Video: Holly Neher makes more history
The 5-foot-2 junior threw for 130 yards and a touchdown in team's first win of the season.
Holly Neher keeps on making history in South Florida, one of the nation's hotbeds for high school football.
According to the Fort Lauderdale
Sun-Sentinel, the 5-foot-2 junior became the first female to start a varsity football game in Broward County. She didn't disappoint, leading her
Hollywood Hills (Hollywood, Fla.) squad to its first victory, a 51-27 win over Pompano Beach.
She not only started, but excelled. Neher connected on her first five passes for 126 yards and led the team to two touchdowns. She finished with 130 passing yards and a touchdown, her second of the season.
Her first pass of the game went for an 85-yard touchdown, but was called back because of a penalty.
"It was amazing," Neher told the Sun-Sentinel of starting. "It was a huge accomplishment."
Neher has made national news on Sept. 1, when she is believed to be the first girl in Florida history to throw a touchdown pass, a 45-yarder to
Alexander Shelton, in a 21-7 loss to Hallandale (Fla.).
Neher burst onto the scene over the summer after having a good experience playing flag football in the spring. She told her mom — a breast-cancer survivor — she wanted to play with
the boys and with mom's "no regrets" backing, she went for it.
The 4.0-student wants
to study law in college and play football at Florida State. Her coach
Brandon Graham said Neher has the "It" factor and executes the offense
superbly. She has competed with three other quarterbacks to earn Friday's starting nod.
"I just really wanted to play football," Neher told the newspaper.
As far as competing with boys: "I don't feel like I'm behind them or they're better than me," she said.
