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Every age group in YYFFA heading to flag football nationals
Every age group in YYFFA heading to the finals in Florida
By Greg Gulas | Sports@vindy.com
Gallery
Youngstown Youth Flag Football Association president Elliott Giles will be quite busy the next two weekends with six teams from his league qualifying for national championship pool play in their respective age groups.
Three teams — 8-and-under, 7-U and 6-U — leave today for Davenport, Fla. (outside Orlando) where they will compete at Northeast Regional Park.
Next weekend, the league’s 10-U boys, 14-U boys and 14-U girls will take part in championships held at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
“This is our 13th season as a league and we’ve won four national championships, but this is the very first time that all six age groups have qualified for a national championship in the same season,” Giles said. “It’s an exciting time for the players and everyone involved with our league.”
Each squad boasts eight players with the 8-U unit set to defend its title.
“Our teams are built from the players that compete in our league and this is the Super Bowl of their age group,” Giles said. “Our 6-U and 8-U squads won their regional in Ann Arbor, Mich., while our 7-U team qualified as an at-large entry.”
The YYFFA’s 6-U squad is ranked No. 1 out of 30 teams nationally and will enter championship play with a 23-2 record.
They feature McDonald’s Kobee Banfield at quarterback, Hubbard’s Josiah Phillips at wide receiver and running back D.J. Wilson of Farrell, Pa.
“We have a nice offensive team that can score points,” Wilson said. “I love football and I’m really excited to be playing for a national championship.”
Giles embraces their No. 1 national ranking.
“There will be a lot of great teams from all over the country, but I feel like we’re the team to beat,” Giles said. “We won every tournament we entered and are playing at a high level right now. Kobee is a born leader and the best in the country in his age group under center. When you have a quarterback who can throw and wide receivers who can catch, that’s definitely an advantage.”
Their 7-U squad is ranked eighth in the country and enters play with a 10-5 record. That group features quarterback D.J Porter of Canfield — he’s the son of Mark Porter, who runs the college football scouting service ScoutingOhio.com — running back Tyreek Lindsey of Valley Christian and wide receiver-safety Dajuan Dukes.
Lindsey and Dukes are both making their second national championship appearance.
“We have a great offense and nice chemistry right now,” Dukes said. “The goal is to win it all.”
Giles said his 7-U unit has had a tougher qualifying road than the other two teams.
“We came up short at the Warwick, N.Y., regional, yet qualified as an at-large entry so they are definitely anxious and ready to go,” Giles said. “This is a much better team than when they first started. Experience is their advantage because they’ve been playing together, know each other and are hungry to win it all.”
The defending champion 8-U’s are 18-0 and enter pool play as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation.
They are led by quarterback David Xipolitas of Poland, wide receiver Nick Toy of South Range with center Ethan Sandusky of Struthers, a force on both sides of the ball.
“This is my first national championship and I’m very excited,” Toy said. “We’ve played well together and are ready to go out and defend last year’s title.”
According to Giles, chemistry has been the key for his 8-U squad.
“We have an excellent defensive unit, but David’s snap decisions and his playmaking ability are the key,” he said. “We haven’t lost a tournament and I feel this group has as good a chance as any of our six teams to win a national championship.”
A total of 179 teams will take part this weekend with teams from Canada, Mexico and Panama also participating.
Action gets underway on Saturday morning and concludes Sunday evening.