The sport of flag football continues to grow rapidly throughout the United States and the world.
The sport of flag football continues to grow rapidly throughout the United States and the world.
In fact, it is estimated by the International Federation of American Football that 20 million people in over 100 countries participate yearly.
With tremendous worldwide growth, flag football will be an Olympic sport for the first time at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
As the sport of flag football increases in popularity, the NFL has taken the lead in promoting the game.
In Northeast Ohio, the Cleveland Browns and the Northeast Ohio Flag Football organization have collaborated to offer a Spring High School Flag Football League and Championship Tournament.
Participating in this flag football league include Geauga County High Schools Berkshire, Hawken and NDCL.
In particular, the Berkshire Badgers, led by Head Coach Josh DeWeese, have been one of the top flag football teams in Northeast Ohio over the past few years.
After finishing as runners up in the 2024 High School Flag Football Tournament at Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Badgers went undefeated, 8-0, in the 2025 regular season and qualified for the “Battle of Ohio” State Tournament on May 18.
In order to qualify for the state tournament, the Badgers first had to win both of their playoff games on May 2.
Additionally, the Badgers then needed to advance to the semifinals at the 2025 Girls High School Flag Football Championship Tournament at Cleveland Browns Stadium on May 12.
The Badgers were dominant in both playoff games on May 2 as they outscored their opponents from Conneaut and Bedford, 59-2.
Then, in the first round of the Championship Tournament at Browns Stadium, Freshman quarterback Addison Jones was spectacular (18-26, 261 yards), as she threw eight touchdown passes to lead the Badgers to a 52-32 victory over the Wickliffe Blue Devils.
After the victory, Jones said that the goal was to have fun and enjoy the process of playing.
“We just went out here and we just wanted to have some fun,” Jones said. “You just got to go with the flow, play by play, and just roll with it.”
Playing in the zone, one play at a time, Jones connected with junior University of Dayton soccer commit Kelly McCandless on 7 passes for 145 yards and four touchdowns.
Afterwards, McCandless said that the Blue Devils were a good team that provided a tough challenge.
“Wickliffe was definitely a good competitor to get us going,” McCandless said. “They’re a solid team, so it was a lot of fun to try and get our momentum going.”
In addition to McCandless, also catching touchdown passes in the Badgers victory over the Blue Devils were Ivy Martin (2 touchdown catches), Delana Kellog (1) and Blythe Bors (1).
After the triumph over the Blue Devils, the Badgers needed a quarterfinal victory over the Warren G. Harding Raiders in order to qualify for the “Battle of Ohio” State Tournament at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
The quarterfinal game started close as both teams traded touchdowns and were tied early at 12-12. However, just like in the first game against the Blue Devils, the quarterback-receiver connection between Jones and McCandless proved too difficult for the Raiders to stop.
In defeating the Raiders, 42-26, Jones was 15-26 for 244 yards and 5 touchdowns. Four of the five touchdown passes were thrown to McCandless.
McCandless led the Badgers offense against the Raiders with six catches for 161 yards. She also ran three times for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Also catching a touchdown pass against the Raiders was Peyton Larch.
The Badgers defense also played well against the Raiders as they put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, which led to five interceptions.
In the victory over the Raiders, the Badgers defense was led by Hannah Hutchinson (8 tackles, 1 interception), Caitlyn Rucinski (2 interceptions), Amber Zeiler (2 interceptions) and Jillian Smetanta (5 tackles, 2 sacks).
After defeating the Raiders, Smetanta said that the Badgers defense played fearlessly.
“On defense, I feel like we just went after them, no fear,” said Smetana. “We just took over the game.”
In the semifinals, the Badgers lost to the eventual 2025 Northeast Ohio Girls High School Flag Football Champions, the Willoughby South Rebels, 32-19.
In addition to qualifying for the “Battle of Ohio State Tournament” at Cleveland Browns Stadium on May 12, the Badgers also had a few additional highlights.
Between games, the Badgers had the opportunity to talk with Cleveland Browns Head Coach Kevin Stefanski and Browns cornerback Greg Newsome.
To complete their season, the Badgers gave great effort on May 18 at the “Battle of Ohio” State Tournament at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium at Massillon High School.
In an extremely close game, Cincinnati’s Badin Rams defeated the Badgers, 28-25.
The Rams then went on to win the “Battle of Ohio” State Tournament.
Overall, the Badgers had a great season as they finished 12-2.
“It was definitely a lot of fun this year,” said McCandless. “We try to keep our standard up there every year. So, it was nice to see it being executed so well.”
