YYFFA adds 3 national crowns to its cache

By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

On the heels of winning two winter flag football national championships, the Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association can now add three more trophies to their ever-growing case after copping the first ever 7-U, 8-U and 9-U summer titles, held recently in Canton on the grounds of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Under the direction of head coach and YYFFA founder Elliott Giles, the organization is in its 13th year and now boasts 12 national titles.

Their 6-U team also participated, finishing 2-2 overall before losing in quarterfinal play.

“The tournament is a prelude to the upcoming hall of fame festivities so to bring three national titles back home, especially from the first ever summer tournament, says a lot about our league and city,” Giles said. “The kids get to travel across the country and experience things that they might not experience at this age.

“Our league has set a precedent where excellence is expected. The toughest thing to do is win when you are expected to win and our players from each division excelled on the field. We look forward now to the fall season in September.”

The tournament’s 7-U division was comprised of 10 entries with the YYFFA group posting a 3-0 mark in pool play, finishing 6-0 overall for their title.

They defeated the Grand Rapids, Mich., Steelers, 19-0 in the championship game with their defense posting six consecutive shutouts.

“This group went to Florida in January and finished runner-up to Hawaii, so they’ve had a chip on their shoulder the past seven months,” Giles said. “Defense definitely wins championships while this group showed they were mentally prepared.

“Quarterback Kobee Banfield was a great leader under center and someone who understands the offense.”

Each team is comprised of eight players and in addition to Banfield, the remainder of the unit includes Giles’ daughter Aliyah (center-attacker), the lone girl on the team who is following in her sister Alexis’ footsteps, Jordin Hines (wide receiver-attacker), Jordan Hodge (wide receiver-corner), Josiah Phillips (running back-safety), D.J. Wilson (running back-attacker), Bradley Miller (center-outsider) and Jonathan Burney (running back-attacker).

Giles’ 8-U squad was the No. 1 seed (out of 14 teams) heading into the final day, also going 3-0 in pool play to join their 7-U counterparts by posting three consecutive shutouts.

They defeated Pittsburgh Elite, 20-6 in the championship, allowing just 20 total points for an average of 3.3 per game.

They never trailed in the tournament.

“This group had the roughest start when first formed a year ago,” Giles said. “When I inserted D.J. Porter at quarterback, our fortunes changed as he has a great command of the offense, rarely makes mistakes and knows exactly when and where to find his receivers.

“They played in five tournaments this summer and went 3-2 overall in championship games so they were tested. Each player understood their roles and played them to perfection. They won the 7-U winter national championship and will now look to duplicate that success in January.”

In addition to Porter, other team members include Landon Fox (center-attacker), Lincoln Breit (wide receiver-outsider), Tyreek Lindsey (running back-attacker), Scotty Leach (center-attacker), D’Mar Russell (wide receiver-outsider) and DaJuan Dukes (wide receiver-outsider).

Giles’ 9-U squad, which captured the 8-U winter crown, played things much closer to the vest as they went 3-0 on the opening day, then had to win all four of their games on the final day for the championship.

They went 7-0 overall — there were 16 teams entered — winning their final three games by four total points including the quarter-finals by one point, semi-finals by two points and championship by a 7-6 count over Miami (Florida) Elite.

“I actually coached the 7-U and 9-U games at the same time,” Giles said. “The 7-U game was in command, Kobee called all the plays and Chris Nye served as my assistant, overseeing that game while I moved over to the 9-U contest.

“We trailed the entire game, but on the last drive quarterback Nick Toy hit Wayne Holloway with a 25-yard touchdown pass to tie the contest. He then found Jadon Phillips with the conversion pass and they held on for the victory and title. There was plenty of emotion, that’s for sure.”

In addition to Toy, Phillips and Holloway, the other five team members comprising the squad included Tommy Titus (center-rusher), Kevin Clark (wide receiver-corner), Gage Reents (center-rusher), Colin Kay (wide receiver-corner) and Ethan Sandusky (wide receiver-rusher).

Fall action in their new home at the Austintown Fitch Falcons Sports Complex, begins in September with the winter championship slated for Tampa, Florida in January.