HIGH SCHOOL FLAG FOOTBALL: ROBERTSON DANCES HER WAY TO DOMINANCE FOR FOR THE HAWKS (2024-05-14)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
Corning’s Grace Robertson spins, and moves, dancing through defenses the same way she dances on a stage.

The Corning running back has turned her dance background into a weapon that’s helped her dominate throughout this flag football season.

Corning now prepares for the Section IV, Division I playoffs that start Wednesday.

Roberton’s dance background has made her tough to stop on the football field.

In Saturday’s win over Horseheads she spun time after time after time, avoiding tackles on her way to one of her 200-plus yard games this year.

“I dance and I played soccer so it’s all about jukes and turns and spins, so I give half my spins credit to my dance teacher,” Robertson said.

For Robertson it’s just something in her that knows when to spin around someone.

“I think it is just instinct to know when to juke and when to spin,” she said. “It comes very naturally to me. I just spin and they don’t get the flag.”

All season long Robertson has been dancing

“I have been dancing since I was little and honestly the dance has helped so much with flag and being able to spin,” she said. “The balance, everything, I give my dance teacher all the credit.”

It’s been a long, winding path for the Corning Hawks flag football team this year.

They came into the season with high hopes with their high-flying offense led by quarterback Hannah Smith, who threw more than 50 touchdowns a year ago.

But, an injury to Smith early in the year changed everything for the Hawks. And, now as they head into the Sectional playoffs Wednesday as the top seed in Division I they have one of the most balanced offenses in the league.

Smith is back, and tossing touchdowns, but the team also has learned to lean on running back Grace Robertson, who has run for over 200 yards three times this year, and leads the area in rushing yards.

“I think that with a quarterback going down it was really hard,” Robertson said. “But, I think our team has done a good job adjusting, and I have to give our defense credit to. Just running the ball and getting the blocks downfield. I appreciate all my blockers, they are awesome. Backing is key.”

It was an adjustment as the Hawks started running more and more, but it also has forced defenses to adjust.

“Honestly, the other teams are so used to us passing, so when you run the ball a lot, they don’t know what to do,” Robertson said.

Now that Smith is back the team has an added balance to their offense for this year’s postseason.

“Having her back is great,” Robertson has said. “She has been quarterback since day one of flag, since we started last year. I give her all the credit for coming back and learning all the plays again and our offense being able to catch the ball.

“I do think we have a good balance of throwing and running and I think we know when to throw and when to run.”

The Hawks face Horseheads in the playoffs on Wednesday at home at 6 p.m. In two games with Horseheads this year, the Hawks offense used the pass game the first time as Horseheads keyed on the run, and the run game the last time, on a rainy, windy day.

“They were keying on the run a lot (the first matchup at Horseheads), so with Hannah back and being able to throw we were able to get a lot of yards and our girls were all able to catch the ball,” Robertson said.

When Smith went down it was quite the adjustment for the Hawks. They went through three different quarterback this year. The day of the injury was a tough adjustment, on a bad weather day. But, after that the quarterbacks adjusted and the Hawks started feeding Robertson the ball on more regular basis.

“I think the quarterbacks did a great job adjusting,” Robertson said. “I think for sure, losing Hannah Smith in that game hurt us a lot. But, I think we made the adjustment to run the bal and it worked for us.”

Robertson does give herself some credit for the success she’s had this year.

“I think I have done a pretty good job, I will give myself a little bit of credit,” she said. “I am pretty proud of myself. I am so grateful and happy for our team.

“I just think the whole team in general, the dynamic, we are supportive of each other.”
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STSR FILE PHOTO.


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