Taft’s flag football players started by removing the studs and golden hoops from their ears. Then they applied paint to their cheeks while using a phone screen as a mirror. Wearing their mouthguards and soft-padded helmets, they huddled around coach Germaine Padilla.
In a husky voice he shouted: “Do not flinch tonight. You make a mistake, you get right back at it the next play. Do you understand me?”
Silence.
“I’m not expecting a win, I’m expecting dominance tonight,” Padilla added. “This is our house, girls. Let’s go put on a show. Hands up. Taft on three, ‘1, 2, 3, T-A-F-T.’ ”
Padilla’s players sprinted onto their home field as Taft’s marching band played.
The Eagles faced Loyola on Friday night before more than 100 fans on the Northwest Side. Taft’s 7-6 victory made the Eagles regional champions, and it was one more step toward what they hope will be a march to Illinois’ first-ever state championship in girls flag football.
Girls flag football became an official high school sport in Illinois just three years ago. Twenty-one teams signed up to play that year. Padilla recalls only six girls attending their first tryouts. But this year, more than 60 girls asked to join. Padilla had to turn many down. There are now roughly 200 teams in Illinois.
The IHSA sanctioned the sport earlier this year, adding Illinois to a growing list of states as a national wave of attention surrounds the sport.
Juliana Zavala, the director of sports administration at CPS, said it’s a clear sign girls “don’t want any more powder-puff games” during halftime at boys games.
“They want to have their own homecoming game,” she said.
Zavala said things are changing on the college level, too, with schools starting their own flag football teams and offering players more scholarship opportunities.
With the sport set to make its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028, Zavala said she hopes to see some Illinois players eventually make the national team.
Many of Taft’s players got into the sport by playing with their brothers or watching football with their dads.
That’s how running back Lily Sarli started playing, though she also has tried track and soccer at Taft.
Zavala calls her ‘‘twinkle toes’’ because she sprints so fast it looks like her hot pink shoes barely touch the turf.
Sarli’s dad was also a high school running back, and they now talk strategy before games. She said football has brought them closer.
“That’s how we connect,” she said.
The Loyola game was a defensive struggle, ending with an interception to seal the Eagles’ victory. Fans stood to cheer when the clock ran out. On the field, Taft players raised a blue “Regional Champs” banner.
Senior quarterback Maylin Nunez’s hands were still shaking from adrenaline long after the game.
“I feel so accomplished, especially because I’m doing it with my team,” Nunez said.
Taft plays New Trier on Tuesday night in the sectional semifinals, with the sectional final on Wednesday.
The state-championship game is Saturday in Villa Park.