“Down, set, go!”
The cadence cut through White Field as the Newark Wildcats lined up on the hash marks before kickoff. Before the first snap, players bounced in place, exchanged handshakes, and danced along the sideline while coaches discussed adjustments with their players.
For Newark, the only school in Licking County with a varsity girls flag football program, that moment in April represented more than another spring game.
The Wildcats are pioneering a new high school sport in the area by building a program in which players will earn varsity letters while participating in one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, now backed by the NFL and spreading through high schools nationwide.
Girls’ flag football has grown rapidly in part because of partnerships among NFL FLAG, USA Football and NFL organizations, such as the Cleveland Browns’ girls high school flag football initiative. According to the Browns’ initiative, the number of participating Ohio high schools has grown from six in 2021 to 121 in 2026, reflecting the rapid rise of the sport ahead of its debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Ohio’s first OHSAA-sanctioned girls flag football state championship was held May 16 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, adding another layer of legitimacy to a sport many Newark players had never tried before this season.
“I was just excited for a new sport,” said freshman Siobhan Post, a receiver who plays for the Wildcats. “I heard about it, and I was like, ‘That is insane.’”
It was Post’s first time learning and playing flag football, which has changed her understanding of the sport.
“This is my first time playing. … I definitely want to come back next year,” she said.
Post said she knew she wanted to try out again for the Wildcats flag football team before the season even ended.
The Wildcats’ roster features athletes from multiple sports backgrounds, including volleyball, wrestling, and powderpuff football. Some players entered the season with almost no football experience, while others quickly emerged as leaders.
Senior safety Evelyn Bowers and junior wide receiver Brooklyn Dowell were among the players who approached Isabella “Izzi” Palmisano, the algebra 2 and geometry teacher and head coach of the Wildcats volleyball team at Newark High School, to be their flag football head coach, as the sport has become more organized across Ohio.
“They came to me and asked if I would help them get that all set up,” Palmisano said.
Together, they contacted Jeff Quackenbush, Newark High School’s athletic director and head basketball coach, to work with the Cleveland Browns girls flag football initiative to help bring the program to the high school.
During Newark’s April 17 matchup against Marion Harding, Dowell paced anxiously along the sideline before kickoff, while Bowers, the team’s lone senior, was honored alongside her family on senior night with flowers, a signed team photo and a pregame introduction.
After Newark fell behind early, head coach Palmisano gathered her team.
“I don’t care about anything else going on around the field,” Palmisano yelled. “Your body language and attitude are horrendous. Pick it up.”
The Wildcats responded immediately.
Newark freshman defensive back Angie Dowell intercepted a pass near the goal line and sprinted down the sideline as the entire Newark bench ran with her, cheering. Dowell finished the game with three interceptions as the Wildcats defeated Marion Harding 26-8.
“The girls are a blast,” said assistant coach Bryan McMakin. “They got a competitive edge some of the middle school boys don’t have.”
What surprised coaches most was how quickly players began understanding the game itself.
Quarterbacks wear wristbands filled with plays designed by the coaching staff. Coaches use traditional football terminology without simplifying concepts for newer players. Midgame adjustments are a common occurrence as players become more invested in the game.
“These girls are smart, and they learn quickly,” McMakin said. “Fast forward five or six weeks, and I’m putting in plays I don’t put in for my middle school boys.”
McMakin coaches football at a Newark middle school. At one point during the season, players began drawing up their own adjustments between drives.
“Two of the plays we scored on today, they called that,” McMakin said. “They’re drawing plays in the sand.”
The growth mirrors what is happening nationally.
The NFL recently announced plans to help launch a professional women’s flag football league ahead of the 2028 Olympics, further increasing opportunities for girls entering the sport.
For Newark players, however, the sport’s appeal currently feels much simpler. Flag football offered something different from the sports they already knew.
“I didn’t think I was going to like it because I don’t like to run”, junior wide receiver Delaney Williams said with a smile. “But it’s a fun sport.”
Brooklyn Dowell said she kick-started the team because she already loved football. “I was excited to do something football-related with everybody,” she said.
“I’m having so much fun,” Bowers said during the game.
Players cheered from the sideline between drives. Sophomore Avah Bonner and sophomore Sky Koontz, two of the Wildcats’ most vocal team members, chanted from the sideline, “defense, *clap, clap* defense.” The rest of their peers joined in as the Wildcats thwarted the opponents’ numerous opportunities to score. Teammates celebrated interceptions and touchdowns together.
“Lock in and watch your team,” said sophomore quarterback Addy Dowell from the sidelines. The teammates on the bench listened and joined Addy in focusing on the game, while coaches pulled players aside individually for one-on-one instruction
Despite flag football being classified as non-contact, the games quickly became physical. Flag football removes the helmets, pads and tackling, but much of the verbiage and strategy remains the same. Ohio teams play five-on-five, stopping the ball carriers by pulling flags that are worn around players’ hips. The offensive and defensive schemes are similar to tackle football.
“There will be tackling, even though it is a no-contact sport,” Williams said. “You will get punched in the face. But it’s fun.”
Palmisano, who also coaches club volleyball and graduated from Granville High School and Capital University, said the opportunity means more than wins and losses.
“I think men’s sports have been growing, female-dominated sports,” Palmisano said. “It’s great to turn the tables, especially now that women are playing high school football as kickers. Women now have an outlet, too.”
The sport’s growth is already spreading beyond Newark.
Todd Londot, a Licking County business owner and longtime youth coach, said he has watched participation in local flag football steadily increase over the last decade through programs at the Buckeye Valley Family YMCA in Newark and Granville Recreation District leagues.
“I think it’ll become highly competitive pretty quickly,” Londot said. “I think you’re going to see a lot of girls shift to it next spring.”
Londot is a Licking County native and a former Super Bowl Champion with the New York Giants, and has coached youth flag football for seven years. He said the sport helps athletes develop field vision, movement, and versatility because players often rotate through multiple positions instead of specializing in one early on.
The Wildcats finished their inaugural Varsity Flag Football season with a record of five wins and five losses, but for longtime Newark football supporters, the team’s impact extends beyond a single season.
“The girls are part of the football program now,” McMakin said about the Newark Wildcats high school programs. “It’s not just football for the boys anymore.”
Noah Lebowitz writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Newark girls blazing a trail in flag football, ‘This is insane’
Reporting by Noah Lebowitz, The Reporting Project, Special to The Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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