Butler County’s flag football 2026 all-stars: North Catholic’s Lizzie Fabian named POTY, plus first team picks
The first season of PIAA flag football provided new highlights and a bigger stage for the three Butler County teams to put their talents on display.
No local athlete put up more highlights than senior Lizzie Fabian.
The North Catholic do-everything athlete could run, catch and defend, earning a college roster spot at Division I Mercyhurst and a Big 33 all-star game selection. Fabian, a three-year starter and captain who also led the team in sacks for three straight seasons, is this year’s inaugural Butler Eagle Flag Football Player of the Year.
Who said quarterback had to be the player of the year?
See who else joined her on the county all-star team, including first team and honorable mentions, listed alphabetically:
Lizzie Fabian, sr., LB/ATH, North Catholic: With flag football exploding in popularity across the country, Fabian is one of the first Butler County-area athletes to earn a college scholarship in the sport. The Mercyhurst commit was a dynamic talent in the first PIAA season, leading the Trojanettes with 15 total touchdowns (seven rushing, seven receiving, one pick-six), receiving yards and catches, 16 tackles for loss, four sacks, six interceptions and total flag pulls. The Big 33 honoree at cornerback lined up all over the field for North and was a “ferocious and versatile defender” offenses tried to scheme around, per head coach Tim Aguglia.
Savannah Inman, jr., WR/S, Seneca Valley: The Raiders have some intriguing underclassmen receivers to work with for a year or more. Inman is one of the best, with 24 receptions for 425 yards — an impressive 17.7 yards per catch — and two touchdowns this season.
Rylie Lesack, fr., WR, Seneca Valley: Add Lesack to the mix. Named the Raiders’ offensive MVP, the rookie finished with some of the best numbers on the team: 31 receptions, 478 yards (15.4 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns.
Mia Negley, fr., C, Seneca Valley: In flag football, centers can catch passes too. And Negley proved adept in her rookie season at catching (14 receptions for 149 yards) as well as snapping the ball. Head coach Chris Eden called her “a vital part of our passing attack” because she could make difficult receptions and was almost always on-target with her snaps.
Simone Sharpless, sr., RB/S, North Catholic: Sharpless, familiar in these parts as a soccer standout heading to Western Michigan in the fall, used her football skills in the other kind of football. She led the Trojanettes with 11 rushing TDs and in yards on the ground, plus added three more receiving scores and four pick-sixes. The NC captain also earned the Jerome Bettis Leadership Award, which meant she got to be on stage when the Pittsburgh Steelers made their first pick in the NFL draft.
Emma Stillwagon, sr., MLB, North Catholic: Aguglia called Stillwagon the “unsung hero” in the middle of NC’s defense. She paced the Trojanettes with nine sacks and in quarterback pressures, and she added 12 tackles for loss. If needed, the Mercyhurst-bound standout could also shift to an outside position on defense to match up with a playmaker on the other team.
Gabby Valentine, sr., QB, North Catholic: Valentine, a four-year member of the team and a captain, guided the area’s top offense — which averaged 34 points per game, per Aguglia — with 21 passing TDs and 19 point-after conversions.
Ava Vangura, jr., WR/DB, North Catholic: The Trojanettes will lose a lot of veterans this summer to graduation, but Vangura expects to be back after a huge two-way season in which she hauled in five touchdown passes on offense and six interceptions on defense. She had a knack for pulling in contested catches and could rotate between corner and safety on defense.
Madi Barnyk, sr., QB, Seneca Valley; Gemma Fratto, so., WR/RB, Mars; Savannah Inman, jr., WR, Seneca Valley; Riley Marsico, jr., LB, North Catholic; Juliette Montanez, so., LB, Mars; Mikayla Ostermann, sr., LB/S, Mars; Ava Pulliam, jr., QB, Mars; Arianna Rhedrick, jr., S/WR/PR, Mars; Sarah Shay, so., DB/LB, North Catholic; Sophia Sipp, fr., RB, Seneca Valley
Submitted North Catholic photos provided by Jason Swan Photography. Submitted Seneca Valley head shots provided by Glory Days Photography.
