Kansas Wesleyan is the No. 2 seed in the KCAC Flag Football Tournament that begins on Friday at Paragon Star Sports Complex in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
The Coyotes will face the winner between No. 3 seed Midland (Neb.) and No. 6 seed Bethel on Friday night at 6 p.m., with a chance to advance to Saturday’s championship game.
Saturday’s championship game will be held at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium starting at 3 p.m.
Tickets for Friday’s game at Paragon Star are on sale now at kcacsports.com/tickets. There will be no admission cost for Saturday’s game at Arrowhead, due to the NFL Draft activities also going on at the stadium. Free parking is also available at the Truman Sports Complex in lots E and F on the south side of Arrowhead Stadium and fans can enter in the Tower Gate.
All games in the KCAC Flag Football tournament will be streamed live at kcacnetwork.com.
KWU is the No. 2 seed with a 12-3 overall record and an 8-2 mark in the Kansas Conference.
In nine conference games this season (KWU was awarded a forfeit win over Bethel on March 29), the Coyotes are averaging 37.9 points per game in conference play, ranking second best in the KCAC. The Coyotes outscore opponents in conference play 341-98, 37.9 to 10.9 per game.
KWU’s high-powered offense averaged 289.6 yards per game in total offense on the season, averaging 208 per game passing and 81.6 per game on the ground. KWU holds its opponents to 170.3 yards per game in total offense, 150.7 passing and 19.7 rushing.
Brianna Hernandez-Silva (SR/Las Vegas, Nev.) makes Wesleyan’s offense go, averaging 251.9 yards of total offense per game during conference play. She averages 62.4 yards per game on the ground, rushing 83 times for 562 yards and seven touchdowns. Through the air, she’s averaging 189.4 yards per game, going 149 of 246 passing, completing 60 percent of her passes for 1705 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Six Coyotes have over 10 receptions on the season, led by 38 grabs by Angel Roman (SO/Jacksonville, Fla.) for 428 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 47.6 yards per game. Ciaran DeCur has 28 catches for 477 yards and six scores, averaging 59.6 yards per game. Angel Almaraz (FR/Las Vegas, Nev.) has 23 caches for 201 yards and four scores, Kendra Velasquez-Munro (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) has 20 catches for 138 yards and one touchdown, Jazmine Whitfield (FR/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has 16 catches for 215 yards and five scores, and Ashley Hawthorne (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) has 14 catches for 124 yards and a score.
Wesleyan’s stout defense recorded five shutouts during the full season, and four in KCAC play including a 57-0 blanking of Saint Mary in the Sunday’s regular season finale.
Lexi Marquez (SO/Las Vegas, Nev.) leads the Coyotes with 40 total flag pulls on the season, and five interceptions. Alexa Mansur (SO/Henderson, Nev.) has four picks and ranks second on the team with 38 flag pulls, and has a team best seven pass break-ups. Alexis Jimenez (SO/Miami, Fla.) has 29 flag pulls. Up front, Leila Casillan (FR/Las Vegas, Nev.) leads the Coyotes with 16.5 sacks on the season leading the KCAC and teammate Ansdiane Rabano (FR/Jersey City, N.J.) is closely behind with 11.5 sacks. Ja’Daa Wilson (JR/Crawfordville, Fla.) adds seven pass break-ups and Roman adds four interceptions.
After the KCAC Championships, the Coyotes will head to Atlanta, Ga., for the NAIA Flag Football Finals, an event KWU has won the silver bracket twice in its two years of existence, starting May 18. The NAIA Flag Football Finals is not an official NAIA National Championship event, as the sport remains at Emerging Sport status in the NAIA.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
