Four Montgomery County high school Girls’ Flag Football teams were featured during Monday night’s Washington Commanders-Cincinnati Bengals preseason football game.
Teams from Wheaton, Paint Branch, Seneca Valley and Walter Johnson scrimmaged on the field at Northwest Stadium in Landover. They entertained a crowd of 55 thousand plus and ESPN’s Monday Night Football television audience.
“It was awesome,” declared Jeff Sullivan, director of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) athletics. “They were pumped. You could just feel it,” he said of the student athletes. “The crowd was behind them.”
The Commanders, as well as the Baltimore Ravens, partner with MCPS to bring girls’ flag football to the area. Their second season debuts Sept. 3. About 750 students participated during the previous school year.
Officials from the Commanders reached out to MCPS and invited four teams to play. Each high school has its own team, for a total of 25 teams. Sullivan said the four teams who got to play Monday night were chosen by lottery.
Three more Maryland county school districts have introduced girls’ flag football for this fall season, and Sullivan expects the sport to become state sanctioned by next fall.
So many highlights on Monday Night Football for @MCPS Girls’ Flag 🏈! #WeRAISE #RaiseHail @MCPSAthletics @Commanders @commandersCR pic.twitter.com/9fBIHm1OME
— Jeff Sullivan (@mcpsAD) August 19, 2025
Photos by Jeff Sullivan
