{"id":964495,"date":"2026-08-05T01:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/964495\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T01:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:48:22","slug":"nebraska-bound-ariana-akey-passes-torch-to-peyton-marr-for-mountain-vista-flag-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/964495\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska-bound Ariana Akey passes torch to Peyton Marr for Mountain Vista flag football"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time she tried to follow in Ariana Akey\u2019s<\/a> footsteps, Peyton Marr learned not to trip over her own.<\/p>\n

It was her debut for the Mountain Vista flag football team<\/a>. A sophomore at the time, Marr had decided at the \u201clast minute\u201d before summer workouts that she wanted to play. Now here she was, subbing in for the star quarterback who had led the Golden Eagles to a Class 5A state championship in 2024 \u2014 the first in Colorado history since flag football became a CHSAA-sanctioned sport.<\/p>\n

Akey was already a program legend, one year into its existence. Marr was her understudy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat first game,\u201d she recalls, \u201cI made some mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

One more memorable than the rest. Rolling out of the pocket and surveying the field for receivers, Marr got tangled up by her own ankles. A lapse of focus on simple footwork. Down she went.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe start was kind of a little bit rocky,\u201d she told The Denver Post on Tuesday during CHSAA\u2019s football media day at Empower Field. \u201cBut then when we would make subs, I think I proved myself a little bit to show I could take the reins this year. \u2026 Throughout the season, I definitely think that idea (that I could start) became more set in stone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PeytonPeyton Marr of Mountain Vista High School poses for a portrait during the Denver Broncos Foundation’s 2026 High School Football Media Day inside a locker room at Empower Field at Mile High on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Denver. (Photo by RJ Sangosti\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Marr is the quarterback to whom an impossibly hot torch has been passed. She will lead Mountain Vista into the future without Akey, who\u2019s bound for the University of Nebraska on one of the first-ever women\u2019s flag football scholarships offered by a Division I school. She leaves behind a high school team that has never lost. In its history.<\/p>\n

The Golden Eagles are 38-0 in their first two seasons. They\u2019ve seized a controlling interest in the state championship trophy at a time when girls flag football has skyrocketed in national popularity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all really proud of it,\u201d Dani Scheich said. \u201cThis is one of the fastest growing sports, so I think it\u2019s an awesome accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely a little bit of pressure there,\u201d Marr said when the streak was brought up. \u201cI\u2019d be lying if I said I didn\u2019t feel any at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it helps to focus only on what she and the 2026 team can accomplish, rather than the legacy she\u2019s tasked with upholding. Still, she has consulted none other than her friend Akey for advice on how to handle that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve definitely asked her how to kind of relieve myself of some of the pressure I\u2019ve been putting on myself,\u201d Marr said. \u201cAnd she\u2019s definitely been a great person to talk to about that, just because (she\u2019s a) big time athlete, going to Nebraska, all the pressure she\u2019s felt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArapahoeArapahoe High School senior Izzy Johnston (21) gets a layup past sophomore Peyton Marr (4) during a game against Mountain Vista on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)
\nBalancing basketball and flag football<\/p>\n

Basketball is Marr\u2019s thing. She played a bit of flag football while growing up, but she eventually stepped away from the sport to focus on hoops. In the moment, it might\u2019ve seemed like she was quitting her secondary sport altogether. With the benefit of hindsight, she can say she just \u201ctook a break.\u201d Returning to it in high school has been a worthwhile experience for her \u2014 not just because of all the winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely a great decision I made because it helps me get exposed and helped me make friendships,\u201d Marr said. \u201cA lot of positives all around.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it was almost a new puzzle for her to solve. One that could be applied to basketball, and vice versa. Both are fast-paced games that reward intuition. Marr made a habit of quietly observing Akey last season, trying to pick up on the instincts that made the senior so dominant.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow fast she\u2019d make her decisions (stood out),\u201d Marr said. \u201cShe would roll out and know exactly where she wanted to go with it. I definitely learned from that, because in our division with all the great teams we play, you\u2019ve gotta make fast decisions or it\u2019s gonna go downhill.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Mountain Vista undergoes its first major transition, other schools are alert to the new possibilities that await this year. One of the flag football teams that attended CHSAA\u2019s media day in Denver was Berthoud High School \u2014 a brand-new program preparing for its inaugural season under coach Blaine Voth. The coach of last season\u2019s Class 5A runner-up, Legend High, offered a transparent assessment on the state of the competition in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually a lot harder because there\u2019s so much more talent in the state. All of the other programs are far more developed,\u201d Darren Pitzner said. \u201cThere\u2019s easily 20 teams \u2014 I mean, for sure 16 \u2014 that could win it this year. \u2026 That\u2019s gonna make it hopefully far more fun to cover, because there\u2019s so much parity. So many good multi-sport athletes in the state. And so it\u2019s gonna be a fun season. There\u2019s not that clear favorite like there was the last two years, where you didn\u2019t know who was gonna win the title, but you knew who by far the favorite was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Translation: The twice-undefeated team with the quarterback who played in a showcase at the Pro Bowl<\/a> and was named MaxPreps National Player of the Year<\/a> in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing her go and accomplish all these things that she\u2019s really one of the first to do is amazing,\u201d Scheich said. \u201cAnd she\u2019s also taught all of us so much. We\u2019ve all taken away her worth ethic and commitment to the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

But tomorrow is a new day for Colorado flag football \u2014 not just for the other contenders, but for Mountain Vista.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotta make my own path,\u201d Marr said.<\/p>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first time she tried to follow in Ariana Akey\u2019s footsteps, Peyton Marr learned not to trip over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":964496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[6030,126993,232,56734,564,231,258,15058,2426,7,79474,929,15053,126994,126995,155,1003,6,14839,14845,9],"class_list":["post-964495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-broncos","tag-basketball","tag-berthoud-high-school","tag-broncos","tag-chsaa","tag-colorado","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denverbroncos","tag-football","tag-golden-eagles","tag-latest-headlines","tag-more-nuggets-news","tag-mountain-vista","tag-mountain-vista-high-school","tag-nba","tag-nebraska","tag-nfl","tag-prep-football","tag-preps","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117040388809094944","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=964495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/964495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/964496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=964495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=964495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=964495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}