Students at Chico State have to cope with the fact that the Wildcats haven’t had a football team since 1997. But if students still want to go out and throw the pigskin, they can always check out intramural flag football.

“It’s very fun if you’re not playing a college sport and it’s a good way to be active and bond with friends,” said Myles Amitin, a junior business administration major.

In flag football, an intramural varient of the hard-nosed game played at universities throughout the United States, players must snatch a flag dangling from the waist of an opposing player to stop their forward progress.

Although some colleges rally behind their football teams, intramural squads at Chico State still get a rush from non-tackle competition.

“Intramural flag football allows us to get out in the atmosphere of competing,” said Stephen Mayer, a senior finance major. “It makes the school week much easier knowing you have something to look forward to.”

There are few comparisons to the excitement of the NFL and college football, but the flag football scene at Yolo Field has brought huge crowds.

“Playing intramurals is much better than playing a video game,” Mayer said.

Intramural sports are a great stress reliever, said Alex Baker, a senior business major.

“I exercise so that I can play to my full potential on the field and not be ashamed of myself if I lose,” Baker said. “The games do draw out large amounts of testosterone from both teams in any given game.”

Benjamin Marquez can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_sports on Twitter.