TAMPA, Fla.- The annual Tampa Bay Buccaneers Girls Flag Football Preseason Classic is always the start of the season down in the Sunshine State and this year is no different.

Two teams that everyone usually keeps a close eye on are the defending Class 4A state champion Alonso Ravens and Class 1A champs, the Robinson Knights. Both teams were in action between Monday and Tuesday sessions at One Buc Place, with little concern that either were going to be rusty.

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Both of the nationally ranked high school girls flag football programs were on full display and first up on Monday was Robinson, which graduated several key starters from last season’s squad, including quarterback Haidyn Spano, who threw for 4,622 yards and 91 touchdowns in 2025.

The South Tampa school has become the gold standard when it comes to high school girls flag football, notching five straight state championships and owning 10 overall. There’s seemingly never a rebuilding process for the Knights as they look to reload and this 2026 campaign is no different.

Now Robinson head coach Josh Saunders, who is also the lead man for the University of Florida’s women’s flag club team, will be breaking in a new starter for the first time in over three seasons.

The Knights made easy work of Lake Minneola (48-0 win) and Bonita Springs (31-0 win) in their preseason games on Monday, but if you would’ve asked Saunders a week ago about his squad, he might’ve felt a little different.

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“We had scrimmage a couple of weeks ago against ourselves, and it was rough,” Saunders said.
“It was a little tough. The quarterback play, it just didn’t have a lot of flow to the offense. Maybe it’s because our defense was really good, but I tend to not err on that side.

“So it was good to actually kind of play new teams. Teams that maybe aren’t used to us as much as our team is. We came out and played really well. Lake Minneola, Bonita Springs will do a good job in their areas, and I think that we were able to come out, make a lot of plays, and defensively, we were still quite good, and cause some turnovers. I was very pleased with their effort.”

Stepping behind center for Spano this spring is senior quarterback Paige Halverson, who saw limited time last season, throwing for 354 yards and five touchdowns. Halverson gets her shot to lead Robinson to an 11th state title, six consecutive and will do so with the same expectations every other Knights’ team has to face.

“Paige (Halverson) is a starting quarterback for the first time as a senior. She’s kind of witnessed it, and she knew this moment was coming, but that doesn’t take away the gravity of all of it,” Saunders said of the expectations of keeping Robinson among one of the country’s best programs.

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Separated by just over 30 minutes from Robinson is the Alonso Ravens, which have won four state titles themselves and begin the season as the country’s No. 1 ranked high school girls flag football team.

The Ravens are in a little bit different of a situation compared to their South Tampa counterparts as they return a bulk of the talent that helped get them to the promise land of state title No. 4. One of those key components was junior quarterback Gabby Werr, who threw for 4,789 yards and 71 touchdowns a year ago en route to the FHSAA Class 4A state crown.

Werr will have a very capable group of experienced wide receivers to throw to once again in always reliable Shea Plantz and Mia Garcia, who both scored multiple touchdowns between the wins over Nature Coast (34-0 win) and Dunedin (40-0 win) on Tuesday afternoon.

Offensive familiarity, continuity and fluidity is what one can see when watching Alonso’s offense at work, which makes the Ravens an easy pick to be the nation’s No. 1 ranked team as the 2026 spring season kicks off next week.

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“We try to keep (focus) just like Robinson,” Alonso head coach Matt Hernandez said about keeping his team locked in with the proverbial bullseye on the Ravens’ backs. “They feel it more than we do. You always keep the focus on the moment and getting better, and as cool as rankings are, and we appreciate national publications like Rivals putting out rankings.

“The end of the season matters more than the beginning and yes, people think really highly of you, but keep the focus on incremental improvement and be the best you can be at the end of the year.”

Both Alonso and Robinson start the girls flag football season in Tampa and look to conclude it once again at the AdventHealth Training Center come the FHSAA state finals in mid-May. Each coach echoes the ‘it’s not how you start, but how you finish’ mantra and with the talent each team has, it could be a race to not only a state title, but a national one at the finish line in the 813.

How to Follow National High School Girls Flag Football

For national high school girls flag football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the nation, ensuring you never miss a moment of the high school girls gridiron frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the high school girls flag football excitement across the country.