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| Badin Rams pose for a picture after capturing the 2025 Girls' Flag Football State Championship. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
MASSILLON, Ohio--The Badin High School community has a champion, as the girls' flag football team defeated Willoughby South 40-16 to become the first state champions from Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
Badin, representing Cincinnati out of Hamilton County, showed its grit in the tournament, defeating Berkshire in the first round and Mount Notre Dame in the semi-final game that went into overtime after a late touchdown to go up 27-21.
On the last possession for Mount Notre Dame in overtime, they were picked off by Bella Heile to secure a trip to the championship game.
"Pretty intense. I was just trying to read it, and I knew I had cover, so I was just doing my best to not jump it and get in front of it and let it go by me. Just try to stay patient and make the catch," said Heile.
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| Badin's Bella Heile on a catch and run during the girls' flag football championship game. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.om) |
Notably, this was Badin's first year of flag football, with a good number of seniors compared to Willoughby South, which has been competing for the last few years.
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| Badin's Brooke Sebastian is making a play during the girls' flag football championship game. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
Senior Brooke Sebastian was a major factor in securing the win as she made situational catches and scored on three occasions to lead her team to victory.
"I just knew I wanted to come in and win it all, I mean, I played basketball my whole life, and I've gotten close to the end every year, and to finally make it to the state championship and win it means a lot to me," said Sebastian.
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| Sportsmanship is being displayed after the state championship game. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
Badin head coach Mike Sebastian thinks the game of flag football is heading in the right direction, "I mean that everyone that watches it loves it, I coach basketball mostly, and this is even more fun for them than basketball."
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| The Girls High School Flag Football trophy with official game ball. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
There is so much to take away from this game, from the level of competitiveness and excitement to having freshman highlight plays in the game. I would say most would want to see it sanctioned, of course, with some understanding of the rules and bylaws, but the numbers and competition are second to none.
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