By Michael Wojtychiw
It’s been a long three years for the eighth-grade class of Lasalle Langauage Academy’s flag football team.
The eighth-grade class, which graduated last week, did not win a game as fifth-graders, something all of them remembered vividly.
“This is a first everything,” LaSalle coach Carreron Sanders said about the championship. “First in flag football, first in school history, first maybe in the network too.
“I honestly didn’t even know they hadn’t won a game before until a couple weeks ago. For these guys to come out and have the connection they’ve had, it was amazing.”
Those winning ways have sure turned around, as the Leopards came to play in the first-ever CPS SCORE! 7th/8th grade boys flag football championship game My 25th at Lane Stadium.
Previously the sport had been co-ed but SCORE! decided to give both the girls and boys their own divisions this year.
Once LaSalle Language took a 19-15 lead about 10 minutes into the game, it was all Leopards. The team would close the game by scoring 42 of the next 48 pints, en route to a 60-21 win.
“It feels real good to bring this home,” Lasalle’s Amir Peterson said. “During basketball last year, me and Eric Stokes, after losing in the semifinals, we said that we ‘re going to get this back in football season.
“To get this and bring our school, our first-ever trophy home, it feels amazing.”
“We started a week later than everyone else and we still brought this home,” Stokes said.
For a number of players, like Peterson and Eric Stokes, the game really made all those years of tossing the football around in the neighborhood worth it.
The two combined for five of the Leopards’ six touchdowns.
“We’ve been friends snce kindergarten,” the quarterback said. “Whenever we step onto the field, the court, anywhere together, we just click really well.
“We just love flag football,” Stokes added.
In flag football, teams can go for one or two points for an extra point after a touchdown and interceptions and turnovers on downs are each worth three points. The Leopards also forced three interceptions on the night.
Winning is great, but for the coaching staff, the season was about more than the wins and losses.
“Building a relationship with the students is really important, because, I’m not going to say they’re like my sons…they’re like my little brothers,” the coach said.
“It’s going to be great to see what these kids do. Why stop now?”
There’s no flag football for boys at the high school level, so if the boys want to continue playing football competitively, it will be at the tackle football level. While the leopards’ coach is looking forward to what’s to come, Peterson, Stokes and their teammates are just soaking in the win before they head off to high school in the fall.
“Being able to go undefeated all season feels real good,” Peterson said.
