High school flag football becomes real as games begin and enthusiasm reigns

Ana Cecilia Walker dipped and weaved across Minneapolis Washburn’s turf, but the soccer goals — the Roosevelt senior’s usual target — were shoved up against a fence.

Instead, the Minnesota State Moorhead soccer commit barreled toward the end zone of the flag football field.

A receiver, she scored a touchdown, and her celebration involved spinning the football on the turf and shoulder-bumping a teammate so excitedly that she went tumbling to the ground. But Walker, Roosevelt’s Athena Award winner, still couldn’t help but beam around her mouthguard.

“It was fun,” she said after her first flag football game. “It was kind of chaotic at first. We know the rules, but obviously none of us have ever played before.”

On Sunday, all seven Minneapolis public high schools gathered at Washburn for their first spring flag football games as 51 teams began a spring season sponsored by the Minnesota Vikings. The season will culminate with a 12-team tournament at TCO Stadium on June 9.

At Washburn, each program’s varsity and JV teams played two games, spanning midmorning to early evening. The hosting Millers won the day’s opener and closer, 45-21 over Southwest, then 21-6 over South.

Coaches said their players came from all sorts of sports — softball, basketball, volleyball, soccer. But Sunday’s event felt closest to a track meet: no break in the action, spectators filtering in and out and something going on in every direction.

Two fields were measured out in diagonal corners of the turf, and teams set up tents and dropped their backpacks and buckets of snacks along the track. Athletes — as few as a dozen and as many as 46 per school — milled about between their games, icing their knees, attempting cartwheels and practicing routes.

Camden quarterback Kaylynn Caldwell-Johnson threw into a strong wind that, at one point, sent North’s tent tumbling. After a few early dropped passes that had her putting her hands on her head, Caldwell-Johnson started showing off the arm that assistant coach Rob Neumann called “a cannon” and that the junior hopes could eventually earn her a scholarship.

“I was so scared to try something new, but then you just dive in, right? Our coaches make it really easy,” said Caldwell-Johnson, who also captains Camden’s volleyball team.

“The funnest part is running down that field by yourself,” she added. “It’s the best feeling in the world, like ‘Friday Night Lights.’”

Nerves seemed to settle as the day went on, with fewer bobbled catches and false starts. Even tackle football coaches who helmed their school’s flag programs were adapting to new rules, with shorter 20-minute halves and five-on-five action, with limits on blitzing and blocking.

Washburn head coach Ryan Galindo flipped through a highlighted rules packet, following up with an official for a clarification on a call. From opposite sidelines, Minneapolis North and Roosevelt coaches debated the amount of timeouts allowed per half.

They’re learning, just like the players.

“It’s pretty fun seeing them wanting to learn or wanting to understand why we do what we do, instead of just telling them what to do,” Edison coach Tywon Nash said. “[Asking] ‘why would we do that? What are we doing that for? Do I need to do that?’ ”

Polars freshman Mari Jones-Mattson was also making the leap from tackle to flag. She’s been a running back on boys youth tackle teams since she was 13 and plans to go out for North’s tackle program this fall.

“It was kind of tough [adapting],” Jones-Mattson said. “I didn’t even realize I was using my hands to move their hands away from me.”

A few schools’ tackle football players helped keep track of downs or, in North’s case, served as assistant coaches. During North’s win over Roosevelt, a handful ran down the sideline yelling, “That’s how you do it at North!” after a Polars touchdown.

“The boys were gung ho,” said North head coach Tom Lachermeier, who also serves as the Polars’ offensive coordinator in the fall. “I tease the girls, ‘Don’t normally listen to these guys for advice, but for football, you can listen to them.’”

As the Minneapolis schools’ games stretched into the late afternoon, the league’s 44 other teams took the field at 11 other sites. Four teams playing dual doubleheaders is the format for the rest of the league, with the exception of Minneapolis’ seven-team jamborees.

As Walker packed up her bag after Roosevelt’s win over Camden, a Camden player approached with a phone in hand.

“Can I get your Instagram?” she asked. “You were so good.”

View the full league’s Day 1 results here.