Girls flag football: Scouting the second IHSA postseason
With the second IHSA season of girls flag football set to commence win or go home postseason play on Monday, Carmel coach Ben Berg noted four keys to success for his Corsairs, who earned the No. 1 seed in the Buffalo Grove sectional with a 17-1 regular season record as of Oct. 3.
Carmel, who MaxPreps ranks first in the state of Illinois and ninth nationally, will host the winner of Deerfield and Lake Zurich in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Prospect High School. Regional quarterfinals play opens the day prior, Monday, Oct. 6.
“Our motto all year has been ‘Unfinished Business,’” Berg said. “We made it to the sectional finals last year and lost to eventual state champion Fremd in a close game. We have very high expectations this year.”
The Corsairs have more than brought that mentality to the field thus far in 2025, with eight defensive shutouts pitched by a star-studded group including linebackers Ayomide Akingbesote (sr.), Catherine Anen (so.), Grace Booher (jr.), Maron Bowes (sr.) and Colleen Graham (sr.), along with senior Josie Hartman at safety.
On offense, Hartman has distributed the ball to a trio of play-making juniors: Maliyah Mays in the slot, Booher on the outside, and Leanna Bell in the backfield. They outscored opponents 512-98 in the regular season.
At the Chicago Lane sectional are the first-seeded Maine South Hawks, who boast an 18-3 record with one game to play before the postseason.
After throwing for an astonishing 70 touchdown passes as a junior a season ago, Aribella Spandiary added 32 more to her career total this year, despite an injury that cost her multiple games. On the outside, junior wideout Emerson De La Cruz has torched opposing coverages.
However, in the eyes of coach Carlos Panizo, the key to success in all or nothing games lies in the defense. His Hawks are led on the defensive side by freshman linebacker Tina Majka, who topped the IHSA in flag pulls with 161 as of Sep. 30.
“We’re going to try to do what’s worked best for us all season, and that’s try to limit our opponents’ opportunities when they have the ball with tight coverage and dependable flag-pulling,” Panizo said.
Stevenson (11-2), headed by a dual quarterback attack of juniors Evie Syregellas and Adriana Contreras, secured the third seed in the Buffalo Grove sectional.
Seniors Grace Harper, Isabella Baker, Maahi Patel, Kyla Schneider and junior Kelsey Krull fly around on both sides of the ball for the Patriots. Riley Vogler, a senior safety, has anchored the defense with her communication and vision.
“We’re expecting our team to compete with anyone ahead of us,” coach Sarah Gutierrez said. “We’ve got the talent, speed and resilience that championship teams require. Our key ahead will be trusting each other and executing the basics of football. We believe if we can do that, we’re capable of competing with anyone in the state.”
In the South Elgin sectional, Willowbrook enters as the No. 1 seed. The Warriors could face No. 7 St. Edward, No. 25 Lake Park, No. 9 St. Francis or No. 24 Glenbard East in Wednesday’s regional final.
St. Charles North, the No. 2 seed at 16-2, is another to watch in this sectional. The North Stars just beat St. Charles East 53-6 on Monday behind multiple touchdowns from Olivia Taormina, Kaelie Tomalak and Alexzandria Richardson.
They are in the Oswego East sectional and if the seeds hold will play No. 8 Oswego East or No.10 Naperville North on Thursday in the regional final.
A whopping 203 teams will get the chance to battle for a title in the next two weeks, with the state championship game set to be hosted by Willowbrook High School on Oct. 18.