Pairings announced for Unified Flag Football Tournament
The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced the pairings for the Seventh Annual Unified Flag Football State Tournament Series this evening via livestream at IHSAAtv.org.
Forty-four (44) teams – the same as 2023 – have entered this year’s state tournament and are spread across eight sectionals to be
played on Saturday, Oct. 5. The eight teams that emerge as sectional champions will move on to one of two regionals on Saturday, Oct. 12
with the two remaining teams advancing to the state championship game on Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Grand Park Sports Event Center in Westfield.
The state championship game will be streamed live on IHSAAtv.org. Last year’s state championship game between Carmel and DeKalb is
available to watch here. Last year’s state champion, the Carmel Greyhounds, will play county rival Hamilton Heights in Sectional 5 at Lawrence Central
while 2023 state runner-up, the DeKalb Barons will face Goshen in its first round game in Sectional 2 played at NorthWood.
Unified Sports enables persons with and without intellectual disabilities to participate on the same team for sports training and competition as part of the “Champions Together” partnership between the IHSAA and Special Olympics Indiana. Unified Flag Football, which began in 2018, is one of 24 sports sponsored by the IHSAA and one of two co-ed sports along with Unified Track & Field which debuted in 2014.
About the Draw
To conduct the random drawing for the Unified Flag Football State Tournament, the IHSAA places ping-pong balls representing each school in each sectional into a lottery-style air mix machine. A motorized fan in the bottom of the machine blows the balls around the inside of the transparent container and air then forces each ball up through a tube in random order. For example, the first ball retrieved from the machine will be the visiting team in game one with the second ball representing the home team in game one. The third ball to come out is the visitor in game two and the fourth ball the home team in game two. That same method is followed through all eight sectionals
Sectionals
Date: Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.
Admission: $5 per person. Children age 5 and
younger admitted free.
1. Valparaiso (4)
G1: Griffith vs. Valparaiso.
G2: East Chicago Central vs. South Bend Adams.
Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
2. NorthWood (6)
G1: Wawasee vs. NorthWood.
G2: Goshen vs. DeKalb.
G3: East Noble vs. G1 winner.
G4: Elkhart vs. G2 winner.
Championship: G3 winner vs. G4 winner.
3. Warsaw Community (7)
G1: Carroll (Fort Wayne) vs. Tippecanoe Valley.
G2: Manchester vs. Fort Wayne North Side.
G3: Homestead vs. Warsaw Community.
G4: New Haven vs. G1 winner.
G5: G2 winner vs. G3 winner.
Championship: G4 winner vs. G5 winner.
4. McCutcheon (4)
G1: Twin Lakes vs. McCutcheon.
G2: Blackford vs. Zionsville.
Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
5. Lawrence Central (8)
G1: Fishers vs. Hamilton Southeastern.
G2: Warren Central vs. Noblesville.
G3: Hamilton Heights vs. Carmel.
G4: Lawrence Central vs. Westfield.
G5: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
G6: G3 winner vs. G4 winner.
Championship: G5 winner vs. G6 winner.
6. Brownsburg (6)
G1: Ben Davis vs. Southport.
G2: Indianapolis George Washington vs.
Indianapolis Arsenal Technical.
G3: Perry Meridian vs. G1 winner.
G4: Brownsburg vs. G2 winner.
Championship: G3 winner vs. G4 winner
7. Mooresville (5)
G1: Greenwood Community vs. Mooresville.
G2: Franklin Central vs. Franklin Community.
G3: Whiteland Community vs. G1 winner.
Championship: G2 winner vs. G3 winner.
8. Bedford North Lawrence (4)
G1: Jasper vs. Indian Creek.
G2: Bedford North Lawrence vs. Floyd Central.
Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
Regionals
Date: Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024.
Admission: $5 per person. Children age 5 and
younger admitted free.
Home Team: The second-named team will be the
designated home team in each game.
Regional 1 at TBA (one of competing teams)
G1: NorthWood winner vs. Valparaiso winner.
G2: Warsaw Community winner vs. McCutcheon
winner.
Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
Regional 2 at Mooresville
G1: Mooresville winner vs. Bedford North
Lawrence winner.
G2: Brownsburg winner vs. Lawrence Central
winner.
Championship: G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
State Finals
Date: Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024.
Time: 1 pm ET / 12 pm CT.
Site: Grand Park Sports Event Center, 19000
Grand Park Blvd., Westfield, IN
Admission: $15 per person. Children age 5 and
younger admitted free.
