Photo: Regina High School
Warren Regina players celebrate after beating Bloomfield Hills Marian on Saturday.
Warren Regina defeated Catholic High School League rival Bloomfield Hills Marian 31-7 in their annual senior flag football game on Saturday, April 24, at Warren De La Salle. It was the fourth straight year Regina has beaten Marian.
The game was moved to spring rather than its traditional fall date this school year, due to the pandemic. Game video can be viewed here.
For those not familiar with this event, it is not your typical girls “powderpuff” scrimmage between the junior and senior classes at high schools across the country. Each year, Regina and Marian face off in a hard-hitting, action-packed flag football game with complex plays and great athleticism. The game is played in four 15-minute quarters with official Michigan High School Athletic Association referees.
The game has come a long way since the teams played in jeans and boys football jerseys decades ago. This year, the Regina players were donned in dark gray jerseys and shorts with teal numbers. Each year the Regina senior class adopts a new nickname for the game instead of its official “Saddlelites.” They picked the “Vipers” this year. The Marian girls played in their traditional blue shorts, blue-and-white striped socks, and white t-shirts.
The Saddlelites began their flag football tradition in 1965, beating Grosse Pointe Woods Our Star of Sea 2-0 on the football field of their then-brother school, Harper Woods Notre Dame. Members of the Notre Dame boys football team helped coach the girls in the early games.
Regina would go on to play various Catholic Schools in the 1960s and 1970s, including Detroit Servite Catholic, Detroit Immaculata, Dearborn Divine Child, Detroit East Catholic, Hamtramck St. Ladislaus, and Center Line St. Clement. Regina played Detroit Dominican seven times in the 1970s, winning six. Each of those former rivals has since closed.
Regina first played Marian in 1981, winning 16-0. The two teams have played every year since with the exception of 1984, when Regina played Our Lady Star of the Sea for the final time. Regina is 35-20-1 overall since 1965 and 23-17 against Marian.
The rivalry is taken very seriously at both schools. Next to graduation, it is the most anticipated event of the year at each school.
The physicality, quality of play and intensity in this game rivals that played by boys football teams. There is not a similar game held anywhere else in the state.
Photo: C&G News
Warren Regina's Jenna O'Brien outpaces Marian's Elena Toomajian to score the first touchdown of the game on Saturday. Additional photos >
Regina Senior Flag Football results
2020: Warren Regina 31, Bloomfield Hills Marian 7**
2019: Warren Regina 21, Bloomfield Hills Marian 13
2018: Warren Regina 7, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
2017: Warren Regina, 21, Bloomfield Hills Marian 14
2016: Bloomfield Hills Marian 14, Warren Regina 11
2015: Warren Regina 21, Bloomfield Hills Marian 12
2014: Bloomfield Hills Marian 10, Warren Regina 2
2013: Warren Regina 23, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
2012: Bloomfield Hills Marian 16, Warren Regina 14
2011: Bloomfield Hills Marian 10, Warren Regina 7
2010: Bloomfield Hills Marian 20, Warren Regina 7
2009: Bloomfield Hills Marian 22, Warren Regina 0
2008: Warren Regina 31, Bloomfield Hills Marian 7
2007: Warren Regina 14, Bloomfield Hills Marian 12
2006: Bloomfield Hills Marian 14, Warren Regina 7
2005: Bloomfield Hills Marian 21, Harper Woods Regina 14
2004: Harper Woods Regina 14, Bloomfield Hills Marian 7
2003: Harper Woods Regina 14, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
2002: Bloomfield Hills Marian 14, Harper Woods Regina 9
2001: Harper Woods Regina 15, Bloomfield Hills Marian 13
2000: Bloomfield Hills Marian 9, Harper Woods Regina 3
1999: Harper Woods Regina 19, Bloomfield Hills Marian 16
1998: Harper Woods Regina 15, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
1997: Harper Woods Regina 14, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
1996: Bloomfield Hills Marian 14, Harper Woods Regina 12
1995: Harper Woods Regina 22, Bloomfield Hills Marian 21
1994: Harper Woods Regina 28, Bloomfield Hills Marian 15
1993: Harper Woods Regina 21, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
1992: Harper Woods Regina 13, Bloomfield Hills Marian 7
1991: Harper Woods Regina 10, Bloomfield Hills Marian 7
1990: Harper Woods Regina 16, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
1989: Bloomfield Hills Marian 26, Harper Woods Regina 0
1988: Bloomfield Hills Marian 28, Harper Woods Regina 12
1987: Bloomfield Hills Marian 17, Harper Woods Regina 6
1986: Harper Woods Regina 30, Bloomfield Hills Marian 27
1985: Harper Woods Regina 26, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
1984: Harper Woods Regina 13, Grosse Pointe Woods Our Lady Star of the Sea 7
1983: Bloomfield Hills Marian 8, Harper Woods Regina 6
1982: Bloomfield Hills Marian 36, Harper Woods Regina 14
1981: Bloomfield Hills Marian 12, Harper Woods Regina 6
1980: Harper Woods Regina 16, Bloomfield Hills Marian 0
1979: Harper Woods Regina 22, Detroit Dominican 0
1978: Harper Woods Regina 25, Detroit Dominican 0
1977: Harper Woods Regina 13, Detroit Dominican 6
1976: Harper Woods Regina 0, Detroit Dominican 0
1975: Harper Woods Regina 12, Center Line St. Clement 0
1974: Harper Woods Regina 7, Detroit Dominican 0
1973: Detroit Dominican 13, Harper Woods Regina 0
1972: Hamtramck St. Ladislaus 6, Harper Woods Regina 0
1971: Harper Woods Regina 6, Detroit Dominican 0
1970: Harper Woods Regina 12, Detroit Dominican 0
1969: Detroit East Catholic 7, Harper Woods Regina 6
1968: Harper Woods Regina 27, Dearborn Divine Child 0
1967: Harper Woods Regina 12, Detroit Immaculata 0
1966: Harper Woods Regina 20, Detroit Servite Catholic 14
1965: Harper Woods Regina 2, Grosse Pointe Woods Our Lady Star of the Sea 0
* St. Ladislaus closed in 1981. Immaculata closed in 1983. Servite closed in 1986. Our Lady Star of the Sea closed its high school in 1993. East Catholic and St. Clement closed in 2005. Dominican closed in 2006.
** 2020 game was held on April 24, 2021. Game was moved from the fall due to the pandemic.
