By Karrington Kincaid, The Seattle Medium
The fourth game of the Northwest Premier Junior Football League’s championships featured the number one seed Heir 12U team (9-0) taking on the number two seed Gridiron 12U (7-2).
Prior to the game, Gridiron Head Coach Chris Nofo was confident about his team’s chances of upsetting the nationally ranked 12U HEIR team.
“I feel pretty good,” said Nofo. “We had a great week of practice…we’re hoping our adjustments pay off, and that we could put a good game together.”
Meanwhile, 12U Heir Coach Reggie Jones was eager for his team to showcase what they were made of.
“This 12U football team is built for moments like these,” said Jones before the game. “They played in some of the biggest games that this state has ever seen, especially with this team being the first one to ever win a national championship in the state. So, these boys come in very ready, very composed, and detail-oriented, and our goal is to shut down the other team’s quarterback.”
Coming out of the gates, HEIR set their aggressive tone by nearly recovering an onside kick to give their team an opportunity to start with the ball. Gridiron recovered the ball, only to see their offense completely shut down on their first offensive possession by HEIR’s stingy defense, which forced a turnover on downs.
HEIR’s offense started a little bit shaky with some false start penalties that backed them up on their first possession. But after taking some time to settle down, HEIR quarterback Cordae Norling went straight to work as he delivered a beautiful 18-yard pass to Justin Suega, setting them up at the Gridiron 35-yard line.
Elijah Littles helped keep HEIR’s momentum going as he picked up big chunks of yards in the trenches, and eventually worked his way down to the Gridiron 15-yard line. This set up HEIR’s first score of the day on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Norling to Dash Jones, making the score 8-0.
Gridiron’s offense struggled to find answers for the Heir defense, as they continued to suffocate them for most of the first and second quarters of play. Most of the pass attempts by Gridiron quarterback Jadis Lefono were consistently batted down, which ultimately disrupted the rhythm of Gridiron’s offense.
On HEIR’s next offensive possession, Norling would connect with Suega on a 65-yard touchdown pass, which made the score 16-0.
After another defensive stop by their defense, HEIR’s offense continued to cook as Norling connected with Derek Delaney Jr. on a 40-yard pass to the Gridiron 10-yard line. Elijah Littles would finish the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to make the score 24-0 going into halftime.
As the second half began, Gridiron’s offense simply had no answers for what Heir had on defense as they stifled them consistently throughout the third quarter.
Norling continued his onslaught with another touchdown pass to Dash Jones for 26 yards, making the game 32-0. Gridiron managed to put a scoring drive together as Jadis Lefono ran into the endzone from ten yards out to end the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 32-8.
However, Norling would respond and seal the game with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Delaney Jr., which was followed by another 40-yard touchdown pass to Delaney Jr. on the following offensive possession, ending the game with the final score of 48-8.
Gridiron was down about the defeat, but they were encouraged about the overall direction of this team and their program.
“The support of the families and the players on this journey can’t be taken for granted,” said Coach Nofo after the game. “This program is moving in the right direction regardless of who’s coaching this team. I know this is a tough day for the guys, but they will come back stronger from this, and this is for sure not the end.”
HEIR 12U coach Reggie Jones was feeling great about the performance of his team but acknowledged that this is just the next step in their journey to a much bigger goal.
“We feel good about getting this win, but our overall goal is to climb to the top of the mountain,” said Jones. “We’ll celebrate this for a week or two, but after that, it’s back to work to be the best in the nation.”
Heir 12U completed their undefeated season as they won the 12U Championship in the Northwest Premier League. The MVP of the game was awarded to Derrick Delaney, Jr.
