Warner (Fla.) Remains Unbeaten, Keiser (Fla.) Storms Back to Set Up All-Sun Flag Final
BRADENTON, Fla. – It’s an all-Sun final Saturday at IMG Academy Stadium, as Warner (Fla.) stayed unbeaten on the year and Keiser (Fla.) rallied back with a double-digit win over Kansas Wesleyan in an elimination semifinal. The Royals and Seahawks will meet at 10 a.m. ET in the first of a possible two championship games, in Bradenton, Fla.
Kansas Wesleyan made it to the semifinal round with back-to-back wins over KCAC opponents, beating Baker (Kan.) before the Coyotes’ second win of the season over Ottawa (Kan.), eliminating the Braves from the 2026 NAIA Women’s Flag Football Invitational.
Ottawa (Kan.) 35, Saint Francis (Ind.) 13
Ottawa eliminated the Cougars in the morning’s first game, cruising to a 35-13 victory. The Braves scored 28 unanswered points to start the contest, capped by a 53-yard touchdown pass from Anna Anderson to Alyssa Linkous. Anderson showed her usual pinpoint accuracy from the quarterback position, completing 28 of her 32 passes for 322 yards and as many touchdowns (4) as incompletions. Her favorite target was Olga Sotillo, who hauled in nine catches for 104 yards and a score. For Saint Francis, who ended their stay in Bradenton with a 1-2 record, Jianna Reyes accounted for both USF touchdowns, completing 33 of her 41 passes for 229 yards.
Kansas Wesleyan 53, Baker (Kan.) 35
Second Team All-American Chihiro Iwata showed why she is one of the NAIA’s best quarterbacks, leading Kansas Wesleyan to a tournament-high 53 points in an elimination game win over KCAC rival Baker. KWU proved the adage of beating a team three times in one season true, as the Coyotes avenged losses in the regular season and the KCAC Tournament. Iwata threw for more touchdowns (7) than incompletions (6) in the victory, racking up 317 yards. Two of those touchdowns were deep shots on the first play of a drive, with both going to Laura Hernandez Sanchez, who finished the morning with two catches for 132 yards. Although the Baker offense showed plenty of firepower, the Coyotes picked off the Wildcats three times to ensure their place in the NAIA’s last four.
Kansas Wesleyan 19, Ottawa (Kan.) 13
With the season on the line, Kansas Wesleyan unleashed the play of the tournament. With four seconds remaining, and the Coyotes trailing by a point, Chihiro Iwata found an outstretched Jenise Washington for an improbable 32-yard score, knocking out the tournament’s number two seed. The Coyotes’ winner was set up by an eight-play drive that took just 39 seconds. Ottawa had taken the lead back with just 43 seconds left, going ahead by a 13-12 score on a touchdown pass from Anna Anderson to Alyssa Linkous. 26 of the game’s 32 points were scored in the fourth quarter. Defensively, Kansas Wesleyan displayed a bend-but-don’t-break ability, turning the Braves away on three separate trips to the KWU redzone.
Warner (Fla.) 13, Keiser (Fla.) 7
Not to be outdone, Warner matched Kansas Wesleyan’s heroics from the previous game with some of their own. Faced with fourth-and-20 late in the contest, with a turnover on downs likely sealing Keiser’s spot in the finals, Warner quarterback Kathryn Hutchinson found O’Mariah Gordon for a 27-yard conversion. Three plays later, Warner took the lead when Hutchinson again found Gordon, this time from one yard out, with 31 seconds remaining, proving to be the difference in a Sun Conference showdown. The score from Gordon was Warner’s only lead of the afternoon, with Keiser going up 7-0 in the first quarter before a Warner score in the second cut the lead to 7-6.
Keiser (Fla.) 47, Kansas Wesleyan 28
After scoring just seven points in the previous game, the Keiser offense roared back to life against a Kansas Wesleyan team playing their third game of the day in the blistering Florida heat. Keiser never punted, with only one drive ending without the Seahawks in the endzone. Ava Wallace completed 36 of her 42 passes for 440 yards, with two Seahawks – Janasia Wilson and Sophia Caprio – both finishing with double-digit catches, and Wilson and Dakota Moberg both exceeding 100 yards through the air. Jenise Washington, the hero from the Ottawa game, again led the Coyotes, finishing her final game of the tournament with seven catches for 91 yards, as well as a team-high eight flag pulls.
