By Calliope Wall and Vaughn Thompson, Staff Writers

Girls’ flag football is on the rise. Walter Payton College Prep’s flag football team is now in its fifth season and is excited to announce that they have qualified for both city and state playoffs. For more information about flag football, see The Paw Print’s overview of the sport.

This year, the team qualified for the CPS-led Tochito Bowl. The first game was on Saturday, Sept. 26, the morning before homecoming. They had an amazing game, defeating Disney II 56-0. The second round was on Saturday, Oct. 3, where they beat out Noble Street 42-20. With the win, they became one of the top 8 teams in the bowl.

Sadly, in the Oct. 14 game against Bulls College Prep, the team lost 18-14 after a hard-fought battle. This is the farthest they have gotten in the team’s history, and it is a cause for celebration.

The team also participated in state playoffs. In the first round, they beat out Holy Trinity 40-0 on Wednesday, Sept. 30, allowing them to advance to the next round of state playoffs. They lost to Michele Clark on Oct. 5 in a 24-12 game.

The team has never made it this far in either playoff, this being the first year they even played in a state championship. The growth this year is undeniable, considering that this is only their fifth season in Payton’s history.

When asked if she had anticipated this successful turn of events, offensive team captain Audrey Birkos ‘28 said, “Who knew? We knew!”

Defensive captain Yaya Lopez ‘28 was equally as enthusiastic, saying after a team meeting that “Hard work pays off!”

Coach Watkins, when asked for her opinion on the season after the win against Noble Street, said, “The season is going very well, more than I expected as far as how well we’ve been playing during the game… I feel like we’re a family. Family in flag football.”