Patrick Simpson saw the progress and the possibility unfolding right in front of him. The Jeffco Public Schools executive director for athletics was watching the first year of the state’s girls flag football pilot program conclude in late 2022 and it looked unrecognizable. In a good way. When the first pilot season started, he said, many games resembled the old playground game “500,” where one kid throws the ball up and a group of others jostle to catch it. Only weeks later, Simpson marveled at the budding intricacy with which teams operated. “There’s audibles at the line of scrimmage,” he said.