FLAG FOOTBALL: Catholic's demanding schedule should be advantagious for post season

Coach Whitney Toole and the Catholic flag football team has reached the state championship game the last three years and is the favorite again this season in the new private school classification. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

With only 13 schools in the new private school division for flag football, three-time finalist Catholic is the favorite to make an appearance in the championship game in Mobile this December.

Under the old Alabama High School Athletic Association format with Competitive Balance, the 2025 runner-up in Class 1A-4A would have been bumped up to Class 5A and would likely have been placed in the same region with Park Crossing, Julian, Russell County, Stanhope Elmore and Wetumpka.

Now, relegated to a classification that includes only private schools, the Knights were placed in Region 2 with Emmanuel Christian, Glenwood School and Northside Methodist, only to discover Emmanuel will not be fielding a flag football team this fall.  

“We have never played either of the teams in our region,” Catholic coach Whitney Toole said. “Obviously, we’re going to focus on them but we tried to find the best people we could play that would fit in our schedule. And we’re going to go see where we stand with the best of the public schools.”

That schedule includes the 2026 season opener at Central-Phenix City on Aug. 20, home games with Auburn, Smiths Station and Spain Park and road games at St. Anne Pacelli in Columbus, Tallassee and Enterprise.

“I just made a list of the schools that went deep in the playoffs, the schools that played for championships,” Toole said. “I just started on the phone and the ones that would play, go ahead and schedule and we went down the list from there. That’s the way we’ve done the last two years.

“Playing the best teams will give us the best chance to see what we need to get better at.”

Locally, the only teams on the Knights’ schedule includes G.W. Carver at home on Sept. 8 and Trinity at home on Oct. 27. Two noteworthy omissions are Brewbaker Tech, which included scheduling conflicts on both sides, and Prattville.   

“I actually wish I would have had a couple of more dates because I had to tell some people no,” Toole said. “There are some good private schools out there as well. We’ve seen Westminster Christian and they can hang with the best of them, but we’re going to play nearby (teams that are) the best we can.”

The 15-game schedule includes 10 home games, including a region matchup with Glenwood School on Oct. 6. In addition to the opener at Central, the Knights will return to Phenix City on Sept. 26 for the Border Wars Tournament.

CATHOLIC 2026 FLAG FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 20 at Central-Phenix City

Aug. 25 Auburn

Sept. 1 Selma

Sept. 8 G.W. Carver

Sept. 14 at St. Anne Pacelli

Sept. 22 Smiths Station

Sept. 26 Border Wars Tournament (Phenix City)

Sept. 28 at Tallassee

Sept. 29 at *Northside Methodist

Oct. 6 *Glenwood School

Oct. 8 Spain Park

Oct. 13 St. Michael

Oct. 13 John Carroll

Oct. 15 at Enterprise

Oct. 20 Austin

Oct. 27 Trinity