Maine South's girls flag football team cracked the USA TODAY Sports Illinois Super 10 for the first time, landing at No. 10 as the IHSA postseason gets underway.

The Hawks enter the playoffs at 13-6 with a four-game winning streak, according to MaxPreps. They were previously unranked. The rankings were published Tuesday, Sept. 29 by USA TODAY Sports.

Maine South is the defending IHSA girls flag football state champion. The Hawks beat Whitney Young 26-6 in the 2025 title game on Oct. 18, 2025, at Willowbrook High School, going 7-0 in the postseason and outscoring playoff opponents 168-18, the Journal & Topics reported.

This year's squad closed the regular season strong. Maine South beat Resurrection 39-21 on Sept. 22 and topped Niles North 33-12 on Thursday, Sept. 24, in a Central Suburban League crossover game.

Sophomore Tina Majka leads the state in total flag pulls with 167, according to MaxPreps. She set a school record with 217 flag pulls during the 2025 season, a mark the Journal & Topics described as a believed state record.

The full Super 10 includes several unbeaten teams. St. Charles North (19-0) sits at No. 1, followed by Willowbrook (15-1), Glenbrook South (14-0), Prospect (14-0) and Evanston (14-2). CSL rival Evanston sits at No. 5. The Hawks lost to sixth-ranked Kenwood 36-19 on Sept. 17 at the Suburban City Classic at Evanston Township High School.

Head coach Carlos Panizo, who guided the program to its first state title in 2025, voiced frustration in June when the IHSA cut the girls flag football regular season from six weeks to five. "Our regular season is already very short, six-week regular season … so, to shorten it down to five weeks is really disappointing, really hard pill for our girls to take," Panizo told On3 at the time.

With the shortened five-week regular season behind them, Maine South posted a 4-1 conference record and enters the bracket at 13-6.

The IHSA playoff bracket opened Tuesday, Sept. 29. Maine South's next game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, with the opponent still to be announced. Regional finals follow Oct. 7, sectional play runs Oct. 10-13, and the state quarterfinals, semifinals and championship are all set for Oct. 16-17 at Villa Park.