Willowbrook’s flag football team won the championship at its own 12-team Warrior Flag Fest event, which ended Saturday, Aug. 29. Willowbrook opened the tournament by going 2-0 in pool play on Thursday, Aug. 27. The Warriors beat Romeoville 26-0 in a semifinal contest on Saturday morning. Willowbrook defeated West Aurora 33-14 in Saturday afternoon’s title contest.
The Warriors, who won the third-place trophy in the 2025 IHSA state tournament, moved their overall record to 5-0 with their win in the Flag Fest championship game. Willowbrook opened its 2026 season with a 34-6 home win over DeKalb on Aug. 24.
The Warriors started the Flag Fest tournament with a 27-0 win over Bolingbrook on Aug. 27. Willowbrook senior Lillian Macias returned a punt 84 yards for a touchdown during the fourth quarter to give her team a 20-0 lead.
In their second game on Aug. 27, the Warriors defeated Lindblom 20-6.
Senior McKenzie Edison, who earned All-State honors during her junior season, led Willowbrook to its shutout win over Romeoville in Saturday morning’s semifinal game. Edison made two touchdown receptions and intercepted two Romeoville passes during the victory.
Willowbrook raced to a 33-0 lead over West Aurora in Saturday afternoon’s championship game. Senior Janell Adams scored the Warriors’ first points of the contest when she broke an 86-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.
Senior Madeline Carine threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Jada Langston in the final minute of the second quarter to give the Warriors a 12-0 lead.
Senior Kaitlyn Santos fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior Liz Pettinger to give Willowbrook an 18-0 lead in the third quarter. Santos and Edison connected on the conversion pass to raise the lead to 19-0. Adams supplied a 20-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter to boost Willowbrook’s lead to 25-0. Carine completed the conversion pass to Macias to give the Warriors a 26-0 advantage.
The Warriors scored their fifth and final touchdown of the game on a 14-yard pass from Santos to Langston with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Santos connected with Pettinger on the conversion pass to raise Willowbrook’s lead to 33-0.
The Warriors tried to move to 6-0 when they battled York in Elmhurst earlier this week. Willowbrook will play a home game against Elk Grove on Saturday, Sept. 5.
