By Rich Chrampanis
RUMSON – Rumson-Fair Haven is used to seeing long touchdowns from the Bulldogs under the Friday Night Lights in the fall. Now, it’s happening in the spring, thanks to the RFH girls flag football team.
Quarterback Izzy Capra was 10-of-14 for 199 yards and three touchdown passes to lead the Bulldogs to an 18-12 win over Pinelands to grab a third consecutive Shore Conference championship. Capra had two targets who caught all 10 of her completions. Freshman Devon Libro shined on the big stage with two touchdown catches. She hauled in a 12-yard pass in the back of the end zone to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. Stella Saad delivered an electrifying 62-yard scoring play, catching a short pass from Capra and eluding defenders to get into the open field and outrun the Pinelands defense in a tremendous display of athleticism. On the other side of the ball, Sydney Rettino was the leader of the Rumson defense with four sacks.
After a 12-0 halftime deficit, Pinelands got back into the game with a 12-yard touchdown run by QB Heidi Cyphert to make it 12-6. When Jayla Klein sacked Capra to force a third and long, Pinelands was one stop away from getting the ball back with a chance to tie the game, but Capra delivered her best pass of the game when she found Libro wide open on the seam for a 51-yard touchdown pass play that increased the Bulldogs’ lead to 18-6.
“I kind of was just running and hoping that I was open,” Libro said. “My coach saw, like, openings, and we just went through those.”
Cyphert scored her second touchdown run of the game with under a minute to go to make it 18-12 but Pinelands was out of timeouts and RFH took a knee to secure the victory.
“This team is so special,” Saad said. “In the next few years, I think we’re going to get even better. And it’s so exciting to see it (flag football) spread to all the other schools and get even bigger in the Shore and around the state.”
After a 10-0 season in 2024, coach Randy Kalman had to replace 12 starters. The 2025 Bulldogs went 9-0-1 as the state’s fastest growing sport is expected to officially become a varsity sport beginning in 2026.
“It’s a special sport, and I’m so happy that more people are going to get to experience it,” Rettino said. “I came late in the game, and the past three years, obviously, we’ve come out on top. Joining a little bit late, I knew that we had to carry on this legacy, but next year, we’re going varsity. It’s going to get even more serious and I think we’re going to keep going on top.”
The article originally appeared in the May 29 – June 4, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
