The second season of the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Girls Flag Football league came to a close Saturday with two schools winning championship titles: 5A’s Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) and 4A’s The Classical Academy (Colorado Springs).
Firstly, a rematch of last year’s title game saw The Classical Academy Titans get their revenge and dethrone defending 4A Class champions Mountain View (Loveland) to win their first Girls Flag Football championship. Both programs faced off against each other in last season’s title bout, with Mountain View shutting out The Classical Academy, leaving a sour taste in their mouths, leading to this year’s match.
The Titans got off to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter, and held it until late in the second quarter. Then, thanks to junior Brooklyn Blair, who intercepted a Mountain View pass and returned it for a touchdown, the Titans’ momentum accelerated rapidly. Blair would go on to catch a touchdown pass from junior quarterback Kelsey Peterson late in the second quarter to take a 21-0 lead at the half.
From there, the Titans never looked back. Their defense got two more interceptions, which led to the offense scoring touchdowns on both turnovers. When the clock hit zero, the Titans had shut out the Mountain Lions 34-0, powering their way to championship glory.
“We didn’t look at it as a revenge game.” Titans Head Coach Dale Meyerrose said about his approach to the game. “All year, the most important game is the next game, so this was the last game. It was the most important game… We’ve got the attitude that the most important play is the next play.”
“We came in here wanting to win this game.” Blair said, describing her team’s goal. “Especially from last year, and I think it’s a big deal [that] we could do it for our seniors this year.”
Later that night, in the 5A Class, it started off as a much closer contest between Mountain Vista and Legend (Parker). Throughout the first half, both teams traded blows, leading to a 13-13 score with little time left in the second quarter. That’s when Golden Eagles senior quarterback, Ariana Akey, took matters into her own hands and ran in a 3-yard touchdown to give her team the lead at halftime.
In the second half, Akey continued to use her legs and rushed in three more touchdowns. Though Legend answered with two touchdowns of their own from senior Eva Pipkin, it wasn’t enough to close the gap. One more late Golden Eagle touchdown sealed the victory. With a score of 48-26, Mountain Vista finished their second consecutive perfect season with another state title. Mountain Vista has been dominant in Girls’ Flag Football since the sport’s inception in 2024, having won every game by comfortable margins.
“Coach [Garrett] Looney had come up and talked to me.” Mountain Vista Head Coach Srdoc said crediting his assistant. “We were in our AD’s office and said, ‘Hey, how about we all work together and create a team that is phenomenal.’ He knew what we had going into the season… our entire coaching staff, we took it seriously. If you watch this game, and you watch how our offense ran routes, and our defense stayed in their zones, and Legend, to their credit, they challenged us at every point. That is a great team that we beat today.”
“It’s just huge.” Akey said following her performance. “Just to be able to end it like this is amazing. We had a lot of concentration in practice, and then when it came to games, we had a lot of confidence. And I think that carried through.”
