Before the Steel City Classic playoffs even began Sunday afternoon at Cupples Field, the tournament had seen perhaps its most intriguing game of the day when PITTSBURGH ELITE took on a team from the Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association.

PITTSBURGH ELITE were the heavy favorites entering the contest, and it was easy to see why, as they were 15-year-olds going up against 11- and 12-year-olds. YYFFA coach Elliot Giles said afterwards the decision to play in an older division was made to provide his players with adversity and experience.

“We’re here for one reason, [and] that’s to get better, to try to compete,” Giles said. “After our first couple games, as a coach, I just made an executive decision and said, ‘You know what, we’ll get more out of this whole entire tournament if we play up a division.’”

But even though they were younger, shorter and less experienced, YYFFA was up to the task all game long and gave their opponents fits. In the end, they did what was seemingly impossible and pulled off a shocking upset, winning 26-24.

YYFFA started the game well, forcing a turnover on downs before scoring a quick touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead. PITTSBURGH ELITE came back on the ensuing possession, scoring a touchdown on a third-and-long from their own end. The conversion was unsuccessful though, so YYFFA maintained a one-point lead.

It didn’t look like that lead would last much longer, as YYFFA threw an interception deep in their own end on the next possession. But the team’s defense made a huge stand, forcing three straight incompletions and getting the ball back.

This time, they drove down the field with a series of well-designed plays, scoring a touchdown on a short pass into the left flat. The one-point conversion was good, and the lead was up to eight at 14-6.

With less than a minute left, PITTSBURGH ELITE drove down the field and looked poised to score. But after a pass near the goal line fell incomplete, time ran out, leaving them with an uphill battle in the second half.

YYFFA received the ball to begin the second half and continued to have success offensively, scoring on a long touchdown pass down the left sideline. The play was one of several in which the team confused PITTSBURGH ELITE’s defense.

“We were just trying to get them to cover more area,” GIles said. “They’re so athletic and so physical, we wanted to get them to run and chase us.”

Down 20-6, PITTSBURGH ELITE had their backs against the wall, but they weren’t ready to go down yet. They put together a nice touchdown drive on the next possession to cut the deficit to six, putting the pressure back on YYFFA.

That pressure grew further a few plays later, as YYFFA threw another interception deep in their own end. PITTSBURGH ELITE took advantage of the opportunity, returning the ball all the way and getting the two-point conversion to take their first lead of the game, 22-20.

With the clock ticking past the midway point of the half, YYFFA needed to get their offense back on track and halt the momentum. Facing a third down in their own end, the team decided to throw the ball deep. Thanks to a busted coverage by PITTSBURGH ELITE, a receiver sprinted into the open and the quarterback hit him in stride to retake the lead, 26-22

PITTSBURGH ELITE went out on downs on their next possession, and YYFFA only had to run out the remaining 30 seconds to seal the victory. PITTSBURGH ELITE stopped them on first and second downs, and with eight seconds to go, they hoped to get one more shot on offense.

Instead, the YYFFA quarterback took the snap and scrambled into the end zone, running out the clock before being tackled for a safety.

The loss was utterly shocking for PITTSBURGH ELITE, who was expected by some to not only win this game, but the entire age division.

On the other side, Giles was extremely proud of his players for coming from behind and expressed optimism for the group’s future.

“I told them that there was going to be adversity...” Giles said. “You have to expect them to make plays, but it shows a lot of character on [our kids’] part to come back.”