Florida Gateway Wins Fourth Straight NJCAA Flag Football Title

Glen Ellyn, IL - The Florida Gateway College Timberwolves scored on their second play of the game en route to a convincing 53-13 win over the Daytona State College Falcons to capture the school's fourth straight NJCAA Women's Flag Football National Championship. London Jenkins was named the MVP for her three-touchdown performance.

The two teams previously met on Friday, April 24, where FGC needed a late touchdown pass to secure a 7-0 win in the conference championship game. That day, it was Layla West who caught the game's only touchdown. In the NJCAA Championship Game, she caught the first touchdown of many for the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves started the scoring with Martha Edwards finding West on a 15-yard out route that West turned upfield, sprinting the final 40 yards to the end zone. Nichelle Brown picked off Daytona State on the first defensive drive, which set up a 10-yard pass from Edwards to Jenkins in the back of the end zone. The Timberwolves led 13-0 within five minutes, but Daytona State had its chances to stem the momentum.

After falling behind double digits, the Falcons got inside the five-yard line, but a series of miscues saw the ball pushed back. It wasn't long before Jenkins made her mark on defense, jumping a route and bringing it back 65 yards to push the lead to 19-0 before the end of the first quarter.

Despite the fast start by the defending champions, Daytona State still had a chance to get back into the game. After stopping the Florida Gateway offense, the Falcons were able to get on the board. A couple of missed flag pulls allowed Faith Durden to nearly score on a 55-yard reception to DSC at the one-yard line. After a sack, Shania Spencer found Aubrey Barak for a 4-yard score to make it a 19-7 game.

The pivotal moment came in the final minutes of the first half. Daytona State stopped FGC's offense again, getting the ball back in its own territory. On third and one from its own 19-yard line, Spencer was picked off by Brown for a second time, with this one ending in a pick-six. The interception and touchdown curbed the momentum built by Daytona State, with Florida Gateway leading 26-7 at halftime.

FGC's opening possession of the second half saw the Edwards to Jenkins connection open again. The pair connected down the middle for a 17-yard score to build the lead to 33-7. The next possession saw Katelyn Jewell and Brown hook up from 10 yards out to make it 40-7, and the fourth-straight coronation was underway.

The fourth quarter saw three scores between the teams. Emma Clough hit Keeley Allen down the sideline from 23 yards out to extend the lead to 46-7, followed by another pick six from FGC courtesy of Poetry Auguste. Daytona State added a late score when Littiana Dasilva tightroped down the sideline for a 55-yard score to reach the 53-13 final scoreline.

From the first game of the NJCAA Invitational, it was clear that Florida Gateway was on a different level. The Timberwolves played their two pool-play matchups back-to-back and faced little resistance. FGC crushed Harford Community College (MD) 74-0 and followed it up with a 51-6 win over Bryant & Stratton College (WI). The wins were more than enough to claim the top seed for the bracket and a bye into the semifinals.

FGC would meet a familiar opponent in the semifinals: Bryant & Stratton. Unlike the pool play matchup, the Timberwolves would not allow a point. The game was effectively over early in the second quarter when Florida Gateway built a 27-0 lead. It was a 48-0 halftime lead and eventually ballooned to the 75-0 final score.

Daytona State played in the other pool, defeating the College of DuPage (IL) 20-0 in the opening game and Roxbury Community College (MA) 32-0 in a weather-shortened second game. The Falcons earned a bye directly to the semifinals as the second seed, where they would defeat DuPage handily 57-0 to set up the national title rematch from last year.

Florida Gateway finishes the 2026 spring season 19-1 overall. The lone blemish was a 25-19 loss versus Life University (GA) on Saturday, March 7. Since that loss, FGC allowed just 33 points the rest of the season and went 13-0.

Florida Gateway has dominated the NJCAA level in its four seasons. In addition to winning all four National Championships, the Timberwolves have gone 67-5 overall. Head coach Ricky Hufty talked about this year's title and the FGC dynasty.

"Super special to be a part of. We've got an amazing group of young women who have come through this program year in and year out, and this group is absolutely no different. I'm super grateful to be a very small piece of the puzzle of what this program is, has become, and has done. To see us come out and put together a really complete performance on the biggest stage was everything you could hope for. I'm just so happy for all the players and everybody on the roster contributed to what happened today."

This year's NJCAA Women's Flag Football Invitational featured six teams at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, but next year's edition could look different. Brycen McKeehan, who helps oversee flag football as an emerging sport for the NJCAA, stated that the format for the 2027 Invitational will be reviewed. McKeehan also noted that the NJCAA is expecting around 30 schools to compete next season, which could be a factor in how next year's Invitational is structured.