Miceli is hard to replace at safety

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Alyssa Miceli, having been around Harmony’s flag football team for four of its six seasons, played in a district championship game against Dr. Phillips every year.

But it was only recently that the Longhorns got recognition for their excellence.

“We finally got respect and started getting everyone’s best game,” the senior said.

So, she did what she could do about it at safety by shutting down her opponents.

Miceli recorded 11 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown during the Longhorns’ 10-2 season. Of the 10 wins, seven were by shutout.

Like Deion Sanders in his NFL prime, Miceli essentially shut down half of the field to the pass game. Ask the rest of the county programs, who were outscored 161-6 by Harmony this season.

Miceli is what Neon Deion never could be – the Osceola News-Gazette Flag Football Player of the Year.

“If we got up early on a team and they started taking deep shots, she’d shut it down or make a big play,” HHS Coach Paul Strauch said. “If the ball went up on her side, I didn’t worry about it. She got beat once in two years, and that was against Dr. Phillips.”

Here’s the funny part – Miceli wasn’t even interested in playing defense in her early years in the program.

“I was interested in quarterback and wide receiver,” she said. “I never thought of playing defense until Coach Ashcraft told me to try it.”

By her junior year, she was good at it, picking off eight passes on a team that won the District 8 championship.

So what’s her secret to playing the pass?

“I just read the quarterback’s eyes and try not to get beat deep,” she said. “In practice, I’d try to get to the ball at the highest point. But I think I was successful because our whole defense worked so well together as a group.”

Her senior season came to an abrupt end against Dr. Phillips in the District 8 title game on home turf. The Longhorns got into an early hole and fell, 20-7.

“We wanted to go further. The season definitely ended sooner than we thought,” Miceli said. “We just made some mistakes. I definitely think we could have won.”

Miceli played three seasons of varsity soccer as well for Harmony, but got more enjoyment out of playing flag football, which awards no college scholarships.

“I wish there were. Flag is my favorite, I grew up playing it with two older brothers,” she said. “I’m going to miss playing a lot. I plan on coming back next year and helping out.”

Strauch said he’d much rather see her standing on the field than on the sidelines, but honors what she accomplished on the field.

“I don’t know how we’ll replace her,” he said. “She had 19 interceptions in two years, but she was a great teammate and was always working hard, in games and in practice.”