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The
youth division this year was terrific with the 5man under 12s &
16s plus the 8man
youth sectors all adding flavor the the entire event. The Dominican under 12
youth team won the first ever game in a flag football event, only to be
really taught how the game is played by an experienced Ely-M team
from Florida. Ely-M U-12 progressed to the finals to meet a pretty
well organized Rebels team watched by spectators at the
host hotel. Ely-M Jewelry got off to a slow start. The Las Vegas team
scored on the last play of the half to take a 12-6 lead. Ely-M,
led by MVP Jared Rok, the quarterback, led the offense to a
touchdown by throwing a deep flag pattern to Stephen Rozenman. The
extra point was important and Edgar Rojas made a spectacular catch
in the back of the end zone keeping both is feet in bounds.
The score was now 13-12 in favor o Ely M. The defense in the
second half played solid against an aggressive Rebels
Offense. Ely-M's defense which for their ages were
technically educated to a high level stopped the Rebels offense
in 3 plays. Jared threw another touchdown to Stephen for a
touchdown and now Ely-M were up by 7, however they went for two
and were not successful. The defense again had to come in and
Josh Marbin, safety, again made spectacular plays to stop the Las
Vegas team from scoring. The game ended 19-12, Ely-M Jewelry
champions of the youth U-12.
In
the under 16s category the game started with both teams trying to
dominate on defense or offense. The Raiders stopped Mo Steel on
the opening drive of the game to give their offense a shot a
scoring first. Unfortunately, the tables were turned around really
quickly when the Raiders running back David fumbled the ball on
the first drive, which was recovered by the Mo Steel kids before
it hit the ground. Mo Steel scored on second down and made the
extra point to go up 7 – 0. The Raiders stepped up a gear and
drove down field and scored from a pass from QB Moe to Jason and
also converted to extra point to tie the game 7 – 7. In the second
half Mo Steel put themselves back in pole position with a nice
pass play up the middle, making the extra point again go up 14-7.
QB Joe from the Raiders then threw another great pass to favorite
receiver on the day Jason for the second time in the finals but
they missed the extra point. Mo Steel then tried to put the game
away from the Raiders reach but threw an interception to FS Tommy.
Now with eight seconds left in the game the Raiders put together a
nice cross play conducted by Tommy and Jason, QB Moe played his
role throwing a nice pass into the corner Jason makes the catch
and sets his two feet clearly inbounds and the rest is just
history…the Raiders win 19-14 and are crowned the IFFF U-16 5man
Youth champs.
The
8man youth was slightly different as the spectators after
watching the men's section mostly full of eager men trying to
impose authority on their
opponents. In this category, we had the funny but exciting, well
trained Panthers (NY), Mo Steel (FL), Raiders (LV) and the Puerto
Plata youth. The preliminary stages were really
good as the four teams warmed up and felt each other out before
the single elimination on the next day. We also experienced the
coaches from the Panthers helping out the Puerto Plata team even
though they were going to meet them at some stage of the event.
The Puerto Plata team represented their city well, making crucial
interceptions and consistently seeking first down plays. For a
team that was put together in 8 weeks they played with their heads
held high even when being beaten, well done for trying hard and
making the people that trusted in you proud. In the final
surprisingly, a little in size Mo steel team came up against a
strong, well built Panthers team. Mo steel a well respected flag
football team came out strong and aggressive knowing they were in
for a game against a physical Panthers team (a tackle team that
plays flag off-season). If you would have asked before the game
who would win I could have bet my money on the Panthers that
dominated throughout the event. However, Mo steel had some good,
crafty plays up their sleeve and somehow managed to beat the
peoples favorite "The Panthers". |
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Order of
Finish
4man no-contact
(Women)
1, Fluer De Lys (blue) Montreal, Canada
2, Raw Talent - Florida, USA
3, Stingrays - Florida, USA
4, Fluer De Lys (black) Montreal, Canada
5, Gators 1, Florida, USA
6, Gators 2, Florida, USA
Offensive MVP -
Defensive MVP -
7man no contact
(women)
1, Fluer de Lys, Montreal, Canada
2, Stingrays, Florida, USA
3, Gators, Florida, USA
4, Venezuela Girls, Venezuela
5, Panteras, Cancun, Mexico
6, POP Girls, Puerto Plata, Dom Rep
Offensive MVP -
Defensive MVP -
4man no contact (men)
1, Alpha Omega, Florida, USA
2, Super Heroes, NH, USA
3, Swarm, San Diego, USA
4, Xmen, Toronto, USA
5, Obelix, Montreal, Canada
6, Santo Domingo Brewers, Dom Republic
5man Youth (under -12)
1, Ely - M, Florida, USA
2, Raiders, Las Vegas, USA
3, POP U-12s, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
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