The Maples Raiders recently squeezed out a tense victory on the gridiron.
Maples, playing in the junior division of The Security Centre Ltd. 2014 Youth Flag Football League, defeated the Broadhurst Buccaneers, 13-12, at the Camana Bay Sports Field. Jaden Reed rushed for two touchdowns for the Raiders in the week two showdown and Bradley Erskin answered back with two rushing touchdowns of his own for the Buccaneers. The difference was in the extra points. Zandie Smith led the Bucs in tackles, and Leilani Davis played well for the Raiders.
In the other junior game, the Fruta Kool Kidz beat the Burger King Gators, 18-6. The Gators discovered some offense through a strong running game by Diquon Messam, and Eric Frederick scored their first touchdown of the season but it was not enough to defeat the Kool Kidz.
The game of the week in the middle division saw the SRS Steelers defeat the Walkers Wolverines, 13-12. The Steelers took an early lead and in spite of second half touchdowns by Dylan Reichart and Alex Medina of the Wolverines, SRS hung on for the win. The group’s second contest featured the UBS Eagles dismantling the Conyers Colts, 25-8. It was a tough game for the Colts as the Eagles proved to be too much for them on that day.
The senior division showcase featured the Al La Kebab Titans losing to the Popeyes Saints, 21-20. The Titans scored in the last minute of the game but failed to score the extra point conversion. For Al La Kebab, Joshua Whittaker, Kalie Broderick and Justin Rankine all scored TDs, with Kalie among those securing the extra points. There were also good defensive stops by John Sperandeo, Julian Smith and Cheyenne Tibbetts.
In the other game, the Dart Dolphins took on the Security Centre Packers, with the Packers winning 14-6. Will Edwards had a TD pass, Rashaun Wright broke a couple ankles on his TD catch and on defense, Karim Murray had an interception for the Packers. DaVinci Jackson had another strong game on defense chasing down the Dolphins running game all day.
Bruce Hayles played a strong game on both sides of the ball, stepping in for the Dolphins’ missing first- and second-string quarterbacks early before stepping in on defense.
Youth flag football had its first official games this month. The competition, in its sixth season, has 180 boys and girls playing across the three divisions: junior (ages 7-9), middle (10-13) and senior (14-17). The league started with two weeks of training in February before switching into pre-season games. Matches are every Saturday, with week four slated for March 22.
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