The quarterbacks are a point guard and a 100-yard breaststroke swimmer, while the running backs and receivers play soccer and compete in the high jump and sprint relays.
It’s the inaugural season of girls flag football at Northville, and the Mustangs built their roster by pulling athletes from nearly every sport imaginable.
“What we’ve found is we can work with athletes, and it doesn’t matter what sport,” first-year coach Chris Manno said. “Anyone who has been active since they were young has not only built athletic ability but body awareness and the ability to pick up new movements easily. If you’re already an athlete focused on another sport, we can make you a flag football player. And if you’re someone who hasn’t really tried sports, we can turn you into a football player, too.”
That’s been the philosophy of Northville girls hockey coach J. Lee since taking over the program a half-decade ago, and the Mustangs won the Division 3 state championship last month.
The flag football team is hoping for similar success by adopting that same mindset. It also helps that Manno has done his best to remove barriers that might otherwise keep some student-athletes away.
Practices are later in the evening, allowing players to attend track or soccer practice, take part in other extracurricular activities and eat dinner.
Games are on weekends, typically when track meets and soccer matches aren’t being played.
And he’s streamlined the playbook and terminology so every player can quickly grasp their role on the field without feeling like they're learning a foreign language.
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“It was definitely a struggle learning how to play football at first because a lot of us didn’t know how to play it, especially learning the plays, learning how to pass and learning how to catch,” said junior QB Elise Tappy, whose primary sport is swimming. “But I think we’ve all gotten the hang of it by now, and I know we’re going to do really good in our games.”
The Mustangs are one of 39 new teams joining the Michigan Girls High School Flag Football League, organized by the Detroit Lions and now in its fourth season.
They’ll compete in the All Grit League division alongside Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, Saline, Ypsilanti Lincoln and the P-CEP Prowlers, the co-op team between Kensington Lakes Activities Association rivals Canton, Plymouth and Salem.
The ultimate goal is to go undefeated against conference opponents and earn a berth in next month’s state tournament at Ford Field, home of the Lions.
“I really am happy to be part of this team, and it’s been really awesome so far,” junior receiver Brooke Schabel said. “It’s been a lot of work, like working on knowing the plays as best as we can and learning about the game overall because it’s such a new sport, but I’m really excited about being able to help the sport grow and progress.”
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They have 28 players on their roster, with most available for their Week 1 game April 26 at P-CEP.
Some have past experience in local elementary and middle school leagues, while many will be playing in their first official game against the Prowlers.
“It’s been really interesting because I’ve never done anything like this,” said junior Maddie Chirgwin, who also competes as a high jumper on the track team. “I did play powder puff for our school in the fall, but it’s been really cool learning even more about the sport since then. I didn’t know much about it prior to this, so being able to learn the game with my friends and see how exciting it is has been really cool.”
Of course, some players are very familiar with the game, like freshman receiver Izzy DeFore, whose older brother, Max, has been the starting running back for Northville’s varsity football team, earning first-team All-KLAA and team offensive MVP honors.
If she wasn’t attending one of Max’s games or practices growing up, she was participating in local flag football leagues. She even has experience playing QB, which helps her better understand how to run routes and where she needs to be on the field.