Ariana Akey grew up dreaming of playing football never imagining she’d see those dreams become her reality.
They did however, and she’ll be playing for the Nebraska woman’s flag football team in 2027.
“I used to tell my parents when I was little, ‘I want to play football in college,’” Akey told Hail Varsity. “There was no girls football, so I was referring to boys football. They were like, ‘Yeah, that’s great, maybe focus on track, be more realistic,’ things like that. So now that I’m actually here, it’s crazy to me.”
The freshman quarterback’s path to Nebraska wasn’t a straight and narrow one, however. She didn’t commit to Nebraska until April after wavering between running track or playing football.
“It just came down to I liked playing flag so much more than I did running track,” Akey said.
Akey began playing football around second grade. She played on an all-boys team with her twin brother until eighth grade, when she was forced to stop. She attended Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and it didn’t have a girls football team when she arrived. That changed her junior year, and she jumped at the opportunity.
“It’s crazy because I thought when I was done in eighth grade, I was done for good,” Akey said. “Then when I was able to play my junior year, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so fun; I have two more years of this, junior and senior year.’ Now that it’s a college thing, it’s like, ‘This is amazing, this is crazy that I can go to school for it.’”
Ariana Akey runs drills during flag football practice on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Lincoln, NE. Photo by John S. Peterson.
Akey said that she originally thought she’d be going to Cal Poly, but after Huskers associate head coach Katie Sowers and head coach Liz Sowers made the move to Lincoln, she followed. The quarterback became Nebraska’s first flag football commit.
“It was a really big deal I guess, with the sport being new and everything,” Akey said of signing. “It was like a relief that I finally knew where I was going, because by that point it was April, I think. Everyone else, my friends knew where they were going to college, and I had no idea until then.”
Getting Akey to Nebraska was a no-brainer for the Sowers sisters. Her resume speaks for itself, and Nebraska wanted her in Lincoln.
Akey led Mountain Vista to a 19-0 record and two state titles across her junior and senior seasons while totaling 8,980 passing yards and 171 passing touchdowns. She was also a two-time Colorado Flag Football Player of the Year. She was a first-team all-state football selection in 2025, a second team all-state selection in 2024 and an Army All-American.
“She has not lost a sevens game in Colorado,” Katie said. “I don’t know that there’s a lot of people that can say that. Not to mention, math is one of her favorite hobbies, so when I’m talking about this is a special person, it really is.”
Akey has always loved math, and she believes it’s helped her in football as she’s worked to diagnose defenses.
“I think it helps me with applying the fact that a defense is maybe a problem, and you’re just trying to solve it,” Akey said. “There’s always going to be a way to get around it, so just applying OK, what we know, what I know my players can do, what I know I can do, things like that. It’s just that standpoint of a problem and it needing to be solved.”
The 5-foot-2 signal caller will have a chance to start solving those problems in the spring of 2027. Nebraska was originally set to begin play in 2028 but announced it would start its first season in 2027. The Huskers were the first Power Four program to add woman’s flag football to their athletic department. This announcement came in January, and practice began in September. The team has been practicing in Memorial Stadium and the indoor facilities, which Akey has enjoyed.
“I’m really just learning, hanging out with my teammates, learning how we play, how we play with each other, and building that chemistry on and off the field,” Akey said. “And then we’re just getting down to preparing for January.”
Akey has learned a lot in her time playing football. She played in the NFL FLAG High School Girls Showcase during the Pro Bowl Games in February, where she guided her Colorado-based team to the semifinals. She also won Pro Bowl MVP honors and met other players.
“I learned just how big of a deal flag could be, and continuing playing, supporting it, trying to put it out there for other people to see, so younger girls can start playing,” Akey said. “We can just grow it by being at those things, and how important those events are for the growth of the game.”
Nebraska and Akey will work to grow the game when their inaugural season begins in the spring.
“We saw the Nebraska volleyball stadium sellout a couple years ago for the volleyball game, and even like 1% of that would be crazy to see,” Akey said. “So I’m very excited.”
