Scoring a milestone for girls in football Gilbert Arete’s Skylar Nicholas gets historic TD
Gilbert Arete Prep’s football team put a new play in last week.
It was called the “Skylar formation.”
When the small Gilbert charter school got to the opposing team’s 1yard line last Friday night, a 5-foot-3 senior with a red, braided ponytail lined up a few yards behind the center and took the direct snap.
Skylar Nicholas followed her blockers up the middle for a touchdown in an 81-28 win over Phoenix Day School for the Deaf.
It was her only carry in the game. She also kicked nine extra points and made a touchdownsaving tackle on a kickoff.
But afterward, everybody was talking about that touchdown.
Female football players have kicked extra points and made field goals in Arizona varsity high-school football games. But there wasn’t any documentation of a female scoring a touchdown in an Arizona varsity game. There is now. Whether Nicholas made history or not in Arizona, her achievement comes on the heels of Chandler Basha kicker Becca Longo becoming the first female in the country to receive a football scholarship out of high school to a Division I or II college program in the spring, when she signed with D-II Adams State in Colorado.
“It was the first touchdown for a girl at our school,” coach Cord Smith said.
At practice last week, Smith told Nicholas, who plays wide receiver along with her kicking
duties, that he had put a play in for her to try to make history. Her initial reaction? “I was kind of scared,” she said. “But I did it, and it was great. It was a team effort on my team’s part.”
A midfielder in soccer, Nicholas never thought of playing football until her freshman year at academically challenging Arete Prep.
She said she would go to the football games on Friday night and kick the ball afterward with friends.
“We would all go and kick field goals and extra points,” Nicholas said. “I was able to do it. It kind of motivated me, thinking, ‘Maybe I could join the team. Maybe I could be the kicker.’ ”
Two years ago, as a sophomore, she asked the head coach, Amy Arnold, if she could play. Arnold was the only female head football coach at an Arizona high school.
Arnold gladly brought Nicholas onto her team, and she made seven of 11 extra-point tries during an 0-8 season.
Because of a lack of players, Arete Prep, formerly known as Mesa Prep, canceled football last year.
In the spring, Arnold, the school’s athletic director, reached out to Smith, a former high-school football assistant, to see if he would lead the renewal of the football program.
Smith pulled together enough players — a little more than 20 — to build one team. He also cobbled together an independent schedule in the middle of the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s two-year realignment of conferences and regions, with three eight-man games against 1A schools and seven 11-man games against 2A teams. One of his games is a trip to New Mexico.
“I figure we’re going to log over 2,000 miles this season,” he said.
Smith, who assisted on Jeff Scurran’s statechampionship Tucson Sabino football teams in the 1990s, brought in former Gilbert Highland head
“It took a lot of convincing, but I’m so glad that I decided to go with it.”
coach Mike Epperson to be his defensive coordinator.
And he was able to convince Nicholas to return to football.
Because of her involvement in club soccer and the heavy demands of academics at the Great Hearts school, Nicholas wasn’t sure if she wanted to spend that many hours away.
“It took a lot of convincing, but I’m so glad that I decided to go with it,” Nicholas said.
She didn’t know her coach would also ask her to play receiver. “I was scared,” Nicholas said. “It’s not what I was really here for. But it’s good to try new things.”
She said kicking the football is no different than kicking a soccer ball, so it came easy for her.
Her mother, Candice, had some concerns.
“I was concerned about her getting hurt,” Candice said. “She really loves playing soccer, and I didn’t want her to blow out her knee. So far, so good.”
The guys on the football team have embraced her.
“She’s a great kicker, and that’s a very valuable asset for our team,” said senior quarterback Joe DeBratto, who also holds for Nicholas on the extra points. “I don’t think there’s anything but respect for her. She’s a great kicker and has that position.”
Teammates were excited to see Nicholas score the touchdown in the eight-man game last week.
“It was quite unheardof, and it’s amazing for her to do that for our school,” DeBratto said.
Smith said he had no reservations putting in the Skylar formation.
“She’s kind of one of our leaders,” he said. “We share the same building as the middle school, and girls look up to her. She’s just a great athlete and a great asset to the team.”
Candice was thrilled to see her daughter score a touchdown, and added that Nicholas’ dad “was off-the-charts thrilled.”
“She’s always been tough,” Candice said.
For her part, Nicholas is happy to be winning football games. The team is off to a 2-0 start after going two years without experiencing victory and a year without playing at all.
Its 13-7 eight-man win over Anthem Prep to begin the season was Arete Prep’s first victory on its football field.
“After last year, everybody was really ready to play this year,” Nicholas said. “It’s a great feeling.”
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-3168827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.