Adam Beadle is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Williams Field High School for AZPreps365.com 

After a two-week hiatus, Williams Field flag football is getting ready to hit the gridiron for the first time since going on fall break.

Coming off a 17-0 win over Cesar Chavez on Sept. 30, in which first-year head coach Steve Brody believed the team should’ve “scored more points”, Williams Field (2-3) is looking to continue its winning ways against Chandler (2-3) at home in its annual pink-out game Tuesday night.

“I think we're evenly matched,” Brody said. “Obviously, they lost to Cesar Chavez. We beat Cesar Chavez. That's kind of one thing I look at. We should have beaten Valley Vista. They did beat Valley Vista. So that's kind of how I map it out… But right now, you know, every game we go into, pretty much we look like an underdog.”

Despite feeling “evenly matched,” Brody is concerned with the possibility of his team coming out flat after a two-week break, something he’s experienced in the past when going on a break and coming out of it facing Chandler.

In an effort to combat that possibility, Brody brought his team out of its break to practice and watch film on Friday.

“When I was at Hamilton, we came off a break to play Chandler, and we got smoked,” Brody said. “Girls just didn't show up. So that's kind of why I’m (getting the girls out for practice) right now.”

One of the things Williams Field is focusing on: short plays.

Following the Black Hawks' 55-0 loss to Mountain View on Sept. 25, Brody said the team was going to have to work on short-yardage plays. Brody saw improvement in that category in the Black Hawks’ win over Cesar Chavez and hopes that success will carry over in the game against Chandler.

“We still had some long balls, but I think what it does is it tells (freshman quarterback Berkeley Drake) to take a peek underneath first,” Brody said. “We don’t need the long stuff.”

Typically, in football, running the ball is a strategy used by teams for certain short-yardage situations, but in flag football, Brody doesn’t see that as a successful strategy.

“You really have some different types of looks in order to actually run the ball or players that are actually fast,” Brody said. “Right now, we haven't emphasized a lot. We tried to put in a few running plays for Cesar Chavez going into that game. We tried them. They really didn't work. I mean, right now, our top rusher is Berkeley, so that's the unfortunate side of it, and that's only because she gets broken out of the pocket and is able to get downfield.”

Drake, who has started every game for the Black Hawks this season, credits the people close to her for helping her gain more confidence as the season has progressed.

“My teammates really help boost that confidence and cheer me on every day,” Drake said. “Especially coach Brody. He's really helped me, like, try and throw better, my feet work and stuff, and overall, he's just been, like, a great coach trying to help me out.”

Senior wide receiver and rusher Navaeh Mejia, who is tied for the fourth most sacks in the 6A Fiesta region with seven so far this season, said she’s faced Chandler in the past and knows how “aggressive” they can be, but it's nothing she feels the team can’t tackle.

“If we work together as a team and we're locked in (at practice), I think we've got Tuesday pretty locked down,” Mejia said.