Willowbrook blames timid play for falling in the girls flag football state quarterfinals in 2024.

It consequently pledged to always play hard in 2025.

So far, that philosophy has paid off with an undefeated season, which remained alive after Willowbrook hosted its own regional, which concluded with the final against St. Edward on Wednesday in Villa Park.

For the second time in as many seasons of flag football being a state-sanctioned sport, the Warriors are regional champions after a 37-12 win over the Green Wave. They will face Naperville Central (16-3) in a South Elgin Sectional semifinal at 5 p.m. Monday.

“We pride ourselves as a coaching staff that we will be more prepared, have options for multiple defenses and things that we can do to have an answer to everything,” Willowbrook coach Rachel Karos said. “And all we expect our girls to do is execute and just play hard.”

The Warriors (19-0) showed their defense off first, forcing the Green Wave (17-4) into a turnover on downs despite a lengthy initial drive of the game. It then took three plays for Marli Smrz (103 yards on 8-of-17 passing) to hit McKenzie Edison (66 yards on three receptions) for a 51-yard touchdown.

Starting at the end of the first quarter and continuing into the second, St. Edward quarterback Sarah Gurley (200 yards on 17-of-32 passing) threw interceptions three times over a four-pass stretch. Each of those picks, one from Smrz followed by two from Carson Rieger, led to Willowbrook touchdowns.

“I’ve got high goals for myself,” Smrz said. “I think last year’s sectionals, I had four interceptions or three, so I’ve got a lot of expectations for myself for sure.”

One score came on a 74-yard run from Janell Adams (116 yards on four carries). Smrz then threw her second touchdown pass to Edison and one more to Jada Langston, both from short distances.

Savannah Lynch (199 all-purpose yards) got the Green Wave on the board with a short touchdown run with 23.7 seconds remaining before halftime, making the score 30-6.

Adams’ 18-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the Warriors’ final score. By the beginning of the fourth, they had pulled their first-teamers on both sides of the ball.

The Green Wave ended the scoring on Gurley’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Lynch, her second late-quarter score, as time expired.

“I’m proud of them,” said St. Edward coach Matthew Lynch, who began the season with only one of his 15 players having any football knowledge. “They need to walk out of this stadium with their heads held high because what they’ve learned, and what they accomplished, and from the first day that we lined up to play and started to where we’re at today? Come on. I mean, that’s a blessing.”