ALL SPORTS

It actually all started back on Aug. 1, when 33 boys and coaches got together for the first time. On that day we came up with a goal of being the best we could be – whatever that might be. Well, on Thanksgiving weekend we found out. We traveled to Los Angeles to play in the First Annual American Youth Football National Championships.
We qualified by going 12-0 and winning our city and regional championships in Tucson, Arizona. We arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 28, and let the kids unwind a little by going to Universal Studios – some of our kids had never been out of Arizona, so this was a great thrill. We then had our first game on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against a team from San Diego. We came ready to play, our guys were very focused and we won going away, 42-0. It was an unbelievable game where we had five defensive touchdowns.
By winning that game, we qualified for the championship game less then 18 hours later on Sunday at noon against the Torrance Panthers from Los Angeles. Not only did we have to play two games in less then 18 hours, but we were also playing the home team who was able to sleep in their own beds and had actually played five hours earlier then us on Saturday. What a challenge.
What can I say about the championship game? With our win on Saturday, that brought our record to 13-0 and to that point we hadn't given up a single point all year. Well, on Sunday we took the early lead with a touchdown early in the second quarter — 8-0. But on the ensuing kickoff Torrance brought the ball all the way down to our 30-yard line, and five plays later we gave up our first points of the year on a great touchdown pass by the Panthers.
So at halftime, the score was Dolphins 8, Torrance 6. I was so proud of our kids — facing adversity for the first time all year, we took the opening kickoff of the second half and on a 70-yard drive punched it in the end zone for a 14-6 lead. What champions these kids are. But Torrance are champions also and in the fourth quarter they came up with a huge turnover as they blocked our punt and got the ball at our 15-yard line. Nine plays later they punched it in and tied the game, 14-14.
Our kids were tired; we were getting beat up by a very physical Torrance team all day. We actually lost our starting middle linebacker to an arm injury in the fourth quarter and at one point late in the game, we had to put in our second unit because our first unit was so banged up. Our boys fought hard and as the clock ticked down in the fourth quarter the score remained 14-14.
OVERTIME: The next seven plays were the most nerve-wracking in the 11 years I have been a head coach. Each team got the ball at the 10-yard line. Each team would have four downs to score and would continue alternating possessions until both teams had the ball and one team outscored the other. Torrance won the toss and elected to get the ball first, which actually made us happy because all year we felt we had the best defense in country and also we would know what we would have to do on offense.
Torrance on first down gained 3 yards, on second down gained 3 yards, on third down gained 3 yards — all on run plays right at our defense. This brought up fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. What happened next was amazing — they gave the ball to their best running back and he ran right at us and we stopped him at the 1-yard line. No score, no score.
So now it is our turn. On first down we gained 5 yards, second down we gained 3 yards — third and goal from the 2 — the Panthers called timeout. The boys came to the sideline and the only thing we said was, "we are two yards from a championship." The look in the kids' eyes was amazing. They were so into the moment, they so much wanted to be a champion.
We ran back to the line of scrimmage and what do you know. we jump offsides. (Remember these are only 11-year-old boys — can you imagine the pressure?) So now we have third-and-goal from the 7-yard line. We had been running the ball around the right side all day to one of our big running backs who scored both our touchdowns in the game. So on this play we called to fake it to him and then have the quarterback bootleg around the left side, hopefully to the end zone. On a side note, this was our second-string quarterback, who has only started three games in his career at this position due to our starting quarterback getting hurt in the city championship game. What happened next is only a blur as our quarterback came around the left side the entire defense went to the right with our running back. Next thing you know, every kid is jumping and crying — coaches are jumping and crying — it was amazing! We won. We are National Champions.
When we came back to Tucson on Monday night, we were met by Channel 4 news and Mike Neback did a very nice story on the kids and we were showcased that evening on the 10 p.m. news. We also had a couple newspapers run nice stories about our victory. I just can't say enough about these kids and what they accomplished. We were 16-0, counting a preseason game, only 14 points given up all year. Fourteen shutouts on defense. Outscored opponents 438-14. Never trailed in a game all year. On top off all that, they made the sacrifice of over 65 practices and still kept their schoolwork up to date. This is an amazing bunch of 10-12 year olds who taught me that if you truly believe, you can accomplish anything if you stay together.