Lacey Abell, Sarah Massucci leaned on each other to become two of the best flag football players in America

With global bragging rights hanging in the balance, a Colorado connection came through.

At the USA Flag World Championship in Tampa in January 2023, the Apex women’s team, featuring quarterback Lacey Abell and wideout Sarah Massucci, trailed in the second half and faced a critical fourth-down conversion. On the play, the Arvada West co-head coach was pressured, rolled right out of the pocket, and fired to Massucci on a dig route downfield.

Massucci made an incredible snag, Apex scored on the drive, and the club’s first world title underscored the Lakewood residents’ rise to the highest level of American flag football.

“That was a point where it was crunch time, and that catch was a momentum-shifter,” Abell said. “It was a big deal to make that conversion, and we did it because of the ch