As an individual that has been a member of the Pittsburgh Flag Football League (PFFL) since its inception back in 2009, I can attest to the continued expansion that our league has experienced over the past five years. A major part of that expansion has been the emergence of our ultra-competitive Youth League. Now that we have added a 13-15-year-old division, the Youth League is operating under the whole gamut of NFL Play 60.
To commemorate the five-year anniversary of our league, I would like to highlight the champions from all three divisions. Last Saturday, the GIANTS (7-9 yrs), BUCCANEERS (10-12 yrs), and PATS (13-15 yrs) triumphed to capture the illustrious Youth League championship trophies.
In the Lower Division championship game, Coach Jason Russell’s GIANTS culminated their season-long dominance with a decisive 28-14 victory over their biggest rivals, the 49ers. Part of the reason why the GIANTS have been so deadly on offense is due to the team chemistry that they have developed over the past few seasons. Gideon Rockwood, Carina Loya, and Luca Michnowicz are all holdovers from Russell’s previous teams. Out of all of the players, Jalen Patterson Bey and Robert Russell have separated themselves as the feature backs in the GIANTS’s offense. Unsurprisingly, the champs were able to duplicate their winning ways against the NINERS (the GIANTS won 20-0 against the NINERS in the regular season).
While the Middle Division had the most teams, none of them were a match for Coach Dennis “Shor D” Wolford’s BUCS. In a hard-fought battle the BUCS defeated the JETS 14-6 to capture the title. The win signified Coach Shor D’s eighth championship title. After looking at the BUCS roster, which is chock-full of players with championship pedigrees, expecting any other team to win the trophy was just unfair. Quarterback Michael Sabo has grown into being one of the best pure passers that our league has. Veterans Benjamin “Benny the Jet” Haselrig, John May, and Martin Staresinic are all top notch two-way players. J Melodia, Jake Hewlett, and Cole Markel are the utility guys whose contributions don’t always show up in the box score. Finally, Shor D’s daughter TaMaya “Cruise Control” Wolford is the heart and soul of the BUCS, capable of producing big plays in sudden fashion.
As for the “big kids,” the Upper Division championship game was not very competitive. The PATRIOTS led by rookie coach Ron Kozarian won big, 27-7 against the VIKINGS. While the VIKINGS should be proud of themselves for advancing to the big dance, they were overmatched against the PATS especially because their starting QB “Dakota Conduct” Naples was unable to play due to an ankle injury. On the PATS sideline, Coach K unleashed his entire playbook on the reeling VIKES. Several big plays happened after Anthony “Ragonomics” Rago played QB. On one play in particular, Rago dropped back scrambled to the other side of the field and threw a bomb to Jake Kozarian who was waiting all by himself in the end zone.
CONGRATULATIONS to the GIANTS, BUCS, and PATS!!!
