St. Joseph High School, the two-time defending Michigan girls flag football state champion, headlines a free doubleheader at Tom Adams Field on the Wayne State University campus in Detroit on Aug. 26, taking the field against Macomb L'Anse Creuse North at 7 p.m. St. Joseph returns seven players from its 2025 championship roster, and the game will be followed by Redford Thurston against Gibraltar Carlson at 8 p.m. on the same field.
The matchup marks the third season a girls game has been part of the event, according to the Detroit Free Press, whose reporting on the games forms the backbone of this preview. The Detroit Sports Commission announced the girls flag football doubleheader was added to the 21st annual Amazon Prep Kickoff Classic, a showcase that has hosted nearly 100 high schools over 20 years at Wayne State's Tom Adams Field, according to the Detroit Sports Commission.
A Championship Roster Returns
St. Joseph beat Gibraltar Carlson 28-12 in the state championship game on June 7, with quarterback Lainie Dorow completing 16 of 24 passes for 143 yards, two touchdowns and one extra point in that win, per the same account. Dorow finished the team's 7-0 run with 1,969 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and two interceptions, and receiver Meghan Postelli caught 10 passes for 112 yards in the title game. Dorow was voted the inaugural Michigan Miss Flag Football winner, the report notes.
St. Joseph also beat Redford Union 13-6 during the season and will bring many players from its championship team back for the 2026 game, though the squad returns to school the Friday following the showcase. Gibraltar Carlson, the state runner-up, held camps and tournaments during the offseason to prepare for another run, according to the Free Press.
Michigan's Growing Recruit Pipeline
Several players slated to appear at Tom Adams Field carry statewide recognition. Brielle Grant, Blake Zachary, Grace Peraino, Jaylin Golab, Aaliyah Lawson, Lunden Davis, Emiya Franklin, Jillian Farago, Rayanna Lewis and Jillian Gates are all ranked among Michigan's top-30 flag football players, per the same reporting, while Knoelanni Gjelaj is ranked among the top-25 prospects in her class nationally. College interest has already followed: Jillian Farago received a college offer from Eastern Michigan, as did Lunden Davis, and Jordan Sikora received an offer from Davenport.
Redford Thurston, which reached the second round of the playoffs and won the Motor City Muscle League over Redford Union, will start quarterback Rayanna Lewis against Gibraltar Carlson. Emiya Franklin plays receiver and defensive back for Thurston. On the other side of the bracket, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North won its Only the Beginning Division after defeating Detroit King and Redford Thurston in consecutive playoff games, before falling to Gibraltar Carlson in the state semifinal.
An NFL-Backed Pilot Still Chasing Varsity Status
Girls flag football in Michigan requires seven players on the field at once, and despite its rapid growth the sport still operates as an NFL-backed pilot league rather than a sport sanctioned by the Michigan High School Athletic Association. The Detroit Lions launched the state's girls flag football league in May 2023 with four pilot schools, expanding it to 41 schools and more than 1,000 players by 2025, according to the Detroit Lions. A year later, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation partnered with the Detroit Lions Foundation on a $325,000 three-year grant to fund uniforms, equipment and league expansion across the state.
St. Joseph's title lineage traces back to Michigan's inaugural championship game, when the school defeated Brighton High School 21-20 at Ford Field on June 1, 2025, in the Lions-sponsored state final, according to High School News. The Girls' Flag Football Showcase itself is funded through the Detroit Sports Commission's Living Legacy Initiative, established alongside the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, which has invested more than $1.7 million into local youth literacy and active-play programs.
National Momentum Builds Toward the Olympics
The local growth mirrors a national surge. Nationwide participation in high school girls flag football jumped to 68,847 players during the 2024-25 academic year, a 60% year-over-year increase and a 388% surge since 2021-22, according to Flag50. The National Federation of State High School Associations published its first-ever national playing rules book for the sport in summer 2025, making it the 18th sport with official NFHS rules, per Coach and Athletic Director.
That standardization has coincided with new collegiate pathways. The NCAA officially added flag football to its Emerging Sports for Women program across Divisions I, II and III during the 2026 NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C., according to the NCAA. Flag football is also set to make its Olympic debut as a medal sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, giving prep standouts like those suiting up at Tom Adams Field a long-term stage beyond high school and college.
What to Know for Aug. 26
Admission to the girls flag football games is free on Aug. 26. The Prep Kickoff Classic's boys games, which run through Aug. 28 and include matchups such as Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills against DeWitt and Novi Detroit Catholic Central against Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, carry a $15 admission price that covers both games on a purchased day. Tickets for the boys games can be purchased at detroitsports.org/pkctickets. The 2025 edition of the Prep Kickoff Classic drew 9,055 in-person spectators over two days and nearly 50,000 live streaming viewers across YouTube and Local 4+, underscoring the platform St. Joseph and its rivals will step onto later this month.
