The win streak is over.
After nearly a three-year run, Hamilton has lost a flag football game in Arizona. Peoria Liberty beat Chandler Hamilton 10-0 on n Sept. 22, ending a 40-game win streak for the Huskies. Hamilton’s last loss to an Arizona school was on Nov. 1, 2023, in the 6A semifinals to Mesa Mountain View.
Liberty jumped out to a 3-0 lead early on a 30-yard field goal from junior Jill Avery in the first quarter. Hamilton had a third-and-goal in the third quarter when senior Makenna Johnson intercepted a pass, which led to a Liberty scoring drive. Johnson capped off the scoring drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Kayla Bowman.
For the game, Liberty recorded three interceptions (two from Johnson, one from sophomore
Shelby Edwards). It is Liberty's second straight shutout to open the 2026 season.
The loss marks the end of an era for Hamilton and coach Matt Stone. The win streak will be embedded in Arizona high school flag football history as an Arizona Interscholastic Association state record and will likely stand for some time.
“To be honest, I never once heard a coach or an athlete ever bring it up,” Stone told The Republic, in reference to the streak. “That’s the truth. Nobody ever talked about it. Never mattered to us. For us, it’s always just been preparing for the next game and not looking behind, ahead. Maybe I’ll feel differently in 10, 20 years. But right now, it’s just not something that’s terribly important to me.
“I don’t think it’s that important to our team or our community. I think what we value is more individually in each game, what we had to do to prepare for the individual challenge ahead. Never really saw it as a string of consecutive achievements. It was always an individual, daily achievement. Not just the game, but the preparation that goes into each game and how we prepare for that.”
Hamilton lost two players to season-ending injuries in the Liberty game, Stone said, with both players being carted off the field and taken to the emergency room. Stone estimates he now has about 11 healthy players on the varsity roster, and serious concerns are emerging for the rest of the season.
Hamilton’s next scheduled game is in California on Sept. 26, with a trip to Carlsbad. The next game in Arizona is against Mesa Desert Ridge on Oct. 6.
“We don’t have enough players to safely put a team on the field right now,” Stone said. “I don’t know what else to do at this point. I don’t know how we get through the year at this point. It’s tough.”
Hamilton was the first dynasty in flag football after it became a sanctioned AIA sport in 2023. During that three-year stretch, Hamilton reached as high as No. 1 in the nation in USA TODAY’s rankings. The Huskies were the first – and still the only – Arizona school to be ranked No. 1 in the country for flag football. Hamilton won the past two 6A championships.
This season, however, has been challenging for the Huskies, even before the most recent injuries.
After graduating most of its championship-winning roster, Hamilton also lost record-setting junior quarterback Marlie Phillips, who transferred to Liberty and is sitting out the first half of the season due to AIA rules.
Sophomore Athena Vasquez, the starting center in 2025, moved over to quarterback for this season. But Vasquez went down with an injury in the 28-10 win over Waddell Canyon on Sept. 17, putting senior wide receiver Markiah Riley at quarterback. Hamilton was already without its starting center.
Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, college and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@usatodayco.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @RLSscribe.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Liberty snaps Hamilton flag football's 40-game win streak
