High school flag football in Mississippi set to expand by 275% in 2026
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- MHSAA will expand flag football from 12 to 45 teams in 2026, a 275% statewide increase.
- St. Martin sent three athletes to college on flag scholarships.
- 2026 season starts March 26 with regional play, coast hosts, and an April 30 tournament.
A trio of student-athletes at St. Martin became the first in Mississippi to sign athletic scholarships for flag football in 2025.
A much larger pool of athletes will have access to the same opportunity when the MHSAA expands its youngest sanctioned sport from 12 teams to 45 in 2026, coinciding with the rapid growth of the game at the collegiate level.
St. Martin won the first-ever championship last spring and sent three players to the next level. Those athletes, Jalyn Nguyen, Yvette Nathan and D’Kylah Jenkins all accepted full scholarships to play at Bishop State Community College.
The Yellow Jackets were one of five South Mississippi teams to participate in the inaugural campaign along with Picayune, East Central, Vancleave and George County.
A ground-floor presence was an advantage for St. Martin when it came to advancing the careers of its trio of standouts.
Now with Millsaps College and Mississippi Valley State both planning varsity flag teams within the next two years, and more than 200 others already competing nationwide, the scholarship opportunities are only growing in count.
“It means it’s only going to grow,” St. Martin flag football and boys basketball coach told the Sun Herald on the rising sport. “It’s more scholarship opportunities for these young ladies.”
The 2026 season will feature 11 schools from the Coast. The six joining the fold with their first teams are Biloxi, D’Iberville, Gautier, Harrison Central, Pascagoula and West Harrison.
The state will be broken up between nine regions of varying sizes. Both Coast regions, region 8 and 9, will have the full complement of six teams each, with all five regular season games coming against region mates.
Region 8 consists of Biloxi, D’Iberville, Harrison Central, Picayune, St. Martin and West Harrison. In region 9 are East Central, Gautier, George County, Pascagoula, Perry Central and Vancleave.
Games were played at just two locations during the pilot season, but with the increased number of schools participating, most will get an opportunity to host a game day.
The season begins March 26 with Coast games played at Picayune and George County. Each host site will see three games per week.
It will culminate in a two-day, 16-team tournament beginning April 30. The first two rounds will be played at the home site of the higher seed and the final two rounds played at Mississippi College.
“We’re super excited about it,” Biloxi athletic director Eddie Lofton said. “We’ve already hired our coaches that are going to be in charge of it. Anytime you can give the students opportunities and things to do that they can get scholarships for, that’s just an added bonus. So I think this is going to be a real positive thing. And I tell you what, I think it’s going to grow really, really quick.”
Here are the 33 non-Coast schools participating in flag football this season.
- Aberdeen
- Brandon
- Callaway
- Canton
- Charleston
- Coahoma County
- Columbia
- Florence
- Forest Hill
- Gentry
- Greenville
- Hattiesburg
- Jefferson County
- Jim Hill
- Kemper County
- Lanier
- Laurel
- McComb
- Meridian
- Murrah
- Newton
- North Panola
- Oak Grove
- Perry Central
- Provine
- Richland
- Southaven
- South Pike
- Thomas Edwards
- Vicksburg
- Warren Central
- Water Valley
- West Point
- Wilkinson County
