One year ago, Sigma Chi stood atop the flag-football fraternity league as champions. Now, the players hope to repeat that success even though none of them played a single down of high-school football.

They don’t practice, either, and they don’t draw up plays before games.

The players simply walk onto the field without a plan and wing it.

Sigma Chi’s senior leader under center, quarterback Nathan Ley, said the guys play in the league recreationally to fuel their collective competitive spirit, which is apparent when their cleats hit the grass.

But when there isn’t a game scheduled, flag football is far from the players’ minds.

“We really don’t take any of this seriously,” Ley said. “We’re like the team that doesn’t really care, but somehow wins — that somehow won the fraternity league last year.

While the members of Sigma Chi may not have suited up for their local high-school football teams, that doesn’t mean they’re not athletic. The squad is made up of a former all-state goalie, past prep basketball letter winners, and previous star baseball players.

Opponents have to account for an extremely athletic Sigma Chi team.

And while they may not spend time thinking about flag football away from the fields, the players’ ability to shred defensive schemes and shutdown opposing offenses is surprising.

Ley said Sigma Chi’s success on the field rests in its members’ relaxed attitudes. The only time the team’s mindset tends to change is when Sigma Chi is beating itself by dropping balls and blowing defensive coverages.

“The only time we get upset is if we’re causing us to lose,” Ley said. “If another team is better than us, then it’s whatever. But if like one of us is blowing coverage all the time, we’ll be like, ‘All right, dude.’ Most of the time the guy realizes it and pulls out of it.”

Sigma Chi currently sits 1-1 overall after a staggering performance in its first matchup. But the players quickly returned to their old selves on Sunday, winning by double digits. Sigma Chi’s greatest strength is its defensive pass rush and stout secondary.

Junior wide receiver and cornerback Chad Bruntz said the team’s defense is similar to the one run by the Hawkeye football team.

“Our defense is kind of an Iowa defense,” he said. “We bend, but we don’t break.”

Sigma Chi aims to run the table for the remainder of the five-week season and enter the playoffs with at full steam after a surprising stumble in its opener. The players hope to have brushed off the rust and continue to improve in the coming weeks.

Junior defensive and offensive lineman Jon Hegwood said the sky is the limit for the fraternity team as long as it plays to its potential. As long as Sigma Chi players don’t get frustrated on the field and don’t stress about the game during their days off, they’ll be fine, he said.

“We want to do as well as possible because we won it last year, and we didn’t lose too many players,” Hegwood said. “I don’t expect to win, but I’ll love to. [We] just have to see how things go, and it’s definitely in our potential.”