Pairings Announced For Unified Flag Football State Tournament
Pairings Announced For Unified Flag Football State Tournament
Posted
Jason Wille-
Pairings Announced For Unified Flag Football State TournamentINDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced the pairings for the Second Annual Unified Flag Football State Tournament Series Monday evening.
Thirty-seven teams – 12 more than last year’s inaugural season - have entered this year’s state tournament and are spread across eight sectionals to be played on Oct. 5. The eight teams that emerge as sectional champions will move on to one of two regionals on Oct. 12 with the tworemaining teams advancing to the state championship game Oct. 19 at the Grand Park Sports Event Center in Westfield.
In the Tippecanoe Valley Sectional, Central Noble and East Noble will play in the first game, with the winner facing Wawasee. Game two has the host Vikings taking on Warsaw, with that winner facing Goshen.
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, played on a 25-yard by 40-yard field, is five-on- five with three athletes and two unified partners to a side. Teams play two 20-minute halves with a touchdown worth six points, an extra point from the five-yard line worth one point while two points are added for a successful play from the 10-yard line. Two points may also be scored for a safety.
Starting on its five yard line, a team has four plays to cross mid-field, then an additional four plays to score a touchdown. Failure to cross mid-field or score a touchdown in the prescribed number of plays results in a change of possession starting at the opposing team’s own five-yard line.
Unified Flag Football is one of 22 sports sponsored by the IHSAA and one of two co-ed sports along with Unified Track and Field which debuted in 2014.
Last year’s state championship – featuring Bedford North Lawrence topping Tippecanoe Valley for the title - is available to watch via IHSAAtv.org.
