2007 Season 1:      5-6 District Runner-Up

2008 Season 2:      8-4 District Champions

2009 Season 3:      9-3 Back-to-Back District Champions!

2010 Season 4:    11-3 3 consecutive District Championships!

2011 Season 5:    11-3 District Runner-Up  

2012 Season 6:    12-3 4 District Championships!

2013 Season 7:    11-4 Back-to-Back, 5 District Championships!

2014 Season 8:      6-6 District Semi-Final

2015 Season 9:      7-4 District Runner-up.

2016 Season 10:    8-5 Made District Tournament for all 10 consecutive years!

2017 Season 11:  13-3 District Champions!

Coach Cooper's 11 seasons as Head Coach (101-44, .697), 3rd coach in Hillsborough County to break the century mark in wins.

What it means to me!

I played rugby in college and in the army.  Glory comes in giving it your all, giving it your best.  No matter, win or lose, know that you gave it your best effort and nothing less. 

What I like about coaching girls flag football?  It is a sport like rugby.  There are no professionals.  There are no college scholarships at the end of the season.  We play for the love of the game and nothing more.

At the end of the first and unofficial season of 2005-06 the girls asked me to be their coach.  That meant a lot to me.  Some of these girls were my students and it meant a lot to me that they respected my values and abilities.   I accepted the challenge.  I love mentoring and coaching, and I love to do my best, win or lose.  Winning is always an elixir!  To me, winning is not always the final score.  It is doing your best.  Memories and respect come from doing your best with sportsmanship, winning and losing gracefully, not necessarily what the score is at the end of the day.

My First Season, 2006-2007

The first is always memorable.  What did I enjoy most?  We had a losing season, 5-6, as far as the record shows.  But we won!  This team consisted of the Senior Class President, the Junior Class President, and other officers.  This team had over 14 National Honor Society members.  This team was predominantly cheerleaders.  Are these your dominant athletes?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that this team consisted of “girls” off the field, but on the field they were just as tenacious as any boys’ team.  This group of girls believed!  They never gave up.  In its first official season they made the first official district championship tournament.  They won their first official district semi-final game.  And they made it to the first official district championship game.

In my opinion, Riverview High School was by and far the best team in our district.  RHS made it to the state quarter-finals.  Athletically, I think Newsome High School had the second best team.  East Bay, probably had the third best team and beat Newsome, finishing second in the district!  The team never gave up.  Facing a talented Riverview team, East Bay broke records and scored last in a 55-12 defeat.  Never give up!

This team laid the foundation for all future teams.  This team should take some credit for all future successes.  Remove the foundation of any structure and the rest comes crumbling down.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  coming from a 12-0 deficit in our first game to win 13-12 in the last few seconds of the game against King High School with a Morgan Penick pass to Julie Rolfe; coming from behind against Bloomingdale High School and winning in the 4^th quarter 7-6; beating a talented Newsome High School team 7-6 in overtime; in the Newsome game Ashley Norton physically stopped the extra point conversion; winning our first district game; making it to the first district championship game.

2007 Season Opener:  Where this journey begins:  King had a tremendous running game, scoring two TDs in the first half.  Down 12-0, Morgan Penick led the team to victory.  Morgan threw to Taja Robinson for a TD and 1-point conversion in the 3rd.  Then, on 4th and goal with 30 seconds to play, Morgan hit Julie Rolfe in the back of the endzone!  13-12

My Second Season, 2007-2008

What is most memorable?  We had a winning season and we won the District Championship.  This team was my best athletically. I should have had most of my starters from the previous season return.  Some had injuries from other sports and others had “senioritis”. Only two starters returned.  This is understandable.  Just prepare for the future.  I had tremendous turnout which turned to my advantage.

In just our second official season, we accomplished a winning regular season at 6-3.  We made it to our second district championship tournament. And this time we won!

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  coming from behind in our season opener against Bloomingdale and winning in the 4^th quarter 13-7; Janielle Rodriguez made a crucial 4^th down conversion and later a 4^th down TD to win the game; beating Newsome 32-12 in the district semi-final after Newsome beat us in the regular season, 13-12 in overtime; winning our first district championship against Riverview High School in overtime, 12-6; Amy Lemus stopped Riverview on 4^th and 1 and Janielle caught the winning TD; playing our first play-off game and never giving up.

2008 Season opener: at Bloomingdale.  Like last season, we found ourselves down early.  Bloomingdale led 7-0 going into the 4th quarter.  Finally, Dasia Daniels got our offense moving.  Dasia ran for a TD.  Then Janielle Rodriguez caught a crucial 4th down reception to give us a 1st down. Then on 4th and goal, Dasia hit Janielle for the winning score! 13-7

2008-2009 Season

What a great season!  We had a lot of starters return and played with a freshman QB.  We finished 9-3, our best to date, won the District Championship back-to-back, and made it to the 2nd Round of Regionals.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  not knowing what kind of team we would have and then opening the season with a 50-0 win; down 19-6 at the half against Lennard and beating them 32-19; the 4th and 1 defense holding Newsome on the 1 yard line in the District Semi-Final; coming from behind with a remarkable tipped pass to Janielle Rodriguez for the go-ahead score and then holding Bloomingdale on 4th and 2 as Andrea Benedetto snatched the flag and sealed the victory; AND my wife giving birth to our first child, Katie!!!  Thank you players, coaches, parents and fans for a fantastic season!

2009 Season Opener vs Wharton.  JV wins 19-0 and Varsity wins 50-0.  Freshman QB Stephanie Williams throws for 7 TD's and 254 yards, both single game records.  Williams was 23 of 38, 7 TDs, 2 INTs with a 61% competion rate!  Defensively we held Wharton to 28 plays and 26 total yards.  Delaney Poli had 3 INTs, one for a TD.

2009-2010 Season

Another great season!  This was my 4th season, a season where freshmen from my first year were now seniors.  Only 3 girls played all 4 years; Andrea Owens, a 4-year starter and Edleen Diaz and Janielle Rodriguez with a year on JV and 3 on varsity.  We finished 11-3, our best to date and won the District Championship 3 consecutive seasons.  We became the only team in Hillsborough County to make the district championship game the first 4 years and the only team in the county to win 3 district championships!  We became the first Hillsborough County team to enter an in-season tournament, this one at Matanzas High School.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  Playing stiffer competition and winning 3 out of 4 overtime games; going to the Matanzas tournament with the players singing ALL THE WAY OVER and ALL THE WAY BACK; never losing a season opener; hosting our first district tournament; winning 3 CONSECUTIVE DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS!; watching 3 remarkable ladies grow from freshmen to seniors.  Once again, thank you all for a wonderful season!

2010 Season opener: at Durant.  JV wins 19-0.  For Varsity, like most season openers, we found ourselves down early.  Durant scored in the 1st quarter and took a 6-0 lead.  The defense then shut down the Cougar offense with 7 INTs and Essence scored on a 52 yard run in the 4th quarter to send the game into OT.  Andrea Owens caught a Stephanie Williams pass and Janielle Rodriguez caught the 1 XP.  On Durant's 4th down attempt, Megan Loomis caught an INT giving East Bay a 13-6 win!

2010-2011 Season

This was one great season.  We did not win our 4th district championship but we came close.  We are still the only team to play in all 5 district championship games (5) and 1 of 2 county teams with 3 district championships.  We participated in our second out-of-county tournament, this time in Tallahassee, where we played with the best and came away with a 2-1 record.  Our only loss came to #1 Alonso on a last second TD.  We had a Pinko's Pre-Season Poll ranking of #10 in the state, our highest ever.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  Water bottle fights!; Tallahassee tournament and beating Apopka, and playing Alonso to the last minute; 6 defensive shut-outs, most ever; going undefeated in district play (1st time); a great senior night, blowing out Armwood 42-12 and having Bay News 9 cover the game.

2011 Season opener: vs Durant.  JV lost a close one, 0-6.  For Varsity, the team is 5-0 in season openers.  Defensively the Indians shutout Durant, holding the Cougars to 46 total yards.  Offense struggled but put enough points on the board to win.  Stephanie Williams ran for a TD and threw a TD to Nicole Lock.  Jordan Borstein caught the 1 XP.  East Bay wins, 13-0 win!

2011-2012 Season

Another tremendous season!  We lost a season opener for the first time, then go on to have our best record ever at 12-3 AND win the District Championship!  We have 4 district championships, 1 of 2 teams in the county, and still the only team to play in all disctrict championship games.  We made history by being the first county team to play a regular season out-of-county game AND won defeating Oseola-Kissimmee 27-6.   Thanks to the district AD Lanness Robinson and assistant AD Jennifer Burchill for allowing this to happen!  We attended the Tallahassee Capital City Classic, our third consecutive tournament, finishing 2-1 and 3rd place.  We are 6-1 against out-of-county teams!

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  Winning the District!; beating Leon 20-0 in Tallahassee; best record at 12-3; beating Newsome...twice!; a great senior night defeating Freedom 38-6; a great season with a great group of girls and 5 seniors that gave their best for East Bay!

2012 Season opener: vs Plant City.  JV took a 2-0 lead but lost 2-26.  For Varsity, the team lost its season opener for the first time.  Coming off of spring break the team struggled but managed to keep it close, losing 14-19. 

2012-2013 Season

An outstanding season! Flag football is a game of scoring!  After losing a 4-year QB I knew it may be a tough road even with most of our defensive starters returning.  This team amazed me!  Expecting maybe a 6-5 season, these girls exceeded my wildest expectations going 11-4 and going the farthest in the play-offs of any East Bay team!  We won our 5th District Championship, 2 in a row!  We are one of only 2 teams in the county with 5!  And we are the ONLY team in the county to have played in every District Championship game, 7!  We played the first JV out-of-county game in Hillsborough County.  We played in our 4th consecutive tournament, this time at Matanzasa.  We were 2-0 and we are 8-1 against out-of-county teams!  

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  Winning the District!; beating Plant City for the 1st time, 33-19!; winning our first reginal play-off game (against Plant City!); our 1st pre-season tournament; a water ballon fight!; a great senior night defeating Lennard 48-0; dedicating jerseys to 2 great players for their accomplishments, Nicole Lock and Stephanie Williams; and 7 seniors who played their hearts out! 

2013 Season opener: vs Spruce Creek.  This season Varsity opened the season with a tournament at Matanzas High School.  The team travelled to Palm Coast and defeated Spruce Creek 45-0 followed by a win over St. Joseph 20-13.

2013-2014 Season

There are already changes in the air!  Coach Long has left coaching and teaching to pursue her Ph. D.  Our new assistant coach is Lauren Miley.  The FHSAA also rearranged districts within the state.  In Hillsborough County some schools changed districts, district designations were modified and regional play-in game match-ups will change.  Durant High School is now in our district!

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS: This was a topsy-turvy season.  We finished 6-6 but 4 games we lost by 6 points or less.  Bad coaching decisions!  We were 4 plays from being 10-2.  Considering the team had 6 freshmen and 9 first time varsity players, this was an accomplishment.  Going to Matanzas for another tournament was exciting and we left with a 2-0 record.  Madeline Hornacek, Michelle Rodriguez, and Quiana Jean-Baptiste were the three seniors who led this young team and laid the foundation for the future!

2014 Season opener: vs Matanzas.  We travelled again to Matanzas to open the Varsity season.  This was a young an inexperienced team overall but led by seniors Madelinge Hornacek, Michelle Rodriguez and Quiana Jean-Baptiste.  The Indians won 6-0 followed by a 2-0 win over Spruce Creek. 

2014-2015 Season

More changes!  Coach Miley took a leave of absence yet we were joined by standout Madeline Hornacek and summer coach Joe Ruiz on the coaching staff.  We are the only team in our district and one of four on the county to play in every district tournament.  We played in our 5th consecutive out-of-county tournament, this time a pre-season at Celebration High School.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  As always, there are many moments.  Wheet barrow races in conditioning...we chartered a bus for the Celebration tournament...what a nice way to travel!  I was unsure of the success we would have this season until the pre-season tournament.  We lost both games but I saw a determination in this team and I felt confident going into the season!  34 girls travelled and 32 got to play at least a half! Only 6 players had 1 year of varisty experience while the rest had.  Mustachios!  On St. Patrick's Day Aliyah wore a green mustache...we won!  So next game, everyone wore a mustache!!!   We finished 7-4, made it to the district championship game where we belong, and I got to watch a couple of young players develop into players and leaders!  I'm excited for next season!

2015 Season opener: vs Wharton.  This season Varsity opened against the Wharton Wildcats. In a defensive struggle, East Bay did not allow the Wildcats to cross mid-field.  With 5 scoring opportunities in the redzone, the Indians managed to score once against a stingy Wharton defense to take the win 7-0.

2015-2016 Season

After trial and error, Coach Joe Ruiz became a paid volunteer coach!  We all added a new coach, Phil Lucchio, who brought his college and NFL experience to greatly improve QB play.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  We hosted our first pre-season classic defeating Leto and St. Cloud.  We went back to Tallahassee for the Capital City Classic and came back with a 2-1 record.  We had moments of greatness and big letdowns but this was still the best group of players in awhile.  We finished with an 8-5 record and made the district tournament for 10 consecutive years.  Only East Bay, Plant, Plant City and Robinson have this distinction out of 28 teams in the county.  With some adjustments we will be a dominant team next season!

2016 Season opener: vs. Tampa Bay Tech.  JV opened with a decisive win, 19-0.  Varsity followed with a hard-fought win in the last minute of the game, 18-12.  The girls held their composure and played with guts and determination.  This Indians team is one scrappy bunch!

2016-2017

So, trial and error and Coach Ruiz was still not a paid coach!  Frustrating the way our system (non)works!  Anyway...

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS:  What a team!  For the 3rd time we made it to 2nd Round Regionals! For the 6th time we are District Champions! Only 3 schools can make that claim out of 27.  For the first time in Hillsborough County history, we went 7-0 in district play!  We had our most wins in school history, 13.  We've made the district tournament every year, all 11 years.  Only 4 schools can make that claim.  Tallahassee tournament was a blast. Of course half the team went to Prom but the other half represented and came away 2-1 and 5-1 overall.  And from that point, the team gelled and went on to make history!  An awesome team that I can now rest my laurels.

2017 Season Opener: vs. Tampa Bay Tech.  There was no JV game.  After coming off preseason wins over Brooks-Debartolo, 47-0, and Jefferson, 33-0, the season opener was a bit of a shock.  East Bay marched down the field on its first drive to score and go up 6-0.  The rest of the game was a defensive struggle while the offense seemed sluggish.  However, the Indians carried on their season opener tradition, winning this time to make it 10-1 for first games.

2017 Season Rankings:  

At the beginning of the season we were ranked #19 in the state in the 2A State rankings.  (www.floridahsfootball.com ) 

For Joe Pinkos' first poll, we were ranked #17 in state.  At the end of the season we were ranked #3 in Josh Wilson's www.floridahsfootball.com poll and #4 in Joe Pinkos.  These are are highest rankings ever!

2016 Season Rankings:

At the beginning of the season Joe Pinkos ( www.floridahsfootball.com ) ranked us #30 in Class 2A, #7 in the county and #4 in our district out of 118 teams.

2015 Season Rankings:

At the beginning of the season Joe Pinko's ranked us #121 in the state out of 207 teams, #14 out of 27 in the county, and #4 in the district.  We finished #2 the in district, #7 in the county and #39 in the state; this was the largest jump from the beginning to the end of the season out of 209 teams in the state.

2014 Season Rankings:

At the beginning of the season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #85 in the state and # 11 in the county.  We finished #64 and #9 in the county.

2013 Season Rankings:

At the beginning of the season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #23 in the state and #9 in the county.

At the End of Season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #19 in the state and #3 in the county and region.

2012 Season Rankings:

For the pre-season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #4 in the county (27 teams), #7 in the region (43 teams) and #23 in the state.

At the End of Season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #12 in the state.

2011 Season Rankings:

For the pre-season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #10 in the State. 

At the End of Season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #21 in the state.

2010 End of Season Rankings:

At the End of Season, Joe Pinkos ranked us #7 (out of 27 teams) in Hillsborough County, #31 (out of 160 teams) in the state.

Flagmag.com ranked us #20 in the world (Florida, Alaska, Massachussetts, Texas, Canada and Israel)

2009 End of Season Rankings:

Joe Pinkos ranked us #36 (out of 157 teams) in the state.

Flagmag.com ranked us at #12 in the world (Florida, Alaska, Canada and Israel)!

 in memoriam:  Takiya Fullwood

Class of 2018

May 17, 2000 - February 17, 2019