MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota's top women's football team is heading to the national championship game, which will be nationally televised by ESPN from Canton, Ohio on Sunday, July 10.
The Women’s Football Alliance PRO National Championship between the Minnesota Vixen (6-2) and the Boston Renegades (8-0) will be televised on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. CT.
The Vixen ended the season undefeated at home and won the WFA American Conference Championship on June 25 after beating Cali War 36-30.
When they take the field at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, where the NFL regularly plays its first pre-season game and where the United States Football League also held their championship game last weekend, the Vixen will be looking for revenge.
Last year in the championship game, the Renegades beat the Vixen 42-26. This is the team's first time going to the championship in back-to-back seasons.
Established in 1999, the Vixen is the longest-running women's football team in the country, according to the team. Since then, the Vixen has been a part of several women's football leagues over the years.
Saturday's national championship game will be a heavyweight bout, with both the Vixen and Renegades leading the league in multiple key categories on offense and defense. The Minnesota Vixen, much like the Vikings, are seeking their first league championship and the Renegades are looking to live up to Boston's "Titletown" name.
'We wanna finish business this year and come home with some hardware'
At the helm of the Vixen's coaching staff is Ryan McCauley, who was recently named the WFA Coach of the Year. He also teaches health classes in the Edina School District.
According to McCauley, aside from making it to Sunday's championship game, the biggest success for the Vixen's season has been in the players' growth. From growing their football IQ to quickly learning the coaches' game plans, the development of the players has been a major team success.
"Obviously, we wanna finish business this year and come home with some hardware, come home with a ring, but I think that this team is only going to continue to move up and up and up and its a testament to the players that we have, the coaches that we have, and James and Laura, the owners as well," he said. "So I think that this team will continue to be putting themselves in a position to succeed."
On offense, Boston leads the WFA in total team offense with an average of 447.7 yards per game. However, the Vixen aren't far behind at sixth with 352.5 yards per game. For scoring, Boston and Minnesota are closely matched. The Renegades lead the league with 53.3 points per game, while the Vixen rank third with 38.5 points per game.
The Vixen's offense is led by rookie quarterback Erin Kelley, who leads the league in passing with 1,033 yards and sits third in passing touchdowns with 12, averaging 172.2 passing yards per game. She also had 142 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns.
'She really puts that ball on the spot where it needs to be'
Kelley was one of two quarterbacks to pass for more than 1,000 yards in the WFA this season and was one of the eight Vixen players named to the league's 2022 All-American team, which made Vixen wide receiver coach Connor Jo Lewis' job much easier.
"Erin Kelley is amazing. She's really consistent, in both her throws and her motion, which is so important with leading the team from the quarterback position, and she really puts that ball on the spot where it needs to be," Lewis explained. "You rarely see our receivers slowing down on go-routes and on any of their in-breaking routes, out-breaking routes, the ball is where it needs to be so we really got to make the catch, secure the catch and then make a play happen."
The Vixen's wide receiving corps is led by rookie receiver Jackie Radford, who had 586 yards on 31 receptions and nine touchdowns in the regular season. Jo Lewis explained that Radford's background in basketball translated well and made it easier for her to have an outstanding rookie season.
On the offensive line, rookie Jess Pett told KARE 11 the Vixen's family and tight-knit culture has helped the team reach this point.
"I'm excited, our vibe is super awesome, our morale is really high," she said. "Our whole team is kind of collective, we just love doing it so we give our 100% every single play so I think we're ready. I think we're going to win."
Boston's quarterback, Allison Cahill, wasn't far behind in passing yards with 974, which ranked third in the league. Cahill also leads the league in passing touchdowns with 15.
On the defensive side of the ball, both the Renegades and Vixen will feature some of the league's top players. Boston's Shantia Creech leads the league in interceptions with four, who is followed by Minnesota's Ace Theissen, who has three. In the trenches, the Vixen's defensive end Samantha Barber is tied for first in the league for most sacks with five. Both Barber and Theissen were named 2022 All-Americans.
Vixen linebacker Megan Myers, who tore her ACL in the first two minutes of the second game of her rookie season last year, explained that coming back to the field, earning the starting position, and returning to the league championship made all of the rehab and physical therapy worth it. Due to the long recovery from her torn ACL, Myers only played in three games this season.
"The fact that we get to go back to a national championship, and I was on crutches last year and not being able to play, it was all worth it so this game means so much to me as an individual but obviously more as a team," she said.
Myers, who works as a first-grade teacher in St. Paul, added that she fell in love with football because she's able to hit people as hard as she can without getting in trouble since youth girls sports don't have very much contact.
The Vixen isn't the only WFA team in the Land of 10,000 Lakes - the Minnesota Minx play at the WFA developmental level. Across the league's four levels - PRO, Division I, Division II and Developmental - there are 67 teams, stretching coast to coast with teams from Seattle to New Hampshire.
Back in 1999, the Vixen originally started as part of a nationwide tour for women's football, which then led to the creation of the Women's Professional Football League. The team called the WPFL home until they joined the National Women's Football Association for a single season before heading over to the Independent Women's Football League after the 2008 season. The Vixen stayed in the IWFL until 2017 when they joined the Women's Football Alliance.
'That's what we've been doing - grinding. Grinding together'
For defensive tackle Cynthia "Red" Bryant, who has been a part of the team since the start in 1999 and lights up practice with her personality like a lighthouse along the shores of the Great Lakes, the growth of the Vixen from its beginnings to now has been incredible.
After playing pro football as long as Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady in the NFL, she said seeing the growth in her teammates over the years keeps her coming back year after year.
According to the now seven-time All-Star and two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Bryant didn't know if playing football was right for her and often thought that she should have been playing basketball, but the birth of her grandchildren changed all of that.
"They're the reason that I went from, I was one of those who, in the beginning, was like 'whatever, I should have been in basketball' and just came and whatever and then when my son had his first daughter, I took it seriously, like this might be something she might want to do and just showing them that they can break any barriers, just because it's not the norm don't mean they can't reach it and go for it."
She added that the team's journey back to the WFA PRO National Championship was scary at times.
"Sometimes, especially when some of our players went down, it was like you have the thought of 'Are we gonna get back?' Because it's hard to get back-to-back but then you come and see all these young ladies put in the hard work and you come together and you have that heart and feeling to just get out here and do it," Bryant said. "That's what we've been doing - grinding. Grinding together."
After an intense season, wide receivers coach Connor Jo Lewis said beating Boston after losing to the Renegades last year would be an amazing way to cap the team's decades-long hunt for a title.
"This team has overcome so much adversity this year, we've had injuries on both sides of the ball, All-American linebacker, All-American running back and also in our secondary, and we've been able to overcome that and people have stepped up," they said.
Regardless of which women's football league they call home, the Vixen have continued their winning ways, securing four conference championships across two different leagues since 2016, but that league championship has stayed elusive.
Sunday, the Vixen chase their first WFA PRO championship and the Renegades will look to secure their fourth league title.
After losing in the title game in 2017, Boston won the championship in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The 2020 WFA season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've been grinding for 24 years, I mean. Just taking baby steps to get better and better and just to knock them off - would be icing on the cake," Bryant said with a grin.
With the Minnesota Aurora FC playoff-bound and the Minnesota Lynx starting to turn their season around, the Vixen may be the first Twin Cities women's team to bring home a championship this year.
"It would literally be a dream come true, just to bring a national championship home to Minnesota," Vixen linebacker Megan Myers said. "I was born and raised in Minnesota, so obviously I'm a big Minnesota sports fan so I wanna bring a championship home to Minnesota."
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