Navarre High School Flag Football Player Natalie Busch Named ITG Next Florida Female Athlete of the Month for May 2024
Coming off an impressive April, Navarre flag football player Natalie Busch has been voted the ITG Next Florida Female Athlete of the Month for May 2024 by receiving 52.05% of the potential votes over three additional finalists.
Those additional finalists were Robinson flag football player Haidyn Spano, Oxbridge Academy softball player Isabella Ruggiero, and Melbourne softball player Jasmine Francik.
It’ll be hard to find a wide receiver more impactful for her team than Busch was for the Navarre Raiders during the 2024 Florida high school flag football season. Navarre went 15-3 on the season to reach the Class 2A regional semifinals.
Busch, a junior, was a playmaker for Navarre this spring, hauling in 126 receptions for 1,445 yards and 33 touchdowns. Ranking among the state’s leaders in both receiving yards and touchdowns, Busch contributed to the offense in other areas too, completing four-of-eight passes for 59 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 75 yards and a score on two attempts.
Playing both sides of the ball, Busch also had a significant impact defensively for Navarre, making 53 tackles across 18 games, which translated to an average of 2.9 per game. Busch also racked up 28 sacks, five interceptions, and four pass breakups on the season.
When taking a deeper look, Busch’s biggest impact during the season was in April, a month in which she found the end zone often for the Raiders.
Across six games in April, a span in which Navarre went 4-2, Busch held a combined stat line of 43 receptions for 570 yards and 14 touchdowns offensively, plus 15 tackles, seven sacks, two interceptions, and three pass breakups defensively.
Busch had three games with over 100 yards receiving, as well as five contests with at least two touchdowns scored, and some of those showings came in big performances for Navarre.
In a 35-0 win over Destin on April 2, Busch had a 10-reception showing for 114 yards and four touchdowns, which tied her season-high record.
In a 38-0 victory over Crestview on April 9, Busch had five catches for 134 yards and three scores.
Her performance in a 46-0 victory over Gulf Breeze on April 3 should not go unmentioned either. She had 10 receptions for 99 yards and three touchdowns offensively, as well as three sacks defensively.
Other notable defensive performances for Busch included three tackles and two sacks in the aforementioned 35-0 win over Destin, along with a three-tackle, two-interception showing in a 39-6 victory over Forest on April 18.
Congratulations to Navarre flag football player Natalie Busch, the ITG Next Florida May 2024 Female Athlete of the Month.
