Flag football growing in South Florida where defending state champ will vie for a repeat

Flag is the future of football.

That’s a direct quote from Troy Vincent, an NFL executive and an ex-Pro Bowl player.

Tackle football isn’t going away, Vincent said. But flag football was the format for this year’s Pro Bowl, and there’s a strong push to make flag a sport in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Then there’s girls’ flag football.

On Super Bowl Sunday, the NFL aired a lengthy commercial featuring Diana Flores, the 25-year-old quarterback of Mexico’s world champion flag-football team. The highly entertaining ad brought international attention to flag football.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, the number of girls playing flag football at U.S. high schools has doubled over the past decade to more than 11,000.

Backed by the NFL and by NIKE, state associations have been able to apply for a one-time donation of up to $100,000 in equipment.

In addition, Tampa Robinson, which has won six straight Class 1A state championships, was featured on NFL Network last year in a game against Alonso.

California is the latest state to add flag football as an official high school sport, with teams scheduled to take the field this fall. New York, Nevada and Alabama are other new converts.

Florida, in 2003, was the first state to add flag football. Florida has gone from 103 schools playing the sport initially to 320 now.

Nineteen NAIA schools, in 10 states, are playing flag football collegiately, including Miami’s St. Thomas University. The sport is also growing in popularity in Latin America. For example, three million people play the sport in Mexico, according to a Los Angeles Times report.

At the high school level, Broward County schools won two of the first four state titles – Fort Lauderdale in the inaugural 2003 season and Miramar in 2006.

But then there was a nearly-two-decade drought that was finally ended last year when Western went 19-0, winning the 2A title. In the state final, Western beat defending champ Lithia Newsome, 34-14.

No Miami school has ever won a state title in flag football.

Here’s a look at some of the top teams in Dade/Broward:

▪ Western returns eight players from last year’s state-championship team that was also named the No. 1 squad in the nation by MaxPreps.

The Wildcats have added a key transfer from Cooper City – sophomore wide receiver Kailyn Echevarria, who had 67 catches for 984 yards and 20 touchdowns last year.

However, Western will have to replace quarterback/linebacker Sydney Ford, the 2022 Florida Player of the Year.

The Wildcats will have a young team this season, led by junior wide receivers Nandi Ramessar, who had 61 catches for 988 yards and 15 TDs; and Lauren Holschauer, who grabbed 48 passes for 587 yards and 15 TDs.

Ramessar, who had seven catches for 129 yards and two TDs in last year’s state final, has been invited to the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team try-outs next month in Charlotte.

Other top Western returns include junior Keylee Allen, who had 11 interceptions last year; junior Tamara Elliott and senior Karly Rayhill. Elliott and Rayhill can both play quarterback and are in line to try to replace Ford.

▪ Edison went 14-2 last season, losing 21-14 to Choctawhatchee in the Class 1A state semifinals.

The Red Raiders boast a strong defense this year, and they have already played preseason tournaments in Houston and Las Vegas. In Vegas, Edison senior Alexandra Harris was named to the all-tournament team. She also made first-team All-Dade in 2022.

Edison seniors Felicia Wright and Keisha Voltaire also return after making first-team All-Dade. Seniors Makayla Brown and Shanell Norris and sophomore Camille Canidate are other Edison standouts.

“Alexandra is very explosive and can score from anywhere on the field,” Edison coach Vince Hall said.

Edison’s quarterback is Dayana Culliver, a junior in her first year playing flag.

▪ Southridge, which finished second in its district last season with an 8-4 record, is a growing program as its top five players are all underclassmen and its coach, Julio Iglesias, is only 23.

The Spartans lost the 2022 district final to Ferguson, 7-0, on a last-minute touchdown. Southridge had beaten Ferguson earlier in the season.

Southridge is led by its defense after allowing just 5.6 points per game last season. The Spartans’ top players are junior Quentasia Mills, a first-team All-Dade linebacker/receiver who had nine interceptions in 2022; junior Mahagonay Simmons, a second-team All-Dade receiver who had 27 catches and six touchdowns; and junior LaQueendra Douglas, a third-team All-Dade rusher with 14 sacks and 11 pass-deflections.

▪ Varela, which went 4-7 last season, is led by new coach Danny Gilbert Jr. Varela’s new returner is senior Andrea Paz, who scored 13 touchdowns last season.

▪ Miami Palmetto, which went 7-3 last season in their first year of competition, is led by strong-armed senior quarterback Tara Llorente. She passed for six TDs and ran for six scores, and she has 14 college scholarship offers for flag football.

▪ St. Thomas Aquinas, which went 13-3 last season in its first season and reached the 2A regional quarterfinals, returns a trio of talented juniors in receiver/linebacker Kamryn Corporan (90 catches, 1,295 yards, 16 TDs, 9 INTs on defense), quarterback Stella Gutierrez (3,219 yards, 43 TDs) and athlete Ahlani Packer (22 TDs passing, 75 catches, 724 yards, 6 TDs receiving).