Cedar Grove flag football may be newer to the game, but they’re building

Jamecia Torrence didn’t set out to start a flag football program at Cedar Grove High School. It just sort of sought her out. And she’s very happy it did.

“I thought somebody else would take it on, but they didn’t,” said Torrence, who had never played or coached flag football until 2025. “I caved in last year and said, ‘OK, let me go ahead.’ So we started the program, and it was amazing.”

That’s how Cedar Grove became the latest DeKalb County school to field a team in the fast-growing sport. More than 300 schools have added flag football over the past decade, and 27 schools added the sport for 2026, causing the GHSA to expand it into five divisions this season.

The ever-positive Torrence discovered a group of girls who had never played the sport but were eager to get started, and rolled out the team with little warning.

“I saw a little post on Instagram and, when I got on the team, it was fun and I started to love it,” senior Z’niyah West said. “It started off on the phone, but as the season started, I got better and just kept playing and took it more seriously.”

Senior Jana’ Higgins falls into that category, too. “I thought it was just going to be something to do on the side, just to get out of the house, but once I got into it, I really like it.”

The Saints didn’t win as many games as they wanted, but still managed to qualify for the state playoffs in their first season.

“It was amazing to see how many girls wanted to partake in it from years ago and to see the ones who want to do it now. It’s inspiring,” Torrence said. “We’re seeing a lot of girls who have never played sports before that have come out and participate. It’s been a journey, and they’re like my little kids now, so it’s (like) they’ve become attached to my hip ever since.”

There were 45 girls who tried out for the first team, and 20 made the cut. Torrence started teaching the basics of flag football, which are different from traditional football. She got former football coach Dexter Berry to help. She got the parents to buy into the process, and they quickly got involved and were eager to help.

“To see everybody was excited about that and to see how the school reacted — they even did a pep rally for us — it was amazing,” Torrence said.

Torrence vividly remembers the first game, how play seemed faster than fast, how the officials made calls that weren’t necessarily expected and how her girls learned more by actually playing than simply practicing. At the end of the game, Cedar Grove had a 6-0 win over Clarkston.

“It was amazing, and the girls were excited,” Torrence said.

The girls even began to get some star treatment and made new friends through their participation.