The wins haven’t come easy, but the Newburgh Free Academy flag football team is showing that girls can play football, too.

The wins, however, have not come easy for the Goldbacks as they lost two more games, including a 32-13 loss to the Minisink Warriors on Friday in their final home game of the season.

Their sole victory was a 48-7 win over the Highland Huskies on April 19 at Academy Field.

However, this season was about more than wins and losses, it was about a group of girls showing they could do what, until now, they’d only been able to do in their backyard.

“It’s great,” wide receiver Makayla Manso said. “It feels good to show people that we can play football, too, and set an example, especially for the young girls out there.”

The Goldbacks’ quarterback Megan Evans, who scored a touchdown for the Goldbacks on Friday, has been playing football with her family since she was a young child. Many of the girls have played in annual powder puff games, which were mostly a spectacle.

This inaugural season gave them a chance to show that they can make it as a sport.

“Girls are seen as soft,” center Salma Martinez said. “This gives us a chance to prove people wrong and show them that they’re not that soft.”

Evans wanted to show her parents that she could do it. They all did.

“We definitely wanted to prove ourselves,” Manso said. “Also, because I’ve been playing in my backyard with my little brother. People think it’s easy, but it’s really a lot of strategy, and it’s not the easiest thing in the world.”

It’s also not easy because many of them are inexperienced, which is where coach Liam Henderson comes in. He’s coached powder puff games for 15 years, but he was excited about the girls finally getting an official interscholastic program with which to showcase their abilities.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to gain confidence in the sport that allows them to have a skill they didn’t know they had before,” Henderson said. “I think it’s great. I think it’s really going to explode and be huge in the area.”

It hasn’t always been easy.

Evans knew the opportunity was coming in the fall. Others found out about it just before spring sign-ups, and the Goldbacks hit the field with varying levels of experience, skill and football knowledge.

It hasn’t translated to victories, but the players feel the team is getting better.

“We’re definitely improving every practice,” Evans said. “We have a lot to work on. Our competition isn’t easy, but we’re all working hard and putting in the effort to get better.”

They’re learning how to make better plays and decisions on the field and how to function as a team.

“I think we are making a lot of progress as a team,” Manso said. “I feel like we’re playing hard on the field, and I think next year they’re definitely going to dominate.”

The Goldbacks had one more game on the schedule, a road contest on Tuesday at Saugerties before moving on to the postseason tournament, which will culminate in a regional championship on June 10 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

“They’ve learned a lot about the football realm and a lot of the basics, because I’m trying to combine 20 years into two months,” Henderson said. “But we’re learning a lot. It’s like a crash course.”