LaShanda Williams has assembled quite a football resume over the past 20-plus years while playing on competitive co-ed and recreational flag teams, as well as the women’s pro tackle team the Mississippi Lady Panthers.
There might only be, the 2002 Warren Central graduate says, one regret about her career.
“As far as me being an athlete from this tall, if I had the opportunity to play flag with it now being offered in college and scholarships, I wish I could go back in time. I wish they would have had this back then,” she said.
They didn’t have it when Williams was in high school, but they do now. The Mississippi High School Activities Association will begin its inaugural girls flag football season on Thursday, March 26. Vicksburg High — which Williams is coaching — and Warren Central will both begin with games at Greenville High School against Gentry and Greenville, respectively.
It’s the official statewide launch of a sport players say they’ve waited years for.
“It’s been a sport I’ve been dabbling in since elementary school, just being outside at recess and stuff like that. I’ve always wanted a flag football team here,” said Vicksburg senior Jordan Powell, the team’s quarterback. “Seeing people on social media playing, it’s always been an interest of mine — especially the sport of football, because I love football. I’m in the band so I get to see it in the fall and being able to participate in the spring definitely brings me some joy.”
Warren Central quarterback Ka’ryn Henderson, also a senior, echoed the thoughts of Powell and many other players. She grew up watching her brothers and uncles play football and wanted to get in on the fun.
“I’ve just been relying on powder puff so I got excited when they said we were having a team,” Henderson said. “My uncles do it, so they inspired me to do it as well. Football is fun to watch, so why not play it?”
Mississippi is riding a wave of nationwide expansion of flag football. It is one of 17 states where flag football is now a sanctioned championship sport, and 22 others have it as a pilot program. The MHSAA had a pilot league in the spring of 2025. A dozen teams were selected to participate and sort out the best practices for the sport in Mississippi.
Vicksburg and Warren Central were not among those selected for the MHSAA’s pilot program in 2025, but have always had plans to join the statewide rollout as soon as possible. Williams will be Vicksburg’s head coach and Bradley Nolan will lead Warren Central’s team.
Almost everyone is on a learning curve this season. Nolan, a former Marine drill sergeant who also leads Warren Central’s Junior ROTC program, said he’s been watching instructional YouTube videos from other coaches for tips on how to run drills, and games to pick up on plays and strategies. Vicksburg center Jazmyn Ellis said she had watched videos on TikTok to learn snapping technique.
“You’ve got to start at the ground level, so the first thing was understanding the rules — how the field is set up, what we’re doing, what the rules are. YouTube is a great resource. There are championship games from other states I’ve been watching to see what they’re doing,” Nolan said. “If anything, you have to omit certain aspects of tackle football that don’t go to flag football. You’re stripping down tackle football to become flag football. If you understand the basics of football, then you watch and learn, and you’ll pick up the basics of flag.”
Separating the ingrained knowledge most people have from years of watching tackle football from the differences in flag — both subtle and major — is one of the biggest challenges for everyone. Although they share the same name and basic strategy, girls flag football and boys tackle football have enough differences that they are two wildly different sports.
For starters, there is no contact allowed in flag. Players all wear a belt with two flags attached, and the play is over when one of the flags is grabbed and detached. Blockers cannot use their hands, defenders can’t tackle or push, and runners aren’t allowed to swat the hands of defenders grabbing for their flags. If the ball hits the ground the play is blown dead rather than being a fumble.
The field is 80 yards long instead of 120, and narrower at 40 yards wide compared to 50 for tackle. Although games are played on the bigger field, the boundaries for flag are marked by cones placed at the yard marker numbers.