Robinson wins 9th state flag football title, Lennard falls just short

TAMPA — At this point, they’ve collected enough hardware to stock a home-improvement outlet. A decade into their mesmerizing run of dominance, the Robinson Knights aren’t motivated merely by a trophy.

Fear drives them. Or more specifically, the dreaded notion of being the team that allows the bay area’s most staggering current state title streak to end.

“The teams before us, they were winning,” Knights senior Jasmyn Mitchner said. “And we just feel like we need to keep that legacy up.”

Saturday afternoon at the Bucs’ indoor facility, that legacy wasn’t preserved, it was cemented. Behind Mitchner, junior quarterback Haidyn Spano and a sprawling ensemble, the Knights (24-0) collected their eighth consecutive flag football state title (excluding the canceled COVID season of 2020) and ninth overall with a 27-6 romp of Pembroke Pines Charter (18-4) in the Class 1A final.

“In reality, what has happened with these teams is, nobody wants to let down the next group,” said Knights coach Josh Saunders, who has overseen all nine championship runs. “The captains on this team didn’t want to be the team that didn’t win. So they’re willing to work because they don’t want to let down the captains that just graduated.”

Offsetting Robinson’s exhilaration was Lennard’s excruciation. Seeking the first team state title in the school’s 18-year history, the Longhorns (19-4) mounted a late touchdown drive against Miami Palmetto in the 2A final, only to watch the Panthers rally for a 26-25 win on Serenity Simon’s 9-yard touchdown run with four seconds to play.

“We started this 348 days ago; it was May 28 (2023),” Longhorns coach Travis Combs said. “And the work they put in, they went for it, and there’s no shame in that. Losing by one point, we’re not ashamed of anything.”

While Spano threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers (including two to freshman Izzy Harris), the most poignant snap was taken by senior captain Manasvi Vijayaraghavan. A first-team all-state linebacker and wide receiver, Vijayaraghavan tore her ACL two weeks before the season opener but was inserted to take Saturday’s last snap as time expired.

“We had a meeting the next day after her injury, and the only thing she cared about is this team and what it means to her,” Saunders said. “And the only thing that she said is, ‘We have to win ‘em all.’ And I go, ‘It’s OK if we don’t.’ And they go, ‘No, no, we have to win them all.’”

Preceding the emotional finish was Knights dominance on both sides.

After Mitchner opened Saturday’s scoring with a 5-yard touchdown catch, she recorded a third-down sack at her own 5-yard line on the ensuing possession to thwart an early Jaguars threat. A Tammy Jerson interception with 1:04 to play in the half set up Spano’s 1-yard scoring throw to Harris, giving the Knights a 13-0 lead at intermission.

They made it 20-0 on Spano’s 9-yard TD pass to junior Ava Godfrey in the third period.

“To be able to (go undefeated), and to be able to do it with the schedule we played?” Saunders said. “We played a lot of really, really, really tough teams, and to be able to fight our way through despite the fact that we didn’t play particularly well in some of those cases, to find ways to win, it’s a beautiful thing.”

The nightcap, by contrast, featured five lead changes — and stunning resolve by both teams.

Lennard preserved a 13-7 halftime lead when senior Isabella Coronel stopped Simon at the 1-yard line on an untimed down to end the first half. The Panthers rallied for a 20-13 lead on a long gadget-play touchdown, followed by Ashley Alvarado’s TD return of an Abby Elwell interception.

But Elwell answered with a 24-yard scoring pass over the middle to junior Kyah Vance (two TD catches) to cut her team’s deficit to 20-19. Then with 8:30 remaining, she completed six of seven passes on a five-minute scoring drive, assisted by two Panthers penalties and capped by a 1-yard scoring pass to 6-foot senior Kate Keith with 3:35 remaining. The point-after pass failed, making it 25-20.

“I knew Abby was mentally tough when she took the job as a freshman,” Combs said. “She would make a bad throw, I could see her reset. She’s been doing that for four years. She’s the best quarterback I’ve ever coached.”

Palmetto (20-1) answered with its title-winning, three-minute scoring drive, ending Hillsborough County’s quest to capture state titles in both divisions for the sixth time in eight years.

“We’re proud of these girls,” Combs said. “They fought their butts off, and I would sign up for it all over again with the same result.”

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls