All the right moves

Steve Virgen

Words spoken with fascination float throughout the sideline when

Elizabeth Eddy runs with the football. The buzz goes a little

something like this.

“There goes Elizabeth,” or, “She’s a star,” or, “She’s so

adorable.”

Elizabeth, 11, is the only girl on the Newport-Mesa Junior

All-American Clinic team. But, this is not a novelty act, or even a

publicity stunt. Elizabeth Eddy is for real.

The Seahawks’ starting slot back became the first girl in the

league’s history to score a touchdown after her 50-yard run in a 39-0

win over Buena Park Sept. 7.

With her helmet on, Elizabeth appears to be just another football

player in uniform. But when the action starts she separates herself

from the others. While most runners sprint to the hole and continue

straightforward without shifting, Elizabeth adds flair. She stutter

steps to avoid hits, or sets up a would-be tackler by taking a run to

the sideline and then cutting back to the inside.

“The moves come naturally for me,” Elizabeth said after she ran

for 64 yards and one touchdown on four carries in the Seahawks’ 26-0

victory over the South Orange County Patriots Saturday at Bonita

Creek Park. “(When I have the ball) I’m thinking if I can make it

through the line and break it for a touchdown.”

She drew gasps from onlookers when she completed a dazzling

50-yard run, in which she broke or avoided four tackles along the way

in the third quarter. She also scored a one-point conversion on a

short run, and recovered two fumbles and came up with a key tackle as

a safety on defense.

“So, she was the girl,” Patriots Coach Jeff Myers said of

Elizabeth. “I had heard they had a girl, but I had no idea that was

her. She was excellent. I am so impressed.”

Elizabeth is 82 pounds, just three pounds under the Clinic

Division’s requirement maximum weight. The league consists of mainly

9-10-year-olds. Elizabeth’s brother Parker is on the team, and he’s,

perhaps, his elder sister’s biggest supporter.

For the past two years, Elizabeth asked her parents to let her

play football, but they said, no. But, Parker, who is 9, started

asking for his big sister to play on his team this year. And, Newport

Coach Kirk Norton also came asking.

“I’ve seen her in other sports for the past few years; in roller

hockey and soccer,” Norton said. “I could tell that she is a

phenomenal talent. She’s just an athlete. The hitting thing I was a

little worried about. My selling point to the parents was don’t let

her come back when she’s 18 and have her say, I wish I could have

done that. This is the time for her do it, because she’s on the older

side. She has good average size and she has speed. She’s awesome.”

Elizabeth scored on a 13-yard touchdown, just two plays after her

electric 50-yard run. She also had a 25-yard touchdown called back on

a penalty. She displayed speed on that play, as she outran defenders

along the sideline.

Elizabeth plays other sports, too. She’s on a Newport AYSO

Progressive team this season. Last week, she played in a football

game in the morning and then scored two goals later in the day for

her soccer team. She has also competed in water polo, basketball and

roller hockey. But football is her favorite.

“I like college football the most,” she said. “USC is my

favorite.”

She enjoys football because she likes to run the ball. It seems

speed has always been associated with Elizabeth throughout her life.

“When she was nine months old, she stood up and decided to run,”

Elizabeth’s mother, Linda, said. “She took 23 steps. I remember.

She’s just been running ever since. Football is her favorite sport.

Elizabeth is living her dream right now.”

Elizabeth and her parents made an agreement that this would be her

only season with NMJAA football. But, with her recent success, the

Eddys might have to reconsider.

“My parents said I can only play this year,” Elizabeth said. “But

I’m thinking that I want to play again.”