The NIRSA National Flag Football Championships returned to the city of Round Rock where 44 teams from 31 schools competed to be national champions of flag football after the 2022 season.

CoRec Division

The University of Georgia-High School Has Beens played a composed style all tournament long to win the CoRec National Championship! Georgia began with pool play victories over East Carolina and High Point. They continued in the playoffs with an impressive 20-0 over defending national champion Central Florida. A close game against McNeese State set their place in the national championship game.

Georgia was led by All-Americans Brenna Hehir and her team; she led with five sacks during the tournament. Justin Zimmer led Georgia with a great all-around performance with six touchdowns accounted for, two sacks, and five interceptions. Caroline Caplinger provided the only touchdown of the national championship game as she helped Georgia to a 7-0 victory over Georgia Southern-Rainbow Trout.

Unified Division

Nebraska and Florida found their way into a final that was determined in overtime. Defending national champions Nebraska had wins over Texas Tech and Florida in pool play. In the playoffs, Nebraska marched to the final with wins over Wisconsin and Mississippi State. Florida made their way to the final with two wins over Utah and a close win over Angelo State in the semifinals.

This led to a great game played by both schools; it was a battle that went back and forth. Florida was led by Randy Godbolt’s five touchdown passes and Noah Michael’s three touchdown receptions. This gave Florida a chance throughout the game. Nebraska matched score for score with Florida in regulation. Nebraska’s Garrett Stipke led the team to five touchdown passes to five different receivers. Nebraska scored the only touchdown in overtime as they claimed their second national title in a row after a 39-33 win over Florida.

Women’s Division

It seemed like destiny to have the University of Central Florida and Florida return for a rematch after their epic championship game last year. Both teams were able to march their way to the final with one close exception for Central Florida.

Central Florida outscored their opponents in pool play and the quarterfinal 127-0. In the semifinal, Central Florida played a great game versus UTSA-Lightz Out. It was a conversion stop in the fourth quarter that led Central Florida to a 13-12 win and to the final, that incredible rematch with Florida.

Florida outscored their opponents to the final 151-0. The national championship game against Central Florida proved once again to be an epic battle but, unlike last year, there was no need for overtime. Central Florida took a 6-0 lead to halftime with a touchdown run scored by Riley Sullivan. Florida was led by their All-Americans Amanda Wichterman who had one interception, Brittany Jabot with two touchdown receptions, and Hallie Walker who had two touchdown passes and one interception. The two touchdown connections were in the second half and were enough for Florida to gain a bit of revenge to win the national championship 12-6. Florida’s win continued a string of dominance for state of Florida schools in the Women’s Division. No school outside of the state of Florida has won a women’s national championship since 2006.

Men’s Division

The Men’s Division featured a Georgia College team in the final. For the second year in a row, they faced a state of Texas team. Georgia College-Future Daddy’s qualified for the final with victories over Columbus State, UTSA-Lightz On, Columbus State (Round of 16), North Alabama, and Georgia Southern. In the final, they faced UTSA-Lightz On. UTSA made their way to the final with a victory over Columbus State, a loss to Georgia College, and wins over Texas A&M-Kingsville, Maryland, and Slippery Rock to setup the rematch.

The semifinal win for UTSA was a thrilling back and forth game. It may have played a factor in the final where Georgia College took control of the game early on and never looked back. In the final, Georgia College was led by All-Americans Hunter Payne with one touchdown reception and one interception, Jonah Paul with two touchdown receptions, and Marcus Prestwood with five touchdown passes and a touchdown run to win the national championship by a score of 41-14.

Positive sporting behavior awards

Winning the positive sporting behavior awards were McNeese State in the CoRec Division, the University of Utah in the Unified Division, Central Florida-ADPi in the Women’s Division, and Wayne State College in the Men’s Division. All schools should be commended for adhering to the most integral component of intercollegiate competition: positive sporting behavior.

Thank you!

A special thanks go out to all our student officials. Their contributions to the tournament experience are invaluable. Congratulations to all and especially to our All-American officials!

  • Fauz Adeyinka, University of Maryland
  • Cooper Boyd, Kansas State University
  • Blake Baker, Georgia Southern University
  • Zyterrious Hudson, Georgia Southern University
  • Carly Herndon, Oklahoma State University
  • Jacques Thomas, Florida State University

A big thank you to our staff for their part in supporting this tournament! We can’t provide these quality tournaments and memorable experiences for our student participants and officials without our amazing volunteers from across the nation!

  • Stephanie Calhoun, University of Georgia
  • Joe Wise, The University of Texas at Austin
  • Anna Castillo, Southwestern University
  • Clint Jones, St. Edward’s University
  • Chad McKenzie, City of Round Rock
  • Trae Mathews, City of Round Rock
  • Nicole Jackson, NIRSA HQ
  • Lane Goodwin, University of Florida
  • Gabby Sokol, University of Mississippi
  • Von Williams, University of Notre Dame
  • Gracelyn Jones, West Virginia University
  • AJ Henderson, University of Arkansas
  • Dustin Wimmer, South Plains College
  • Jennifer McGrath, Texas A&M University
  • Jerrell Kelly, University of Colorado Boulder
  • Amanda Alpert Jessee, University of Mississippi
  • Brittany Mueller, Florida State University
  • Dave Stewart, Towson University
  • Emily Murphy, The Ohio State University
  • Kelsey Jones, Western Carolina University
  • Kaulin Andric, Texas A&M University
  • Brandon Bermea, Oklahoma State University
  • Britton Lyon, Georgia Southern University
  • Hannah Williams, Cornell University
  • Isaac Estrada, Oklahoma State University
  • Julie Johnson, Towson University
  • Nuri Troy, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
  • Paden Allie, Purdue University
  • Roger Jerez, University of Pennsylvania
  • Sarah Ortiz, University of South Florida
  • Scott Flickinger, Cornell University
  • Kurt Klier, University of Maryland
  • Mario Rios, Texas State University
  • Connor Haines, York College of Pennsylvania
  • Nikki Vance, University of Oregon

Thank you to our hosts and recreation partners from St. Edward’s University, Southwestern University, and The University of Texas at Austin! A special thanks go out to the City of Round Rock and the crew from the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex for their outstanding contributions to a great tournament!

Congratulations to all the teams, officials, and staff for making the tournament experience a wonderful one. We hope to see everyone next year at the 2023 NIRSA National Flag Football Championships!

Assistant Director of Sport Clubs at Texas State University | NIRSA Profile

Mario Rios is currently the Assistant Director of Sport Clubs at Texas State University.