West Valley Preps' 2026 Goodyear flag football preview

The high school girls flag football season begins Sept. 14 at schools across the state. West Valley Preps and the Surprise Independent asked local high school coaches about their teams. Here are their responses:

Canyon View Jaguars

Coach: Muhammad Oliver (first season)
2025 Record: 11-7 overall, 5-1 region (5A second round)
Region: 5A Desert West
Who are your top returning players?: Amara "Byrd" May No. 2 (athlete), Nataley Laing No. 1 (QB), Nadia Fonseca No. 8 (CB), Mariah Murphy No. 11 (rusher) and Zariyah Odom #12 (RB).
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Rylee Anderson No. 13 (One of the fastest girls in the country (track) and little sister of Canyon View football standout Braylon Anderson). Nadia Henagan No. 7 (Dominant player in the club flag football scene. Soccer player as well) and Raniyah Slocum No. 21 (Basketball player adding flag football to her resume).
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? The strength of our team will be our defensive prowess and pride in stopping offenses from scoring.
Which teams on this season’s schedule are you most looking forward to and will be the toughest? We open the season with five straight away games. Game one is against 6A Mountain Ridge and game two is at 6A Hamilton ranked No. 2 in the USA.
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Our main goal of the season is to win the region and continue our streak of playoff appearances.

Desert Edge Scorpions

Coach: Sean Ellicott (second season)
2025 Record: 7-5 overall, 5-1 region (5A second round)
Region: 5A Desert West
Who are your top returning players?: Reyna Ortiz-Reyes — Two way player but has a huge impact on defense. Stormy Newton — Two way player, but has a huge impact on defense.  Both her and Stormy have great instincts and football knowledge. They have emerged as leaders on our defense  Victoria Olivas — Two way player, but has a huge impact on offense. Her speed and commitment to blocking makes her a huge asset for the team. She has emerged as our strongest leader on the team.
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Cyani Cruz — Freshman quarterback. She has a great attitude and is committed to a growth mindset. We all look forward to working with her for years to come. Juliana Florentin — Junior who joined this year. She is a hard worker and leads by example. She is one of the toughest girls on our team. Naimaa Walker-Potts — She decided to join during her senior season. She is a threat on offense and starting to get meaningful defense reps. 
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our best attribute is that we are hungry. They are ready to work, and ready to be challenged.
Which teams on this season’s schedule are you most looking forward to and will be the toughest? Honestly looking forward to playing in district schools. Verrado and Canyon View have strong programs, and they are coached well. I always feel excited to play those games. 
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Primary goals for this year are to reestablish the culture of DE Flag Football. Last year we graduated a lot of seniors, and we're just trying to redefine what it means to be a Scorpion. 

Estrella Foothills Wolves

Coach: Richard Alexander (second year)
2025 Record: 2-10 overall, 0-4 region
Region: 4A West Valley

Who are your top returning players?: Defense: Safeties Bree Dilley (junior) and Nakari Alexander (junior), linebackers Aiyana Alexander (sophomore) and Nevaeh Rosado (sophomore). Special Teams: Kicker Morgan Stantus (senior). Offense: Wide Receivers Annasi Dilley (senior) and Layla Fackrell (junior), and QB Lillian Heier (junior). 
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Wide receiver Malarie Collins (senior).
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our best attribute last season, and going into this season, is our defensive unit. We are returning five starters from last year’s defense, which gives us a good foundation to build on. Our offense struggled last season due to injuries, but this year it has been revamped with some new players added. So far, it looks like it will be a solid unit going into the season.
Which teams on this season’s schedule are you most looking forward to and will be the toughest? We are most looking forward to both the Paradise Honors game and the Prescott game. Both were hard-fought games last year that we ended up falling short in, so we are hopeful that our new additions and adjustments this year will be enough to overcome two talented schools.
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Our primary goal on the defensive side is to continue progressing as a talented unit and get better every game. On the offensive side of the ball, the goal is to utilize our talented receiving corps, move the ball consistently, and put points on the board.

Goodyear Mavericks

Coach: Robyn Lee (first year)
2025 Record: First Season of varsity play
Region: Independent in 4A
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? We are returning our starting quarterback Larai Chacon, receivers Ahniyah Laffitte and Aubree Barrios, blockers Angelique Lopez and Nyomi Hernandez.
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? We have been blessed with speed and height this season. Leigha Gore, Bellah Hernandez, Ava Funches, Richelle Macedo and Annylyss Rios.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our best attribute is a deeper roster that we didn't have last season and a group of athletes who were dedicated over off season to improve.
Which teams on this season’s schedule are you most looking forward to and will be the toughest? We are looking forward to a few games but I would say both ALA-West Foothills and Estrella who is just up the hill from us. 
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Our primary goal this season is to compete and let our actions speak from themselves. We don't just want our athletes to compete and win, we want them to thrive in the classroom, on the field and around our community. We have a ton of talent on this young roster so it is important for us to not only teach them the game but help them to become better, more well rounded individuals. Part of that is doing a ton of team building including serving at Arizona Community Impact (150 services hours for our program), helping to build beds for those less fortunate than us.

Millennium Tigers

Coach: Darius Williams (first year)
2025 Record: 1-11 overall, 1-5 region
Region: 6A Central
Who are your top returning players?: Tatiana Melvin, Raina Shaw, Charlize Garza, Yarel Saenz Perez, and Abbigail Ruelas are some of the players we are excited to have back. They have experience in our program and understand what we expect. Now we want to see them continue to grow, compete, and become leaders for this team.
Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Mia Newborn, Chloe Sullivan, Isabella Torres, Promises Brown Joshway, Destiny Lopez, Tykeanna Hooper, Keira Jozefiak and Rilie Seeker are players we are excited about. This group brings athleticism, competitiveness, and some different skill sets that can help us on both sides of the football. They are still learning and developing within our system, but they have already shown us that they are willing to compete and contribute. We are excited to see who continues to step up as the season progresses because we believe several of them have an opportunity to make an impact for us this year.
What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? I would say our belief in each other and the process. There is a lot of excitement around this team, and the girls genuinely enjoy competing together. We know we are not going to be perfect, especially early in the season, but we believe in what we are building. If we continue to prepare, compete, and trust each other, I think we have a chance to become a really good football team.
Which teams on this season’s schedule are you most looking forward to and will be the toughest? Honestly, every one of them. We do not want to overlook anybody on our schedule. There is a lot of talent in girls flag football in Arizona, and we know we are going to be challenged. That is what we want. Every game gives us an opportunity to compete, learn something about ourselves, and get better.
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? We want to compete for our region and put ourselves in a position to play meaningful football in the postseason. But we cannot get ahead of ourselves. It starts with getting better every day. Our program is built around five pillars: Belief, Commit, Prepare, Compete, and Execute. We want to see those things show up consistently in practice, on game day, and in how we represent our program. We are excited about this group. We believe in what we have, but we also know we have not earned anything yet. Now we have to go out there and prove it.