The WPIAL Girls Flag Football season wrapped up on Thursday when the 2026 WPIAL Girls Flag Football Championship game was held at Upper St. Clair High School.
The Shaler Area Titans defeated the Plum Mustangs, 34-0, to finish the season with a 17-0 record.
"The biggest thing I can say is I love all of my seniors," said Shaler's Lily Trgovic, who was the Player of the Game. "I am just so happy. We have been working for this for so long. It's the biggest thing that ever happened to me.
"Our team, everybody loves each other. Having that family momentum helps us be able to be with each other all of the time. It helps so much. Being with each other all of the time is really a good thing for our team."
Former Steelers linebacker Vince Williams was the honorary co-captain and handled the coin toss, while former linebacker Arthur Moats provided the color commentary for the game, which aired on KDKA+ in conjunction with the Steelers.
"I am so happy to see the progress with girls flag football," said Moats. "It was started multiple years ago, and now it's continuing to be built upon. It's continuing to be made better every year. It's been great to see it from the Steelers starting things, supporting it, to now where it's a WPIAL sanctioned sport. That is big-time right there. I feel like we're still just scratching the surface for what this game is going to develop into from a girls' flag football perspective."
As the game has grown, Moats has seen the competition go to a new level as well.
"When you watch them in this setting and you get a chance to see them doing skill-specific stuff to flag football, it's impressive," said Moats. "Then from a traditional football standpoint, them throwing deep passes, making big catches or big pass breakups defensively, I love it. And to see their emotion and passion and the different ways that each of them display it also is really refreshing."
This is the first season girls flag football was sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), with the Steelers still offering their support through their digital platforms, Coach of the Week program and Jerome Bettis Leadership Award.
"It's wonderful to see the continued growth of girls flag football," said Mike Marchinsky, the Steelers Senior Manager of Alumni Relations and Youth Football. "Having it a sanctioned sport this year by the PIAA and WPIAL, it's amazing how the interest has grown and the enjoyment the girls are getting from the sport.
"The Steelers are proud to continue to support girls flag football through multiple endeavors throughout their season and we look forward to continuing that support in the future."
