Young takes third in inaugural girls flag football state tournament

By Dominic Scianna

Whitney Young girls flag football coach Val Spann had modest expectations for her Lady Dolphins team heading into the 2024 high school varsity season.

“If I’m being honest, my goal was to do better than we did last year,” Spann said.

But as the wins on their schedule began to multiply, Spann thought this could be a pretty good team with a chance of advancing to the Chicago Public League (CPL) City Championship, a goal they came close to a year ago.

Still, an outside shot at a deep run in the Illinois High School (IHSA) State Playoffs seemed daunting, but after a respectable 20-6 loss to eventual city champ Taft in the CPL playoffs, the Lady Dolphins seemed ready for the first-ever IHSA state playoffs.

In the regional games, Whitney Young beat Kelly and Lindblom (42-28) and quickly advanced to the sectionals.

“In those regional games, we started to get on a roll and our defense picked up and our offense was clicking as a team,” Spann noted. “That’s when I knew we could be on to something special.”

The offense ran through sophomore quarterback Hayden Petrulis and the defense was buoyed by senior stalwart and captain of the team, London Higginbottom.

In state sectional play, the Lady Dolphins outlasted suburban Lyons (29-14) and CPL foe King (24-6) to advance downstate to the Elite Eight, hosted by Willowbrook October 18-19.

“A big reason for our success, I think this year, was playing tough competition in our own league,” senior Abigail Plachta admitted. “The Chicago teams are so good and we’ve been playing them for years. Teams like Taft, Lane, Jones, and Perspectives – they were all such good teams that playing them prepared us for the state competition.”

Lane Tech and Perspectives-Leadership proved that Chicago flag football was a quality league power by representing the CPL in fine fashion as IHSA championship weekend state quarterfinalists in their own right too.

Once an unthinkable goal, Spann now set her sights on a coveted state trophy for the Whitney Young school to showcase.

In their first big test on Friday, October 18, the Lady Dolphins upset host Willowbrook by a score of 13-8 to advance to the semifinal round on Saturday and a date with undefeated Rockford Guilford.

Whitney Young struggled to find its footing and poise, eventually losing to Rockford Guilford 6-0 – and as Spann admitted, “our nerves got the best of us in that game.”

But all was not lost, the Lady Dolphins had one more game to play. And the stakes were high because the winner would capture a coveted third-place trophy.

That’s when Petrulis regained her touch and composure to turn the previous shutout loss into an offensive explosion against downstate Bradley Bourbonnais (17-3).

Petrulis would throw five touchdown passes to lead Whitney Young to victory 35-8 and put the Lady Dolphins in the record books. This year marked the inaugural season of Girls Flag Football becoming an IHSA-sanctioned state series.

“Three years ago when I decided to start this program, I absolutely did not believe it (girls flag football) could grow so quickly in such a short period of time,” said Spann.

“I’m at a loss for words and for us to have played (this past weekend) for a state trophy, and it makes me feel ecstatic and excited for these young ladies. We have a lot of talent coming back (in 2025).”

The Lady Dolphins (19-7) had many key contributors in the third-place game as Petrulis targeted talented receivers Plachta (2 TD’s), plus a touchdown each from DeeDee Dudley, Marcella Matallana and freshman Leighton Hormuth in the win over Bradley-Bourbonnais.

“It’s amazing to see how our sport has become so popular,” acknowledged Higginbottom. “You can go on Instagram and Tiktok and you see flag football everywhere. It’s crazy.”

For returning sophomores Petrulis and Dudley, it’s a lofty perch to get back to the state finals next year but they were more interested in enjoying the moment as bronze medalists in 2024.

“I know it’s not going to be easy next year but we’re going to give it a try to get back here (to the IHSA State Finals). It was a great experience,” smiled Dudley.

And Petrulis, who Plachta credited with having great field vision and awareness to make big plays all year, put the amazing accomplishment of the 2024 Whitney Young Lady Dolphins into perspective with her final comments.

“It was a really bad feeling after losing (in the first semifinal game to Rockford Guilford),” said Petrulis. “And our whole team thought that we didn’t want to feel like that again. So we feel really good about how we finished and that’s what we’ll remember.”

Photos by Lennox Prince