JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO – FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
The first Armed Forces Sports Flag Football Championship crowned its first champions Saturday, closing out four days of competition that brought together elite athletes from across the U.S. military, and the Department of the Air Force walked away with all of it.
The Air Force swept both brackets, capturing the inaugural men’s title with a 37-32 thriller over the Army and claiming the first women’s crown with a 13-8 victory over the Army women. In the men’s third place game, the Navy stunned the Marine Corps 26-14 behind a quarterback change that paid off in full.
The champions were forged in Texas heat. With temperatures in the mid-90s and heat indices pushing past 100 degrees throughout the week, teams battled sun-soaked sidelines without letting the conditions dictate the level of play. If anything, the heat revealed the depth of conditioning service members bring to the field.
The road to Saturday ran through the Army men. The Army men’s team stormed through group play unbeaten at 6-0, outscoring opponents 230-81 behind quarterback Capt. Travon Biggers, who threw multiple touchdowns in several games and piloted an offense that never scored fewer than 28 points. Their closest test came in Friday’s group stage finale, a 30-28 thriller over the Air Force that previewed Saturday’s championship matchup.
The Air Force men earned their place in the title game with a record of 4-2, with their only two losses coming against the Army. The Marine Corps swept the Navy in group play, including a 24-18 win in Friday’s finale, to set up the all-Department of the Navy third place game.
On the women’s side, the Air Force set the early tone. The Air Force women opened group play with three straight wins behind wide receiver 1st Lt. Alexxis Brown, who hauled in two or more touchdown receptions in multiple games. But the Army women surged late, winning five straight down the stretch, including back-to-back victories over the Air Force, a 6-0 defensive standoff Thursday and a 12-7 decision Friday.
The Army women finished group play 5-1 to the Air Force’s 4-2, and Saturday’s championship marked the fourth meeting between the two teams, with the Army leading the series 2-1 and the trophy on the line.
The Navy men saved their best for last. Winless through group play and swept by the Marine Corps in their two previous meetings, the Navy turned to a new quarterback for the third place game and walked away with a 26-14 victory. Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Flood, stationed at Fleet Readiness Center Detachment Jacksonville, Florida, took over under center for the full game and threw three touchdown passes to secure the bronze.
“We started out bad all week,” Flood said. “I’m just glad we got a chance to end the tournament on a win.”
For Flood, the moment was one he had been waiting on long before the tournament began.
“I’ve been waiting for them to put a flag football team together for the armed forces,” Flood said. “I’m just glad I was able to get nominated to come out here and compete.”
In the women’s championship, the Air Force got the last word in the tournament’s best rivalry. After dropping two straight to the Army, the Air Force women found their early-tournament form when it mattered most, holding the Army to eight points in a 13-8 victory built on defense. Three interceptions from 1st Lt. Ashlynn Lutz, stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, anchored the effort.
“It feels amazing,” Lutz said. “We did it as a team, so it’s just great to be the first ones out here doing that, and I can’t wait till next year.”
For Lutz, the title carried meaning beyond the scoreboard.
“I think it’s so cool that we get to represent the Air Force, and women in general, coming out here playing the sport,” Lutz said. “It’s new, so it’s fantastic.”
The men’s championship delivered the game of the tournament. The Air Force and the Army traded huge plays into the second half, with the Air Force building a 19-point lead before the Army mounted a furious rally that ultimately fell short. The Air Force converted a critical first down with one minute remaining to seal the 37-32 victory and avenge its only two losses of the week.
At the center of it was quarterback Tech. Sgt. Broderick Oliver, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, who threw five touchdown passes in the title game one week after returning from a deployment and joining a team of strangers.
“I was down. The deployment took me out a little bit, and my brothers from the Department of the Air Force brought me up,” Oliver said. “They uplifted me. I’m not 100 percent healthy, but they made me believe in myself to where I could win this gold today.”
His teammates never doubted who was in command. Staff Sgt. Hayden Wall, stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, played both sides of the ball through a lingering hamstring issue and watched Oliver run the offense on his own terms.
“He called that entire game,” Wall said. “We trust him. He’s a vet, he’s coming back from a real tough situation, and he put it all away and he gave us a win. I can’t say enough about that guy.”
As members were awarded their team medals, the All-Tournament Team honors were handed out to the top five men and top five women players. They are:
Women:
1st Lt. Brittany Gardner (Army) - Fort Bragg, N.C.
Maj. Quinetta Forby (Army) - Camp Humphreys, South Korea
1st Lt Alexxis Brown (USAF) - Columbus AFB, Miss.
Senior Airman Grace Glotfelty (USAF) - Beale AFB, Calif.
Senior Airman Mikera Patton (USAF) - Nellis AFB, Nevada
Men:
Capt. Travon Biggers (Army) - Fort Gordon, Georgia
Sgt. Jaime Gilliam (Army) - Camp Humphreys, South Korea
Cpl Jamari Owens (USMC) - MCAS Iwankuni, Japan
Staff Sgt. Haydn Wall (USAF) - Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickan, Hawaii
Airman 1st Class Bob Santiago-Rivera (USAF) - Minot AFB, N.D.
The tournament’s first-ever status came with a look toward the future. Armed Forces Sports brought in professional referees with multiple years of experience officiating under the International Federation of American Football, the international governing body of flag football, to prepare service members for the standards of international play. Flag football will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Games, and the exposure to IFAF-caliber officiating positions military athletes for potential competition on that stage.
From the first snap Wednesday to the final whistle Saturday, the inaugural Armed Forces Sports Flag Football Championship delivered its proof of concept: the speed, trust and communication servicemembers built in uniform translate to any field of competition. Not even triple-digit heat could slow it down. The first names on both trophies belong to the Department of the Air Force. The bar is set for everyone who comes next.