Middletown flag football returns to state playoffs after big comeback season
Ava Pryce and Jayden Ferguson powered Middletown to 502 points, a Section 9 title and a second straight Class A playoff berth.
Middletown’s latest flag football surge was built on a sophomore quarterback, a shutdown defense and a roster that replaced graduation losses with production. The Middies finished 16-1 overall and 9-1 in league play, scored 502 points and allowed just 120, then earned a second straight trip to the Class A state playoffs.
Ava Pryce drove the turnaround. The sophomore quarterback threw for 2,500 yards and 51 touchdowns, and her top target, Jayden Ferguson, turned into the kind of mismatch that can change a postseason bracket on one possession. Ferguson finished with 1,300 yards, 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, a stat line that helped explain why Middletown’s offense was so difficult to stop all season.
The defining moment came in the Section 9 championship at Kingston. Middletown rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to beat Kingston 21-20 on Friday, May 29, 2026. Pryce found Ferguson for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter, and Jordyn Fluellen sealed the title with an interception. The comeback mattered beyond one trophy. It showed a program that could absorb pressure, recover from mistakes and finish a game instead of letting it slip away.
That resilience came after Middletown graduated most of its seniors from the previous season, including a senior-heavy 2023 group that had set the standard. Coach Michael Conklin said the team grew through the season, and younger players stepped into larger roles as the roster reloaded around Pryce, Ferguson and Fluellen. The result was not a one-year spike but a second consecutive season in the state tournament, with the Middies listed as the No. 1 seed in Section IX Class A.
Middletown kept rolling in the sectional semifinals, blanking Pine Bush 32-0 before beating Kingston for the title. The road then led to Goshen High School, where Middletown met Mamaroneck in the Class A state quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Mamaroneck entered after beating Scarsdale 13-7 to win Section 1 Class A, setting up a matchup between the top teams from two regions.
For Orange County, Middletown’s run fits a larger rise in girls flag football across Section 9. Middletown, Monroe-Woodbury, Kingston, Pine Bush, Warwick, Minisink Valley and Washingtonville have all helped turn the county into a postseason hub, with Goshen High School again hosting regional play on June 2. Middletown is no longer just participating in that growth. It is helping define it.
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