Eve Girardi named Section 1 flag football player of the year

Eve Girardi turned a two-way season into the measuring stick for Section 1 flag football. The Tappan Zee quarterback-linebacker finished with 2,832 passing yards and 55 touchdown passes, added 1,125 rushing yards and 16 more scores, and still produced 77 flag pulls, seven interceptions and a pick-six in a year that earned her the 2026 lohud Flag Football Player of the Year honor.

That stat line is why Girardi also was selected as Section 1 Class B Player of the Year. It is not often that one player drives games through the air, on the ground and on defense, but Girardi did exactly that while helping Tappan Zee anchor one of the region’s deepest seasons. Her next stop will be Central Connecticut State, where she will continue her athletic career, and her TopDrawerSoccer profile lists her as a Class of 2026 forward.

Girardi’s rise came in a Section 1 landscape that kept widening around her. The league had 36 girls flag football teams in 2026, a clear sign the sport has moved well beyond its early growth stage in the Lower Hudson Valley. The all-section honors announced June 10 showed how spread out the talent has become, with Yorktown’s Stephanie Douglas and Sydney Soliz, along with coach Mike Rescigno, among the first-team and coaching selections. Tappan Zee, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle, Westlake/Briarcliff, Scarsdale and Mahopac all placed multiple players across the first, second and honorable-mention lists.

The postseason also mapped that depth in concrete terms. Section 1’s tournament began May 13, and the championship games were played May 23 at Lakeland High School in Shrub Oak. Mamaroneck won Class A, Yorktown took Class B and Westlake won Class C, a three-program split that reflected how competitive the section had become from top to bottom.

That competitive balance carried into the state tournament, held June 6-7 at Cortland High School and Homer High School. Yorktown beat Fayetteville-Manlius 30-14 to win the NYSPHSAA Class B state championship, becoming the second Section 1 program to capture a state title after Scarsdale’s 2025 Class A run. Westlake/Briarcliff also reached the state semifinals, while Yorktown, Mamaroneck and Westlake/Briarcliff represented Section 1 in the bracket.

The season had already started with a jolt of visibility when the New York Giants helped launch Section 1 play at Somers High School on March 14. Girardi’s year, and the all-section list built around it, showed a region where elite individual production and broad program strength are rising together.