First Grade Gridiron By Tiffany Elcyzyn (The team will be playing for the Deep Fork Valley Football League Championship this Sat., Nov. 15 at 9 a.m. at Choctaw High School) Typically Friday nights in the fall, consist of residents giving their undivided attention to the momentum of our high school football team. This year appears to be no different as we dote on the fanfare of our boys in blue with an impressive 6-3 record, leading 4-1 within their league. They sure have made our small town proud! But this story is not about those boys in blue. This story takes us to our small town, pint-sized first grade football players-boys in blue. The scene is far different than Friday night lights with a raucous crowd. It takes us to the breaking of dawn on Saturday mornings with a dew in the air as seventeen first graders wipe the sleep from their eyes dragging pads to the field that are seemingly bigger than they are. They are gearing up for an amateur game of football that essentially does not really matter if they win or lose because the important principle being instilled at this age is that they have fun. They dont really understand what kind of heart and character they are exemplifying just by being there by being so charismatic and innocent and playing so dang hard. Their conviction to the game has shown though. Inundated practices and game after game, their victories have steadily increased. A team of 17 young boys has proven a very versatile offensive and defensive line capable of putting the ball in the end zone and fighting inch after inch for the first down. They vary in size and a one-man show or powerhouse player is simply unheard of as each little man bravely steps up to the important task at hand. The first grade Racers have been victorious in their endeavors this season remaining undefeated within the Deep Fork Valley league and pushed to the first round of playoffs where they bolted into the second round after a win against Blanchard. The second round of playoffs proved to be a very heart-wrenching, gut-busting, nail biting game against the Seminole Chieftains. From play to play, the game was neck in neck as the two teams traded off touchdowns and failed two point conversions, which ultimately sent the game into overtime. Those four, seven-minute quarters, would have put some college football games to shame as they proved to be far more thrilling. Pushing into overtime they set up on the ten yard line, both teams scored to once again tie the game...but with a collaborative team effort the two points from the Racers was for the first time all night, good! While it was a tough loss for the Chieftains, it was a tenacious grip on a job well done all year for Racers. Newcastle went on to the championship game where they went against the Shawnee Wolves. Head to head in a tough defensive battle, the Racers finally scored the first touchdown and the two points were good! The tempo of the game changed when the Wolves scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The mighty little Racer-D pulled out all the stops on the goal line to prevent the two-point conversion locking in the final score of 8-6! All throughout our little town, there are 17 little boys sleeping soundly with a trophy tucked in tight beside them. They had a long hard season! They sure do deserve them!
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 17:46:53 +0000
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