named Rambo.
This is a great post, but I was really put off by the “just take the hit” line. Quarterbacks slide because a few extra yards is often not worth the very real risk of crippling your most important player.
Even this rule is only an exception which protects highly talented players under certain circumstances. A culture where individuals are expected to sacrifice their health and safety for the sake of the game has destroyed many careers. And it is also hurting football as a sport. The average career length in the NFL is about 3.5 years, largely due to injury.
Oh, I completely agree. That’s why I opened that with an acknowledgement that there is a very valid reason why quarterbacks slide (although I’ve seen analyses of why it actually, in the long run, might be more dangerous to slide, but that’s neither here nor there). There’s just something about seeing everyone out there in pads, with one guy who hits the ground to avoid a tackle, that makes my eyes roll even as I respect what could happen if he didn’t do that.
Especially given the size disparity between quarterbacks and defensive linemen, “taking the hit” is often a terrible idea. Good on them for not risking traumatic brain injury when they don’t need to.