The Elbert County Comprehensive High School flag football program may still be in its infancy, but it’s already produced one college athlete.
Senior Zoe Evans became the first flag football player in Elbert County history to sign to play in college, when she officially signed her letter of intent to play flag football at Emmanuel University Wednesday.
“Zoe represents very strong leadership qualities and tendencies, and she’s very defensive minded,” ECCHS head flag football coach Ashley Bryant said. “I think she’ll be extremely suitable for Emmanuel University and the new program they’ve begun there.”
Evans herself thanked her family, friends and the Elberton community as a whole.
As Bryant alluded to, Emmanuel’s own flag football program is also young. The university became the first NCAA Division II school to offer varsity women’s flag football as an official scholarship sport.
The program’s inception was first announced in February 2024 in partnership with the NFL, RCX Sports and the Atlanta Falcons. The Lions played their first season in the spring of 2025. Currently in year two, Emmanuel has a 9-6 record with three regular season games remaining.
Emmanuel competes in Conference Carolinas among 15 other schools located in the southeast. The team’s head coach is Terry Allen, who attended Banks County High School and played running back in the NFL for 11 seasons, receiving an All-Pro nod in 1996.
Elbert County’s own program started thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Arthur M. Blank foundation. ECCHS athletic director Jeannie Jourolmon said Bryant successfully applied for another $5,000 to continue the program in 2026.
Flag football has seen a rise in popularity in the United States recently, partly due to the NFL’s efforts to sponsor it as a youth sport across the country. Evans is among the first generation of athletes to play the sport at the official, college-sanctioned level.
“Zoe has an awesome opportunity to not only be in our first program here at the high school,” Jourolmon said. “But also starting at the college level, where they're starting to push it and offer that collegiate version.”