Kenley Dearing threw a pass, Reagan Irwin caught it, and Shawnee Mission Northwest had its first-ever girls' flag football touchdown.

The play came in the second quarter of SMNW's inaugural game, played on a Wednesday evening in 93-degree heat, according to the school's student publication. Dearing, a junior wearing No. 55, connected with Irwin, No. 19, for the score. The Cougars lost the game but had already made their mark.

"Me and Reagan just made history, that was our first ever touchdown," Dearing said. "It was a wow moment, like we're going to go down in history as the first ones to ever get a touchdown."

The program exists because of a 61-1 vote by the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) board of directors on April 23. That vote made Kansas the 18th state to sanction girls' flag football as an official high school sport. The push included the Kansas City Chiefs' "Let Her Play" campaign, which drew more than 11,000 petition signatures, as ESPN reported. The sport is set to debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as the Johnson County Post reported in August.

The Shawnee Mission School District board authorized the program at its June 8 meeting at an estimated cost of $121,608.95, according to district records. Kent Glaser, SMSD's director of athletics and activities, told the board the sport would help fill the void left by the Sunflower League's discontinuation of girls' gymnastics. The district funded varsity and junior varsity teams at all five comprehensive SMSD high schools.

At SMNW, the head coaching job went to Nicole Shay, the school's office receptionist. Shay landed the role after a casual conversation with the athletic director in March. When the KSHSAA vote passed in April, her reaction was simple: "I guess we're doing this."

Shay's husband, Dan Shay, coaches alongside her. Hannah Mott serves as assistant coach. Tryouts began Aug. 19 on Benninghoven field, and the varsity players wore white jerseys with pink flags around their waists for their first game.

The early results have been tough. Through four games, the team has one touchdown and no wins. SMNW lost both games on Saturday, Sept. 12, falling 7-0 in the first and 56-6 in the second.

Still, the players see the bigger picture. Junior Bella Butler, who had never played a team sport before joining the squad, said she didn't know how to catch a football when tryouts started. She said the team should focus on the milestone of playing at all rather than dwelling on the loss.

After that first game, JV and varsity players gathered at Johnny's Tavern, pushed four tables together and sat as one group. Dan Shay ordered chips and salsa, nachos, and fried pickles for the table.