NFL Flag Championship High School Girls Division Upset: Seahawks Win 15-14 to Prevent Texans Threepeat

Ava Ortman threw two touchdown passes and teamed up with Maya Smith for the game-winning two-point conversion in overtime as the Seattle Seahawks representative LA Conqueror stunned the two-time defending champion Texas Fury, representing the Houston Texans, 15-14 to capture the 2026 NFL Flag Championship in the High School Girls Division.

Road to the final

The Texans had won the last two NFL Girls Flag Football Championships, so they were favored to win it all again. The defending champions defeated teams representing the New York Jets, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Denver Broncos to reach the finals.

The Seahawks, a team formed around Ortman and Smith, who wanted to avoid fighting Los Angeles traffic, had to struggle through five qualifying tournaments just to join the sixteen team finals bracket. Orton threw 11 touchdown passes to lead the Seahawks past teams representing the Philadelphia Eagles, the Atlanta Falcons, and the San Francisco 49ers to challenge for the title.

Championship stage

The NFL Flag Championships are in their third year. In 2026, they were held at the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, and the location of the Indianapolis Colts training facility. Billed as the largest flag football tournament for youth in the world, the weekend included championships for High School Boys and Girls, along with Under 15, Under 14, Under 12, and Under 10 Divisions for both sexes. The NFL also added an Under 15 Division for international teams. Athletes from Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand took part.

First half

The Seahawks scored first, with 8:10 left in the 12-minute first half when Ortman, who threw for 104 touchdowns and more than 7,000 yards last year for her Ventura, CA high school team, found Smith from 3 yards out. Ortman then connected with receiver Ruby Streatfeild for the 1-point conversion from the 5-yard line.

The Texans drove down the 50-yard-long field to score their own touchdown with 4:17 left in the half when quarterback Emery Beckett, last year’s MVP, tossed the scoring pass to receiver Zara Hill from the 2-yard line. The one-point attempt went just outside star receiver Kaitlyn Reynolds’s reach.

Both teams had scoring chances in the time remaining in the half. Ortman had Smith seemingly open again with just under 1 minute left, but Reynolds dove to deflect the ball. On the last play of the half, Beckett threw a deep ball to the Seahawks end zone, but defender DiMayla Aupiu deflected the pass and the half ended with LA leading 7-6.

Second half

The Texans scored with 9:10 left when Beckett hit Reynolds on a comeback route in the right side of the end zone. The two connected again to convert the extra point to give the defending champs a 13-7 lead.

The Ortman-to-Smith duo found paydirt again, this time from 8 yards out, with 3:47 left in the game, but Texans defender Molly Hawkins tackled Smith on the 1-yard line. Despite the actual tackle, the referees let the play stand.

The Texans once again threatened, but Seahawks defender Olivia Elsokary deflected a pass meant for Reynolds and the Seahawks took over the ball on downs (3 in flag football).

The Seahawks also had a chance for a score with seconds left, but when Elsokary came down with Ortman’s pass, she was unable to get either foot in bounds. Texans rusher Landry Smit was able to get enough pressure on Ortman to throw off her timing, and so the score was tied at 13. The Texans had one last chance with 4 seconds left. They chose to run the ball, thus not risking a turnover, and let time expire.

Overtime drama

In overtime, each team had the choice of going for a 1-point or 2-point conversion from the 5 or 10-yard line, respectively. Texas won the coin flip and chose to go for 1 point. Beckett successfully found Zara Hill open, and took the lead 14-13.

Seahawks coach Michaeltore Smith chose to go for the win, going for a 2-point conversion from the 10-yard line, and his star duo came through. Ortman had to avoid the rush again, but she managed to find Smith on the goal line. As the Seahawks celebrated, the Texans challenged the call, but while Smith’s feet were in the field of play, the ball was clearly in the end zone, so the LA team had accomplished the upset 15-14.

Postgame reaction

Sideline reporter Dana Boyle interviewed Ortman and Smith after the game. The quarterback told her that “We came out of that huddle. We honestly might not have ran the right play there. Drawn up on the spot.” Smith agreed that the play was drawn up on the spot, and added “Low Key it was not supposed to go to me. I’m not gonna lie.” When Boyle asked Smith what she saw, Smith replied “I don’t even know what I saw. I just saw Ava, and I was like Ava. I was kind of like kind of eye contact and I said c’mon Ava, I see you, you see me.” When asked if they were trying to go for 2, and the win, Ortman said “Yeah, I don’t know why coach did that.” But Smith added “He’s a dog though.” They then showed off their NFL-style oversize championship rings, and went off to the award ceremony.

Looking ahead

With flag football included for the first time in the 2028 Olympic Games, the NFL is playing a long game here. By including championships for girls as young as under 10 years old, the league is building a pipeline that will continue through the increasing number of high schools and colleges that are now offering the sport. The women’s Team USA has had trouble defeating Mexico in their last couple of matchups, but if the NFL has anything to do with it, that will not happen so often in the future.