As Girls Flag Football Continues to Grow, Glacier Pursues Success by Embracing Adversity and Change
The season plays out at a fast pace, with games starting in late August, and the season ending in early October
By Mike Kordenbrock
Wanting to beat the reigning state champion is a time-honored impulse in high school sports, and it only intensifies if that state champion happens to be able to lay claim to back-to-back titles.
In the case of Glacier High’s flag football team, make it back-to-back-to-back. The sport is only in its fourth year being played by girls among a limited number of high schools in Montana, and the Glacier Wolfpack are the only team to have won it all in the young history of Montana prep flag football.
That puts Glacier in a uniquely challenging position, which the team and its head coach are embracing with an eye towards growth, as the sport itself also continues to grow.
The Wolfpack entered this season after closing out 2024 with an 18-13 win against Huntley Project in the state championship game. The Red Devils were led by quarterback Paige Lofing, who is now a freshman on the Gonzaga University women’s basketball team. Heading into their second crosstown game of the season on Sept. 17, the team stood at 4-0, with wins over Sentinel, Hellgate, Big Sky and Flathead.
Glacier head coach Mark Kessler is aware that everyone wants to knock his team down a notch and walk away with a signature win when they step onto the field. But Kessler says that although he wants his team to earn a victory every game, he keeps an eye on the grand scheme of things. It’s not where a team starts the season, but where they finish, and even losses are valuable in that context.
“Your best lessons are usually learned through a loss,” Kessler said. “Without adversity, you’re never going to get better. So for us, we have been able to overcome those challenges in a positive way that has resulted in great play when it matters.”
But adversity doesn’t just come in the form of losses. Karley Allen, the team’s senior quarterback has watched the sport change with regularity each year she’s played. Kessler, who has previously coached at the high school and college level, has installed a West Coast offense, which relies on attacking the field with an emphasis on horizontal passing. For Kessler’s offense timing is important, but Allen said she’s seen rulebook changes for the defensive starting point relative to the neutral zone every year she’s played.
The first year it was one yard back from the line of scrimmage, the second year it was seven, and then last year it was five. This year it’s at two yards back.
“All the timing and everything has changed, a lot,” she said.
Despite those hiccups, Allen loves the game with a passion, and she plans on playing in college next year, and already has a couple of offers. The NCAA has designated the sport an “Emerging Sport for Women,” meaning that once the sport has a minimum of 40 schools sponsoring it at the varsity level while also meeting NCAA minimum contest and participation requirements, the sport will be considered for championship status.
Per the NCAA, as of last April, at least 65 colleges were sponsoring women’s flag football at the club or varsity level, with more planning to join in 2026, making it one of the fastest growing sports in the country.
The first year Glacier fielded a team, Kessler said there were just three teams in the state, but the field has continued to grow, with dozens of teams in the state now. Between its varsity and junior varsity rosters, Glacier has more than 50 players this year. One of the driving forces behind the sport, both in Montana and on a national level, are the Atlanta Falcons in partnership with the Arthur M. Blank Foundation.
Blank, a business man who was one of the founders of Home Depot, is the owner of the Falcons and owns multiple ranches in Montana. His foundation has a history of philanthropic work in the state over the last 20-plus years, including committing $1.39 million to nonprofits in 2025.
Part of what has instilled such a love for flag football in Allen is the fast-paced, competitive way the game is played, as well as the unpredictable elements that make it even more challenging. She came to the sport from volleyball, and was a natural fit because of the hand-eye coordination she’d developed playing softball.
“One of the best things about flag football is we get a lot of good athletes coming from other sports that maybe just want to try it,” Allen said.
Allen herself has been on a journey within the sport, having over the years played wide receiver, safety, linebacker and corner. She began her senior year having played in six state championships — three in flag football, and three for softball.
This year’s flag football team is among the quietest Allen says she’s ever played on, and that’s including basketball. It can be hard to tell how her teammates are feeling at times, but she said that their quiet seems to indicate a team that approaches things with seriousness and focus, especially when they are watching film. Still, when it’s practice time and the music is playing, some of that fades away, and is replaced by lighter, more fun mood.
Kessler said that his players are attentive, and rarely need to be told anything more than once. The degree to which they’re coachable makes it especially rewarding for Kessler, who said the last four years have been the most fun he’s had as a football coach.
The team is led on offense by Allen at quarterback, who is joined by senior running back Zeila Wagner, junior center Lanee Anderson, sophomore wide receivers Addison Kauffman and Remi Osler, and senior wide receivers Rylee Galle andRiley Frederick. On defense, the Wolfpack rely on Allen and fellow seniors Jillian McGuire and Maggie Measure at linebacker, as well as junior linebacker Briar McShane, senior defensive back Katlyn Phuler and junior defensive back Nika Wangerin and senior safety Wagner.
The season plays out at a fast pace, with games starting in late August, and the season ending in early October. Teams often play tournament-style, meaning teams play multiple games in a single day in a single setting. The game itself is also played at a fast pace on slightly smaller fields and with seven players on the field at a time. Every offensive player is eligible to catch the ball or run with it, which can strain defenses.
Despite the compressed nature of the season, Kessler still sees it as a game of adjustments, with the surest path to success coming from adapting to how other teams are playing, and developing his own player’s skills.
“The goal of any team, is progression through the season. And — knock on wood —we’ve been fortunate to play our best football at the end of every year.”