Ninth grader makes Virginia history as first girl to score a touchdown

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, Va. — A Middlesex ninth grader recently became the first girl ever to score a touchdown for a Virginia public high school.

Grace Reza, who plays for the Middlesex Chargers, wrote her name in the VHSL history book when she ran for a score against Charles City — her first game back after an injury.

'She has no fear'

Before he came to coach at Middlesex High, Mark Bowen spent many years as an assistant at L.C. Bird in Chesterfield. Both communities love their teams, but in the Middle Neck, it's a whole town's worth of support.

"It's more of that hometown crowd," Bowen said. "It's smaller, but everybody's involved in the program. It's not just the coaches and the kids' parents. There's more people now interacting."

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The two teams may play the same game and share a color pattern, but the circumstances and challenges surrounding each couldn't be more different. The number of players the Skyhawks might have on their roster is close to the number of kids in each grade at Middlesex.

"I got 10 people coming back on both sides of the ball before our first game. Five of those starters got hurt. Three of them had season ending injuries that needed surgeries. So out of that, I had to find more players," Bowen said.

He said his wife had told him two years ago about a potential player who might not have normally caught his eye.

"She said, there's a girl in seventh grade. She's out there playing football with the boys. She's just, she's tearing them up," Bowen said. "I said, you should ask her to come play."

That girl is Grace Reza, who came out for the varsity team earlier this year as a freshman.

"I usually play at football games and then at cookouts and stuff, and I just got more interested in playing," Reza said.

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But her playing style nearly ended her career before it began.

"She runs the ball hard. She has no fear. She doesn't pause to pick a hole, she wants to run over you," Bowen said. "When we first started, she was going to be in my mix, but she broke her collarbone doing a tackling drill and just the way she turned and rolled."

"It was very disappointing and I was crying because I couldn't play no more," Reza said.

She missed the first six games of the season rehabbing her injury and came back as soon as she was able. Her example made a big impact on her teammates — so much so, one of them made an on-the-field sacrifice so she could make history.

"We had a breakaway play, and one of our running backs fell right there at the five yard line, clear. He could have gone in for a touchdown. I was like, what are you doing? And they're all yelling, put Grace in, put Grace up," Bowen said. "So we stopped, called timeout, said Grace, you're up, it's your turn."

Provided to WTVR

The play is called 24 ISO. Grace has run it hundreds of times in practice.

When it counted for real, she didn't miss.

Dozens of girls have played football in Virginia before her, but none have ever scored a touchdown. Reza made VHSL history in her first game back.

"Everyone's been coming up to me and saying, like the first girl to score, and just talking about how I scored and stuff," she said. "It feels great that everyone is appreciative of it. And yeah, it feels good to be the first girl in Virginia to do that."

Her coach says the way she plays is something that can't be taught.

"She came right into it and went right at it and was able to compete at the varsity level as a ninth grader," Bowen said. "I now have additional female students that are coming out saying, 'I'm playing next year because of Grace.'"

The Chargers got a big home win Friday over their rivals, West Point, and will finish their regular season at 5-5. They will make the playoffs for their second straight season, the first time that has happened in over a decade. Reza got a few carries in their JV game against King and Queen, and will be back on the field for the Chargers next fall.

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