Amherst among schools venturing into girls flag football

AMHERST — Almost 40 years ago Hank Williams Jr. presented the musical question, "Are you ready for some football?" Girls across Lorain County are answering with a resounding, "Yes." The Northern Ohio Girls Flag Football League begins its season Friday with seven Lorain County teams taking the field. The league has grown from six teams in 2021 to 121 this season. With the support of the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals and the Ohio High School Athletic Association, flag football, while still not an official high school sport, will crown its first state champions in May. At Amherst 38 girls braved the cold and snow on a frigid Tuesday afternoon to prepare for their first two games Friday against Avon Lake and Elyria Catholic. Amherst boys football coach Tom Thome oversees the girls program and was surprised by the interest in the inaugural season. "I had seen that other schools were doing it and that the Cleveland Browns were trying to expand it and that's how we got rolling," Thome said. "We have more interest than I expected and the struggle is you only play five girls at a time." While there are many different sets of rules for flag football, Ohio schools use the USA Football 5v5 rules that have commonly come to be known as NFL FLAG. The National Federation of State High School Associations, which publishes rules for most high school sports, has expressed plans to codify its rules. "I've always played football with my brothers so I thought it would be fun," said junior Libby Vidovich, who also plays volleyball and basketball. "When I was real little I wanted to be on a football team with my brothers but once I found volleyball and basketball I never thought I'd end up on a football team. I think it's a fun sport and I hope it grows." The quarterback play is different in flag football than what is seen Friday nights. Quarterbacks are not allowed to run past the line of scrimmage with the ball and must release it within seven seconds of the snap or the play is whistled dead. There's also no kicking. Punts and kickoffs are not allowed and after a touchdown teams have the option of running a 1-point conversion play from the 5-yard line or a 2-point play from the 10. "I have a bunch of brothers who play football so this is just a natural thing for me, I guess," junior quarterback Grace Bender said. "This is fun. I hope it grows, I'd like to see it keep going and all of the girls are super nice. I didn't think we'd have as many girls, especially with all of the other spring sports going, on but that's a good thing." Black River, Elyria, Midview and Oberlin will also field teams this spring. "Before we committed to this I think it was just Elyria and EC that were in. It's great to see so many other schools getting involved," Thome said. "I really think this is going to get big. Girls flag football is one of the fasting-growing sports in the country." The game is growing on the collegiate level as well and earlier this year Elyria Catholic's Gracie Taylor became the first local player to earn a college scholarship when she signed with Division II Defiance. But players, especially those at new programs like Amherst, are mostly focused on having fun and learning the game. "I heard about this and I thought I'd try out," junior wide receiver Macey Johnson said. "It's really been fun. The team is fun and the practices are fun. I heard about other schools having teams and I was hoping we'd bring this to our school." Teams play a 10-game regular season, just like the boys. Because the flag games are so much shorter — two 20-minute halves with running time in the first half — teams often play two games a day. The teams that qualify will play in the regional tournament in early May, with the state championship scheduled for May 16 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. Freshman quarterback Olivia Ford expects the sport to continue to grow during her high school career. "I've had interest in football," she said. "I like watching it with my dad, and my cousin used to play and I liked going out and watching his games so I thought it would be a fun sport to try. "I think it's going to grow a lot. We have almost 40 girls and other teams have way more than us, so I think it's going to expand." Amherst will get its chance to host games Friday, April 17. Elyria will play host to 10 teams March 27 and Avon Lake will host the final games of the regular season April 26. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.