The first time she tried to follow in Ariana Akey’s footsteps, Peyton Marr learned not to trip over her own.
It was her debut for the Mountain Vista flag football team. A sophomore at the time, Marr had decided at the “last minute” before summer workouts that she wanted to play. Now here she was, subbing in for the star quarterback who had led the Golden Eagles to a Class 5A state championship in 2024 — the first in Colorado history since flag football became a CHSAA-sanctioned sport.
Akey was already a program legend, one year into its existence. Marr was her understudy.
“That first game,” she recalls, “I made some mistakes.”
One more memorable than the rest. Rolling out of the pocket and surveying the field for receivers, Marr got tangled up by her own ankles. A lapse of focus on simple footwork. Down she went.
“The start was kind of a little bit rocky,” she told The Denver Post on Tuesday during CHSAA’s football media day at Empower Field. “But then when we would make subs, I think I proved myself a little bit to show I could take the reins this year. … Throughout the season, I definitely think that idea (that I could start) became more set in stone.”
Marr is the quarterback to whom an impossibly hot torch has been passed. She will lead Mountain Vista into the future without Akey, who’s bound for the University of Nebraska on one of the first-ever women’s flag football scholarships offered by a Division I school. She leaves behind a high school team that has never lost. In its history.
The Golden Eagles are 38-0 in their first two seasons. They’ve seized a controlling interest in the state championship trophy at a time when girls flag football has skyrocketed in national popularity.
“We’re all really proud of it,” Dani Scheich said. “This is one of the fastest growing sports, so I think it’s an awesome accomplishment.”
“There’s definitely a little bit of pressure there,” Marr said when the streak was brought up. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel any at all.”
But it helps to focus only on what she and the 2026 team can accomplish, rather than the legacy she’s tasked with upholding. Still, she has consulted none other than her friend Akey for advice on how to handle that.
“I’ve definitely asked her how to kind of relieve myself of some of the pressure I’ve been putting on myself,” Marr said. “And she’s definitely been a great person to talk to about that, just because (she’s a) big time athlete, going to Nebraska, all the pressure she’s felt.”
Balancing basketball and flag football
Basketball is Marr’s thing. She played a bit of flag football while growing up, but she eventually stepped away from the sport to focus on hoops. In the moment, it might’ve seemed like she was quitting her secondary sport altogether. With the benefit of hindsight, she can say she just “took a break.” Returning to it in high school has been a worthwhile experience for her — not just because of all the winning.
“Definitely a great decision I made because it helps me get exposed and helped me make friendships,” Marr said. “A lot of positives all around.”
And it was almost a new puzzle for her to solve. One that could be applied to basketball, and vice versa. Both are fast-paced games that reward intuition. Marr made a habit of quietly observing Akey last season, trying to pick up on the instincts that made the senior so dominant.
“How fast she’d make her decisions (stood out),” Marr said. “She would roll out and know exactly where she wanted to go with it. I definitely learned from that, because in our division with all the great teams we play, you’ve gotta make fast decisions or it’s gonna go downhill.”
As Mountain Vista undergoes its first major transition, other schools are alert to the new possibilities that await this year. One of the flag football teams that attended CHSAA’s media day in Denver was Berthoud High School — a brand-new program preparing for its inaugural season under coach Blaine Voth. The coach of last season’s Class 5A runner-up, Legend High, offered a transparent assessment on the state of the competition in Colorado.
“It’s actually a lot harder because there’s so much more talent in the state. All of the other programs are far more developed,” Darren Pitzner said. “There’s easily 20 teams — I mean, for sure 16 — that could win it this year. … That’s gonna make it hopefully far more fun to cover, because there’s so much parity. So many good multi-sport athletes in the state. And so it’s gonna be a fun season. There’s not that clear favorite like there was the last two years, where you didn’t know who was gonna win the title, but you knew who by far the favorite was.”
Translation: The twice-undefeated team with the quarterback who played in a showcase at the Pro Bowl and was named in the sport.
“Seeing her go and accomplish all these things that she’s really one of the first to do is amazing,” Scheich said. “And she’s also taught all of us so much. We’ve all taken away her worth ethic and commitment to the sport.”
But tomorrow is a new day for Colorado flag football — not just for the other contenders, but for Mountain Vista.
“I’ve gotta make my own path,” Marr said.
