Maine women’s football team is 1 win away from national title game

Maine’s only full-contact women’s football team — the Maine Mayhem — has its biggest game in franchise history next Saturday, July 13, in Lewiston.

The Mayhem (6-1), members of the semi-professional Women’s Football Alliance, will play the Cincinnati Cougars (6-1) for their first National Conference Championship and a trip to the Division III national championship at Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio.

Gametime is 6 p.m. at Don Roux Field.

Founded in 2015, the Mayhem are one of 60 WFA teams nationwide and have won back-to-back Northeast regional championships. They recruit former high school and collegiate athletes from around the state who are interested in learning new techniques and playing a physical style of sport that is largely inaccessible to women otherwise.

Coached by Bryant Oja of Standish and quarterbacked by 21-year-old Maggie Schofield of York, the Mayhem have a healthy mix of veterans and rookies capable of running 200 different plays in their spread offense — WFA rules mimic the NCAA rulebook — and can transition from a cover two to a cover four on defense.

The WFA ‘Pro Division’ has been televised on ESPN and ESPN2 before, and teams in Division II and III get promoted by winning a national championship in Canton.

“It’s much more official than I imagined — it’s no joke,” first-year running back and linebacker Trinity Jacques, 26, of Westbrook said. “I never knew that football was an option for me growing up, but it fits me better than soccer or softball. I get swept up in the energy and aggression of it.”

The Mayhem hold open practices and tryouts around Greater Portland in the fall and finalize their 35-woman roster in December, prior to the regular season.

They travel around New England to play their games, developing rivalries with teams like the New Hampshire Rebellion and New York Knockout — the latter of which they upset in double overtime 13-7 last weekend to qualify for the National Conference Championship.

The conference championship will be the Mayhem’s first time hosting a playoff game.

Many Mayhem fans and players learned about the league through word of mouth. So did 31-year-old Passaquamoddy descendant Taylor Terry (formerly Dore), who is playing her first year for the opposing Cougars.

“It popped up on my Facebook, and I thought, ‘Now I have to try it,’” Terry said. “Now I’m the Cougars’ starting defensive end. I love the shock value when I tell people.”

Founded in 2022, the Cougars are this year’s Southeast Regional champions and are outscoring their opponents by 38 points per game this season, raising the stakes for Saturday’s game.

“They have a bunch of different schemes and have been on our radar,” Mayhem coach Oja said. “There’s a lot of behind the scenes work. As soon as we beat New York, we refocused to the game next weekend.”

As much as a conference championship and a chance to play in Canton would mean for the Mayhem, their mission isn’t just about winning games and gaining popularity.

One of the key ways the Mayhem stay involved with the community and promote awareness of women in football is through their Girls of Fall program, in which players mentor Maine middle and high school girls pursuing the sport.

“It’s a very uplifting, engaging community,” Jacques said. “The veterans coach you up, and the travel can be a lot of fun. There’s so much understanding and wisdom on this team.”