UCF's Lindsay Ward wins national flag football award after key pickoff

Lindsay Ward’s one-handed interception in the inaugural Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic did more than stop Florida on a lateral attempt. The senior wide receiver at UCF turned the play into a national moment, winning the May 2026 NFL Way to Play Flag Award and giving the Knights a highlight that carried far beyond one championship game.

UCF beat Florida 19-7 at the Fields at Dorsey on the Arizona State University campus, with the game airing on ESPNU and the ESPN App. Ward’s reaction on the lateral changed the momentum in a matchup that had become familiar to both programs: Florida had beaten UCF in the NIRSA Championship Series national tournament final each of the previous four years, including in January in Houston.

The award also fit the shape of UCF’s program. The Knights say their flag football tradition dates to 1979, when UCF won the first-ever Flag Football National Tournament, and the women’s club has continued to post national results, including a second-place finish at a recent tournament in Jacksonville. UCF says its women’s flag football club has won more national championships than any other school in the sport, a record that gives the Knights a standing few club programs can match.

Ward was not the only Knight recognized from the title game. Eliana Higbie-Long was named Defensive MVP, and Kayla Ludwig scored the game-sealing touchdown and earned Offensive MVP honors. Together, those performances framed a 19-7 win that underlined how UCF has built a program capable of delivering both results and replay-worthy plays on the biggest club stage.

The NFL’s Way to Play Flag Award is part of the league’s program for flag football players and is designed to recognize proper technique and impactful plays each month. The NFL says flag football now has more than 20 million participants across 100 countries, and that scale helps explain why a single interception from a club championship in Tempe could travel well beyond Orlando.

UCF’s own description of the team adds another layer to the story. The club is made up of students from across the country and across a wide range of majors, and the players also help manage travel, risk planning and financial reporting for the university. For Ward, the sport has become about more than titles and awards. Her reflection on the program points to a team that gave her a family and some of the most meaningful parts of her college experience, while also producing the kind of play that national brands now know how to package and promote.