The girls flag football team at Antioch Community High School made history this year by reaching the state tournament for the first time. This achievement comes just one year after the sport became an official Illinois High School Association (IHSA) event, inspired by Head Coach Tammy Johnson’s background in women’s professional football. While it began as a club sport in some schools, growing interest helped it evolve into a competitive team sport.
“I’ve always loved watching football on TV and playing against the boys when I was in middle school,” junior quarterback Tanner Ludwig said.
She expresses her love for this sport. In Ludwig’s freshman year, she was going to try field hockey, but once she heard that flag football would be a sport at ACHS, she knew it was the sport for her.
“Starting up a program from the ground up is really cool, especially when I get to make it my own,” Johnson said.
Johnson discusses the biggest challenges faced last year. She expressed how many of the girls do not come from a football background, so they started with the basics, such as what the line of scrimmage is and what a hook route means, even modified wristbands to display plays more easily for understanding. They also focused on handling pressure and maturity among underclassmen, which led to the team’s success this year, reaching the Elite Eight.
“I think that just learning the sport of flag football was the biggest challenge for everyone,” Ludwig said. “No one really knew what anything was when we first joined. We had to learn all the positions, the purpose of those positions, plays, routes, and how to work as a team,” Ludwig said.
She expressed how she was thankful that the team had the drive and the passion to get better individually and as a team, which made learning much easier and fun. Without the coaching they had and the knowledge the coaches had, Ludwig did not think they would have made it as far as they did.
Despite these hurdles, the team made it to the state for the first time, which was a significant milestone. The team has grown in skill, chemistry, and confidence. Last year consisted mostly of freshmen, but with more seniors and a diverse age range, it has contributed to better teamwork.
“We were very happy, but also very shocked because we were not expecting to go that far,” senior Abby Fuesting said.
There were many moments and achievements this season that stood out to Johnson.
“Tanner Ludwig threw for 6000 yards this year, which is unheard of in flag football or tackle football,” Johnson said. “The best thing about all of those yards was that they were distributed to five receivers: their number one, sophmore Evie Baronello, sophomore Reese Queensland, senior Abby Fuesting, freshman Rylee Dunlavy and freshman Kaile Maloney, all of whom stepped up tremendously on offense. Defensively, looking at our tackle, junior Sasha Johnson had 150 tackles this year,” Johnson said.
From learning what a hook route is to competing in the state tournament, the ACHS girls flag football team has proven that with dedication and teamwork, anything is possible.
