Warren G. Harding’s girls flag football team is heading to Akron next week to participate in the Northeast Ohio tournament, where the top 16 teams from the region will compete for a chance to advance to the first Ohio High School Athletic Association-sanctioned state championship.

The Raiders enter the tournament sporting a 9-1 record; their only blemish, a 13-6 defeat vs. fellow regional qualifier West Branch, preceded five consecutive wins, the last four of which they scored 30 or more points.

“Obviously, with the one loss, I was a little disappointed with that. But overall, I thought we were better than we were last year,” Harding head coach Justin Blair said. “Defensively, that game probably was one of our best defensive games this season. We really didn’t change anything defensively [since], but offensively, we just got the ball in the hands of Ja’Leah Provitt and Storm Jordan, our two best offensive weapons.”

Blair, who has led the program in its two years of existence, came from coaching boys tackle football. There, he said he felt he could be “a little more rough” with his players.

With a season of experience and familiarity with the team and the game, he said he felt more at home in Year 2, and so did his players.

“I had to come with a different approach coaching those girls,” Blair said. “I definitely think that coaching boys and girls kind of changed how I looked at coaching, definitely gave me more of a perspective on how to handle different attitudes, different temperaments and a different set of kids.

“The difference between the two years, they’re a little more comfortable. They knew what to expect with the game and stuff. Our schedule was different because we were local, so we didn’t see teams the caliber of the Cleveland teams. I think that gave them a different perspective: ‘Hey, we’re decent, so we should go out and play better.’ So I just think they were more comfortable playing this year, and they had more fun. I mean, last year was fun, but I think they had more fun playing this year because they were able to play in front of some fans, and then their families were able to be around watching them play.”

During last year’s 16-team event at the Cleveland Browns’ Huntington Bank Field, Harding defeated Lake Catholic 24-20 in the opening round before losing to Berkshire 42-26 in the quarterfinals.

This year, the regional tournament will take place at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium. The Raiders enter the single-elimination event as one of five ‘wild card’ teams, and, as the 16th seed, will face No. 1 seed and defending state champion Willoughby South.

Blair said that he does not have “much” to go on to prepare for the Rebels, although he said another coach who played against South reached out to give him some advice.

“He said they like to play man on the outside, so I’m looking for a way to beat that man-to-man coverage, and how to minimize their best players’ impact on the field,” Blair said.

Despite the relative lack of information on their opponents, the Harding coach remained adamant that how far the team goes in Akron will be based on the Raiders’ capabilities, not anyone else’s.

“I just need them to have a little confidence and know that we have to take one game at a time,” Blair said. “Nobody can outplay us if we play to our strengths. Nobody can hang with us. I just need them to realize that they’re good, and they can hang with anybody, and we can beat anybody. So if they have that mindset, ‘Hey, we can beat anybody we’re playing,’ I think that’ll help them.”

Blair said that the support girls flag football has received from the Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, both of whom are hosting regional tournaments, and now the OHSAA, which is sanctioning its first state championship, is a massive boon to the sport.

And he hopes that, with the NFL’s support and the proven success of Harding, as well as West Branch, which is the No. 3 seed and plays St. Clairsville in the first round, will inspire more Mahoning Valley schools to introduce a team in the years to come.

“It’s nice to see that the girls are getting two big organizations pushing the sport like they are,” Blair said. “It’s good to see them pushing that, because now it gives girls something to look forward to. They see other women in sports – our representative from the Browns is Hannah Lee – they can see somebody like that pushing the sport and being out there.”

“I think it’s big for the area,” he said of Harding and West Branch’s qualification. “You got two teams, maybe 20 miles apart, going to play on one of the biggest stages this season. I think for the area, it’s big for other schools who are on the fence about adding flag (football) to their sports to see, and that maybe gives them a reason to look at it further, maybe add it. Like I said last year, I wanted more teams to add the sport, and they did. It would be nice to see some of the other bigger schools add the sport to their programs, like Canfield, Fitch, teams like that. … I think that would be big.”

Harding’s first-round game Monday is set for 5 p.m., while West Branch is scheduled to play at 6 p.m. Quarterfinals will begin at approximately 7 p.m., semifinals are at 8 p.m. and the championship game is slotted for a 9 p.m. start.

The top four teams from the tournament will advance to the OHSAA state championship tournament on May 16 at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.