ST. PAUL, Minn. – Football is a passion that runs in Kenley Johnson's family.
 
Her father's first cousin is legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who won seven Super Bowl rings over the course of his 23-season NFL career.
 
"He's literally the reason I'm obsessed with the game," said Johnson, a 2015 graduate of the College of Saint Benedict. "I was six or seven when he got drafted and I've lived and breathed football ever since. We went to a lot of his games over the years. I've been to two Super Bowls. He was where my interest in the sport started."
 
But despite being a three-sport athlete at Browerville High School, and a part of the Fighting Saints ROTC Battalion at CSB and SJU, Johnson did not take up the sport herself until three years ago when the physician she was referred to for an injured toe suggested she try out for the Minnesota Vixen, the nation's longest continually operating women's football team.
 
"She used to play for the team," said Johnson, a member of the U.S. Army Reserve who works as a military technician at Fort Snelling. "She was the one who encouraged me to give it a shot."
 
Johnson, a wide receiver, is one of four CSB graduates on the roster for the Vixen, who boast a record of 7-1 and will take on the Pittsburgh Passion (7-1) in the Women's Football Alliance (WFA) Pro Division National Championship Game at 1 p.m. (CDT) this Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.
 
The matchup will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
 
Also part of the team are defensive lineman Allyson Klenke Pattain '10, now in her ninth season, defensive back Caitlin Hill '12, now in her eighth season, and Bre Berry '03, a rookie defensive lineman this year at age 45.
 
"I played rugby and hockey at Saint Ben's and I've always loved competing," said Berry, who works in real estate and is the mom of three sons, ages 20, 11 and 10. "I continued playing rugby after college. Then I had a baby and that went out the window. I still had a passion for lifting in the gym and helping other women build strength and get more confident. But I missed being part of a team. I wanted to find a community that was striving toward the same goals and I've found it here.
 
"Being part of this group has been an amazing experience."
 
That community feel is a big part of what keeps bringing Pattain and Hill back year after year.
 
"I truly love football," said Pattain, a Paynesville High School graduate who was a member of the track and field team at CSB and now works at Three Stars SportsCards in Bloomington. "I love playing on the defensive line and being a leader for our position group. I'm committed to helping the defensive line players improve, and it's so rewarding when I can see the improvement that they've been working on, or when something finally clicks for a new player.
 
"We work hard, and most importantly, we have fun. We laugh, we joke around and we trust each other. It's easy to keep coming back when we all work together and have fun. Vixen football is a family - 100 percent."
 
"We're all in this together," added Hill, who has not played this season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered during the 2025 campaign. "It feels like a family. We all have each other's back."
 
Pattain and Hill were both on the team in 2022 when the Vixen last advanced to the championship game, falling to the Boston Renegades for the second straight year. This time around, the team advanced with a 23-20 win over the top-seeded Salt Lake City Wildcats on the road in the American Conference Championship game on July 11.
 
Michaela Duriskova hit a 39-yard field goal as time expired to give the team the victory in a game in which they'd trailed 14-0.
 
"I'm on the field goal unit and I was on the field for the game-winning field goal," Pattain said. "The kick went up and sailed through the uprights with plenty of distance, and it was an instant celebration for our entire team. 
 
"To say we were all ecstatic was understatement. It doesn't get much better than a last second field goal in a playoff game. The mood was definitely excitement, joy, happiness and celebration. We battled through triple digit temps and high altitude to get the win, and to have to overcome those things made it feel even more exciting."
 
It was especially sweet for Hill, who has sponsored Duriskova, an international player.
 
"She's lived with me the past couple of years and it's great to see how well she's been doing," said Hill, who works in quality control at Bio-Techne in Minneapolis. "That field goal was really exciting."
 
Hill and Pattain have experienced the championship game before. But for Johnson and Berry, it will be a new experience.
 
"We don't know a lot about Pittsburgh because we haven't played them before," Johnson said. "But we know they're going to be a good team. It will be a tough matchup."
 
"My kids are going to be really proud of (their mom playing on national television)," Berry added. "It's going to be an awesome experience. I couldn't be prouder of this group and all the work we've put in this year.
 
"You couldn't ask for more than to be in the position we're in now."
 
Women's football continues to gain in popularity in Minnesota at all levels, helped along by the NFL's Minnesota Vikings decision to contribute more than $1 million since 2022 to grow the game. The state's first high school league got started in the spring of 2025 and more than doubled in size to include 104 schools this past year.
 
At the college level, CSB added flag football as a varsity sport this past spring, joining the now two-year old Midwest College Women's Flag Football League. The Bennies won the league in their first season of play, defeating St. Olaf 13-12 in the semifinals and Concordia 26-20 on a last-second, one-handed grab by sophomore wide receiver Drew Buslee in the championship game.
 
"I was so excited when I heard they had a team," Johnson said. "I wish something like that had been possible 11 years ago, or even before that. I would have played for sure."
 
"I follow the team on social media and I tuned in online for one of their tournaments," Pattain added. "I was impressed with their level of play already for being in just the first year. Usually, there are some growing pains, but it looked like a lot of those wrinkles were already ironed out for CSB. 
 
"I look forward to continuing to watch them and I think the program will only grow from here. I'm always pumped for women's sports, and even more pumped when it is football.  I think the interest in flag football is great and I'm excited to see where the sport goes. With a college program, there will be a lot of athletes who already know the game from playing in high school. The competition will get better, and overall the teams will continue to get better. 
 
"It's a win-win for women's sports. "