Joshua Saunders remembers when the trophy case was bare. The
Robinson (Tampa, Fla.) head coach of 20 years just wanted to put the Knights on the flag football map.
Fast forward to 2026. Saunders has become the sport's all-time wins leader with 296 and counting, and the Knights are on the brink of a major milestone. Entering the postseason, Robinson seeks its 10th straight FHSAA state championship and 11th over a 13-year span.
Robinson begins its FHSAA Class 2A title defense on Tuesday with the state finals set for May 15-16.
"Somebody asked me a few years ago, ‘Could you have imagined? Was this your wildest dream?' The answer is no. I could not have imagined," Saunders said. "I thought I just wanted to win one state title. That's it. If I can just win a state title, that's like, the coolest thing ever."
The 10 state titles for Robinson is a national record for the sport as Florida has sanctioned flag football since the early 2000s. And while the rest of the country is still catching up with the growth of the game, the Knights are the standard-bearers for excellence.
Junior Sarah Williams celebrates with her Robinson teammates after a touchdown during a March 25 game against Steinbrenner. The Knights seek a 10th straight state championship this season in the Class 2A bracket. (PHOTO: Patrick Duffey)
"Our dedication level from the players is really kind of always about the players. It's their willingness to work," Saunders said. "Everybody pays attention to it now as the playoffs start and gets in there. Where they're not paying attention to it is on Tuesday morning in July, when we're out there and just throwing and catching passes because that's what we do. … Flag football is not terribly complicated. You catch footballs and pull flags better than the other team, you're probably going to win."
Robinson enters the state playoffs at 16-1 after Class 2A District 11 victories over
Blake (Tampa), 67-0, and
Chamberlain (Tampa), 47-0. Aside from a 25-20 loss to
Bloomingdale (Valrico) on March 9, the Knights have only allowed double-digit scoring on two occasions this season with eight shutouts.
Leading the charge on both sides of the ball is junior
Sarah Williams, who has posted 1,150 receiving yards with 28 touchdowns. The school's all-time receptions leader also leads the country with 188 total points this spring and has 60 flag pulls and three interceptions on defense.
Williams and fellow junior
Izzy Harris were contributors on the 2024 team that went 24-0 with 17 shutouts. Harris is also a key two-way player for the 2026 Knights with 551 receiving yards and seven touchdowns and 22 flag pulls and five interceptions defensively.
Senior quarterback
Paige Halverson had 2,084 passing yards and 41 total touchdowns before tearing her ACL after 10 games this season. Filling in at the QB position are junior
Annie Keith and freshman
Zoe Carratt, who combined for 1,402 passing yards and 25 TDs in the final five regular season games following Halverson's injury.
"We have weapons kind of everywhere," Saunders said. "We don't scare anybody coming off the bus. They just play flag football really well, which is kind of what we've always done, kind of very machine-like. We're going to throw the ball and catch the ball better than the other team, and then hopefully that's good enough."
Other crucial defensive players for the Knights include juniors
Makyla Phillips, who has a team high 12 interceptions, and
Jala Hymes, who leads the squad with 20 sacks.
Robinson head coach Joshua Saunders has led the Knights to 11 straight FHSAA state championship games, winning 10 in that span. (PHOTO: Patrick Duffey)
Saunders is also slated to be the head coach of the USA Flag Football 17U team for the International Cup in June. Joining him on the roster is freshman defensive back
Ayden Klaiber, who has 30 flag pulls and three interceptions while also putting up 463 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.
"We've had the opportunity to have quite a bit of success and we've kind of all done it in a lot of different ways," Saunders said. "We believe in constant critical reflection. If we're not doing something right, we need to fix it. It doesn't matter if the score is 40-0, we're not going to be results-based. We're going to be more based in, ‘Are we doing the right thing?' How we do anything is how we do everything."
