Jackson girls flag football among Wesco pioneers

Published 8:30 am Friday, December 12, 2025

BOTHELL — Jaelyn Phaysith snatched the flag of Highline’s quarterback and immediately put her hands together overhead.

The junior linebacker/designated rusher figured she recorded a safety to start off the Jackson girls flag football game against the Pirates at Pop Keeney Stadium on Thursday, but officials ruled that she pulled the flag just outside the end zone.

In any case, the sack set up fourth down, and Highline opted to ‘punt’ possession to the Timberwolves, which simply makes it first down for the ‘receiving’ team in their own end as opposed to having a physical punt and return.

That is just one of several key differences between tackle football and flag football, which the WIAA Representative Assembly officially sanctioned as a sport in April before the rules and exceptions were finalized in August.

Played on a 50×30 yard field with a pair of 17-yard line ‘first-down markers’ on either side breaking it into thirds, the game is much different than its tackle counterpart on the surface. Coaches cannot duplicate an 11-man football scheme into this 7-on-7 sport.

“A lot of the route concepts are basically the same thing, but it’s a very different game when we’re talking about a condensed field,” Jackson coach Ryan Simmons said. “(…) We’re kind of learning along with our players as we go. It’s like taking what we know and then kind of fine-tuning it as we kind of get more and more experience.”

But at the heart of it, it’s very much the same sport.

Taking the ball over for their first offensive drive, the Timberwolves quickly moved down the field as senior quarterback Eva Torres connected with freshman receiver Clara Dorgan on a pair of deep completions before junior running back Laila Lowery rushed the ball down to the Pirates’ goal line.

Torres capped the drive with a short touchdown pass to junior center/receiver Erica Yong, giving Jackson an early 7-0 lead. Phaysith’s sack to force a ‘three-and-out’ and the Timberwolves’ opening touchdown drive created the momentum leading to a 23-7 win, their second straight after starting the season 0-4.

“I think we just came out with a lot of energy,” Dorgan said. “And that just set the tone for the rest of the game. We never gave up, we just kept adding on and adding on.”

Other schools across the state have operated flag football teams in varying capacities over the years, but Jackson is one of four Wesco schools to field a team in line with the WIAA’s official sanction of the sport this year, joining Monroe, Cascade and Everett.

Simmons has been on the Jackson football coaching staff for 21 seasons, and when he heard the school would be starting a varsity girls flag football program, he rushed at the opportunity to throw his hat in the ring as head coach.

After accepting the job in August, Simmons had to balance his fall football coaching duties with preparing for the season.

In addition to working with the booster club to secure fundraising for the proper equipment and staying up to date with WIAA developments leading into the first official season, Simmons would spend his spare time scanning YouTube for film from California to Illinois, seeing what teams were running to help him put together a playbook.

Jackson has witnessed enthusiastic participation in powder puff fundraiser games in the past, so it was hardly a surprise when over 70 girls showed up for tryouts.

“When I first heard about it in the summer, I was immediately interested,” Phaysith said. “I thought it was really cool that we were introducing flag football to the WIAA this year. I really wanted to be a part of kind of establishing the program, and becoming part of the inaugural year of flag football at Jackson.”

However, of the 24 players who made the roster, only a few have prior experience through Youth NFL Flag Football or similar leagues.

As Simmons mentioned, it’s been a learning experience for everyone involved, between the new players learning how to run routes and catch passes, and the more seasoned players getting accustomed to the specific NFHS rules that the WIAA plays by.

For example, with a designated pass rusher on the defense to evade and no offensive line protection, Torres arguably has less time to read the field as the quarterback than her peers in tackle football.

“Watching NFL football or high school football, I mean, you were always going to have somebody to stop the rusher, but it’s something to get used to,” said Torres, who played NFL Flag Football in middle school. “You have, like, two-something seconds to get the ball out of your hand, and that’s just definitely something I’ve been adjusting to.”

Other players pointed to the anti-flag guarding rule as well as practicing their timing to jump off the line while avoiding false starts as key adjustments in learning the game. Slowly but surely, the work is paying off for the Timberwolves.

After earning their first win against Monroe in a close 21-20 battle on Wednesday, Jackson looked dominant in its win against Highline on Thursday, moving the ball efficiently on offense while the defense hardly allowed any time for the Pirates to strike back.

“I think everybody’s just getting more and more comfortable with all the plays,” Dorgan said. “And then that just kind of brings a confidence to the field, and then we can, like, switch up runs and passes and stuff to get down the field.”

Following the opening touchdown from Torres to Yong, Phaysith went back to work pressuring as the designated rusher, forcing Highline’s quarterback into throwaways before routes could develop.

Getting some reps at defensive back, Torres grabbed an interception on the Pirates’ next drive, then put the Timberwolves into scoring position with a pass to senior receiver/running back Annabella De Leon. Lowery completed the drive with a rushing touchdown on 4th-and-goal to extend the lead to 14-0.

Highline looked to grab momentum after securing an interception when the ball tipped off a Jackson receiver’s hand, putting the Pirates offense in Timberwolves territory for the first time all game, but Dorgan took the ball right back a few plays later with a pick in the end zone that she returned to midfield.

“We’re starting to get a feel on who belongs where (in different positions),” Torres said. “Especially with (Dorgan), we’ve had a lot of interceptions on defense, and great catches and stuff, so it’s awesome to see how we’re progressing.”

Entering the second half, Jackson continued to shut things down on defense, with Phaysith narrowly missing out on a safety but still making it home for a sack, and defensive backs such as De Leon and senior Emma Diep displaying strong hands to secure flags. As a whole, the defense rarely missed ‘tackles’ on Highline ball-carriers.

The Timberwolves finally got that safety — albeit on a botched Highline snap into the end zone — to make it 16-0 before a deep reception by Dorgan down the left side set up a second rushing touchdown from Lowery, who evaded tacklers on the way to the end zone.

The Pirates finally got on the board, taking advantage of a rare defensive lapse from Jackson with a long touchdown pass on their second-to-last drive to cut it to 23-7, but the game was out of reach. Phaysith secured another sack on the last Highline drive, and Torres ended the game with a kneel to run out the clock.

As much as the Timberwolves are excited to see their progress lead to results on the field, this year is all about building for the future as the sport continues to grow — at Jackson and across the state of Washington.

“Winning’s always a good part of the game,” Phaysith said. “But I feel like just developing relationships with the girls and getting to know the game a lot more (is also important). Just starting those traditions and just establishing everything from the ground up so we leave a good foundation for the rest of the years to come.”

Simmons is fully aligned in that mindset. He wants the seniors to walk away feeling like they helped start something that will grow much bigger, and for the returning players to develop not only their skills, but also their passion for the game that will hopefully attract their friends to the field as well.

It isn’t just fellow students that the Timberwolves are receiving attention from. Simmons has noticed teachers that typically don’t attend sporting events showing up to flag football games. He hopes it reaches the point where the community support rivals that of basketball and the other established sports.

It’s early in Year 1, but Jackson flag football is well on its way.

“We want this to be all of Wesco,” Simmons said. “(…) That’s kind of the foundation, but also at the end of the day, we want to be successful. We want to be competing, and we want to be in that battle for a playoff spot. We know it’s going to be a tough road. We’ve got to go through (more established) KingCo schools if we want to do it.

“But let’s shoot for the top.”