By Ed Muniz- Photos by Morgan Gonzales
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p474602702 **
Mokena Main Park was the site of the Mokena Youth Athletic Association Annual “Flag Bowl”.
Featuring three levels of competition, three Champions would be determined and leave sporting Championship Rings.
The “Flag Bowl” was started 10-years ago. It was an end of the season playoff after a reguar season schedule to determine a Champion for each age level.
The event saw 15 teams in Pee Wee, Intermediate and Senior divisions competing in a playoff-type format.
Mokena began its flag program a little over 30 years ago. It was part of the Mokena Burros football program which gave boys an introduction to football without the contact of tackle football.
This was offered to 6, 7 and 8-year olds and was to be an introductory step prior to tackle football.
The success of flag saw many boys and girls participating but after kids reached 9, the choice was solely tackle football, many just dropped the sport all together.
In 2013, Bian Cunningham and a few others put together the program it is now, offering kids an alternative to tackle football.
“My boys all played flag but then it ended as they reached 9-years old. They still had an interest in playing flag but weren’t quite ready to go to tackle football, so we gave kids the opportunity to continue playing it,” said Brian.
“That’s when we opened it up for 9- to 13-year-olds to do a passing league. What’s really nice is that there are several boys that played flag through 8th grade and are now playing tackle at their high school, some are starting too.”
Cunningham felt it was because they kept fueling the love of football by offering older boys an alternative, that saw them continue on to high school and have success because of it.
Mokena now offered three levels of play based on age. Pee Wee was for kids ages 6-8, Intermediate was for ages 9-10 and Senior was for players 11 -13, Mokena Flag is open to any boy or girl in the surrounding area that falls within their age groups.
This season, there were 180 boys and girls playing flag and Cunningham has his sight on growing the program more. Next season Flag Director Becky Savage hopes to expand the program with hopes of more girls involved.
“Having the organization continue to grow, with the talent level we have in this area is important,” said Becky. “We are working on communicating to girls and encouraging them to give it a shot, try it out. The instruction our coaches provide I feel works for our players. These kids want to learn the game and I feel they get that without the worries of equipment which can be a distraction for some. We want to keep moving forward and build or program.”
The “Flag Bow” began about 10 years ago. It was the conclusion of the short season, culminating with the Crowning of Champions,
A bevy of team tents sporting team flags and other team paraphernalia were set up just outside the North End of the field. Refreshments and edible treats were the staple in the day long tournament.
The “Flag Bowl” was festive as players, coaches and parents all were having a good time at the season ending festivity.
With a few modified rules, flag football is still football. Teams have eight players on the field wearing belts with strips of PVC coated material (Flags) hanging, attached by Velcro.
A tackle is made when one flag is grabbed and removed off the belt.
Championship games were all set after the morning games.
The Pee Wee Championship had the Raiders taking on the unbeaten and top seeded Titans.
Coach Wade Ferm had his Titan players ready from the get-go but it wasn’t easy.
The Raider are a formidable opponent as the top two teams of the Pee Wee Flag Division squared off.
The Pee Wee division doesn’t throw a lot so most plays are running around the ends. The Titans looked to cap off an undefeated season and flip their standings from last year where they were last.
When the lead referee finally blew his whistle to end the game, the Titans had held on and won 21-14 to complete the perfect season.
“We all got together at practice, and we said we have one goal, our one goal was to win a Titans Championship,” said Head Coach Wade Ferm addressing his players.
“Every day you guys showed up for practice, when it was raining you called your moms and dads because we were bringing you inside to practice, You guys fell in love with football this year and you all have made me fall in love with coaching again.”
“I had so much fun coaching you all; each and everyone of you is so special, I can not wait to see you guys play football again next year, hopefully on the Titans.”
Playing on a 40-yard field, teams would alternate possessions on turnovers or on downs and begin their series at the 40-yard line for each possession.
It took the Titans just four plays to score. Runs by their two running back stars, Landon Ferm and Bryce Goodwin, made it look easy. A 22-yard cut up the middle by Goodwin set-up Ferm on his 12-yard touchdown run early in the opening half.
The Raiders followed on their opening offensive series with a couple studs of their own, Both Tommy Stojak and Joey Fitzgibbons showed their prowess at advancing the football when called on.
Surprisingly, the tandem connected on a pass play that Stojak took to the endzone from 31-yards out, tying the game at 7-7.
It wasn’t long after that the Titans took the lead again. After being stopped at the line, the Titans went to Goodwin, he took the handoff, made a nice move up the middle creating space and took off, scoring the Titans second touchdown on his 40-yard sprint.
Defensively, neither team was getting many opportunities to make stops but there were a few tackles. The Titans saw flag pulls from Ferm, Tommy Collins and Kyle Neylon, while the Raiders saw some stops by Owen Marino, Thomas Tovello and Ayden Telles.
Seeing the success the Titans had through the air, the Raider tried their hand at the pass. Quarterback Fitzgibbons laid out a soft pass to Stojak who hauled it in, grabbing 18-yards on the completion before Goodwin made the Titan stop.
Runs by Telles and Mason Hines grabbed just very little for the Raider and three incompletions, including a pitch-pass attempt, stalled the Raiders second series, resulting in a turnover on downs.
The Raiders did make a stop of the Titans next offensive efforts behind the tackles from Telles and Anton Tarala.
One play later, Goodwin snagged a pass attempt from the Raiders, giving the Titans another opportunity to extend their lead before halftime.
Ferm started off with a 16-yard burst, but the next two plays saw little to no gain as Raiders’ Stojak, Baker Bolin and Telles made stops to end the opening half with the Titans still up a score on the Raiders.
Penalties hurt the Raiders offense to open the second half. Trying to even the game score, runs by Stojak and a pass play by Fitzgibbons to Telles fell short of continuing their drive, forcing the Raider to give up the football.
A pair of Runs by Ferm produced 28 yards to open the Titans second half offensive series. Goodwin followed with our more yards. The next four runs by Ferm advanced the football steadily towards the endzone culminating with his second score of the game from 2-yards out.
The Raiders worked hard at stopping the Titan series with flag pulls by Telles and four consecutive stops from Fitzgibbons, Unfortunately, the shifty running style of Ferm eluded several hands, grabbing positive yards each run for the Titans until the score.
With the 21-7 lead, the top seed Titans had some breathing room.
The Raiders wanted to respond quickly after failing on their last series as time kept ticking away. Using just four plays, Fitzgibbons to Stojak worked before, so the Raider called that play again.
A fingertip snag by Stojak on a Fitzgibbons’ pass from 30-yards out, concluded in the endzone for the Raiders touchdown, as one score now separated the two teams at 21-14 late in the game.
The Raiders needed the ball back but couldn’t come up with a stop of the Titans running backs. Time expired five plays later, giving the 2023 Pee Wee Championship to the Titans in a remarkable turn-around from last season.
Other Players giving their all in the game for the Titans included Ben Lang, Hugh Mackenzie, Ethan Seitz, Robert Denson, Camden Phillips, Michael Werhand, Shaw Kirk, Weston Rankin, and Thomas McCarthy.
The Raiders also had positive contributions in the Championship game from Owen and Colm Talty, Anthony Raspanti and Keegan Kocher.