McEachern flag football ‘hungry’ for repeat state championship
Desirae Holley used the word “tranquil” to describe winning McEachern’s first state championship last season.
The senior receiver further explained the tranquility as relief after two years of regular season domination before falling short in the playoffs in 2022 and 2023.
Holley’s class is 70-3 through three seasons.
“It was a weight off my shoulders,” Holley said. “Because as a freshman, seeing all the seniors crying and then finally becoming a junior to see the wins.”
But tranquility was nowhere to be found at McEachern’s first day of tryouts on Monday, the start of the 2025 flag football season. Over 70 players raced around the field, scrapping for 50/50 balls and flag pulls.
It’s exactly what McEachern coach Jake Burgdorf loves to see as he leads the program into a new era as defending champions. The Indians will start the regular season at Roswell at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 18.
McEachern appears primed for a repeat title. The Indians have experience, talent, strong culture and good coaching. But they’re also at higher risk of self-satisfaction, which Burgdorf is attacking head-on.
“Every great team fights complacency because the girls get used to winning, and again, the senior class has lost three games in their entire career,” Burgdorf said. “So they’re used to winning, but at times, if you’re not careful, you walk out on the field and you take an opponent lightly.”
McEachern has readopted a T-shirt slogan from last season: “Work Harder, Nobody Cares.”
The slogan, which always keeps the focus on the next achievement, might fit McEachern even better this year. The Indians were strong last season, but they hadn’t yet lifted that elusive state championship trophy.
Seniors like Holley have achieved glory, and now they get to decide how much they want to do it again.
“I just want everybody to know that even though we won it last year, we’re not sleeping,” Holley said. “We’re still working day in, day out. We’re still grinding to get the next state champion, we’re never tired, we’re always hungry and we’re never going to stop being hungry.
“I want it again. And especially for my senior year, this is personal.”
McEachern played 32 games this summer and practiced three times per week with weight training and conditioning.
With 21 regular season games scheduled for the next 10 weeks, McEachern needs to keep its appetite up if it wants another undefeated season.
But Burgdorf isn’t focused on the record. He says improvement is about finding new ways to get better, not maintaining the same on-field result.
The fourth-year head coach focuses on building a player-led culture that sharpens minute details.
“Just doing the little things right, and the girls can sit here, and they can lead all the stretches,” Burgdorf said. “In weight training most days, they lead in the weight room.
“Ultimately, that is what a winning program does, is have leaders within the program that are not afraid to step on people’s toes if they’re not doing the right thing, and we have encouraged that.”
Junior safety, receiver and quarterback Ava Couzens compares it to a family atmosphere. The team enjoys each other — but like siblings, they’re close enough to push each other, too.
Couzens echoed Holley’s hunger for another state title, and shared how she sees McEachern reaching its goals.
“We’re definitely a different team, but that’s not going to stop us from getting where we’re ultimately going to be, and so we can be a different team and still be the best in our region, in the state, whatever it is,” Couzens said. “So we’re just trying to be the best of … our version, our new team that we’re creating with the new girls.”
About the Author
Jack Leo is a sports writer and reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jack worked for the AJC throughout his four years studying journalism and sports media at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. He's now focused on telling stories in the grassroots: bringing comprehensive coverage of high school sports for AJC Varsity.
