skip navigation

EAGLES Cap Dream Season With Championship Win Over DOLPHINS

By Nick Trizzino, 10/07/20, 8:45AM EDT

Share

That was the idea, anyway, until the EAGLES—who, as a reminder, are all between seven and nine years old—started calling their own plays.

The EAGLES have been a buzzsaw since the moment they landed for their first game. With Coach Lawrence at the helm, Elijah, Kanaan, Kaleb, Grayson, Teaghan, Avery, and Cannon made up the most fearsome flag football brigade in the seven-to-nine division, romping their way to an unbeaten season—and on Sunday afternoon, they put a black-steel bow on it with a 20–12 win over the DOLPHINS in the division championship game.

Coach Lawrence was unavailable for the game, leaving Coach Chris to fill in as the Eagles’ lead game planner. That was the idea, anyway, until the EAGLES—who, as a reminder, are all between seven and nine years old—started calling their own plays. It worked, too; Elijah kickstarted the offense with a first-drive touchdown, and following a DOLPHINS turnover, it looked like the EAGLES were about to blow the roof off. But Talia made a touchdown-saving flag-grab at the one-yard line and followed it up with a pick-six the very next play, and the DOLPHINS went into the break trailing by just one.

The EAGLES’ avalanche proved too much to keep up with, though. The EAGLES’ crew of slippery ball-carriers repeatedly ripped off huge chunks of yardage, and Cannon orchestrated a pair of goal-line touchdowns in the second half, one on a handoff to Kaleb to push the lead to eight, and one on a pass to Teaghan late in the game to put the trophy on ice.

Try as I might, I couldn’t get an interview with any of the newly crowned champs—they had places to be, victories to bask in. But I overheard Coach Chris talking to them during the trophy ceremony, and he effusively praised his brand-new team. Most of that praise was aimed at the way the kids supported each other—high-fiving on substitutions, amping each other up after good plays, and helping keep each other’s heads up after tough ones. After seeing the way they all celebrated with each other after the game, it’s clear that chemistry was genuine.




Youth League News