Panthers win Super Bowl
By John Earp
The 1st and 2nd grade Jal Panther Youth Sports Flag Football Team won their Super Bowl this past weekend, defeating archrivals the Eunice Cardinals 20-0, completing an undefeated season for the boys. Head Coach Zach Brandt says he had 14 boys on his team. This is his second year coaching for JPYS. West Texas Gridiron youth football association, including teams from Kermit, Hobbs, Jal, Eunice, Seminole, Lovington, and Denver City competed this year. Coach Brandt says he was just blessed by a great group of boys this year, with almost all his players being 1st graders. He said, “Last year we did it with mostly all first graders and kindergartners, and this year we did it with mostly all first graders, some second graders. It just goes to show you how good the boys are at such a young age already. All these boys have been together for the past three to four years, so they have a little bond together. They kind of just flow really well together. They are probably one of the easiest coaching teams I’ve ever coached. They’re very smart. We don’t use playbooks or things like that. It’s just all off of calls. Whatever call for a play we have, it’s just kind of embedded in the brain.” Brandt says the Super Bowl this past Saturday was zero to zero at halftime, and was a real battle. He said his team had been playing for the past two weeks with the goal to beat Eunice, with a good combination of running and passing, with two touchdowns throwing and one touchdown rushing. Eunice was second place, with Hobbs being third place and Kermit being fourth place.
Players on the Super Bowl team this season included: Ayce Brandt, Eli Mata, Emilio Quezada, Juan Molina, Achillies Villa, Zerik Franco, Wyatt Norton, Roman Gonzalez, Jose Sierra, Lucas Valeriano, Elias Armendariz, Mac Owen, Asic Cook, Richard Angel. Defensive player of the Super Bowl was Eli Mata. Offensive player of the Super Bowl was Emilio Quezada. MVP of the game was Ayce Brandt. Assistant Coaches were Jaime Villa and Matt Mata.