Local Football
Name: Head Coach Kevin Younger / Offensive Coach Christopher Wolfe / Defensive Coach Frank Riccio / Assistant Coaches Joe Quinty, Bob Sawicki, Eric Dann & Hendersen Caitlin
Team/Grade: 6th Grade PAL Football
School: Cranford Orange Avenue and Hillside Middle Schools
Sport/Activity: Football
How long have you participated in this sport?
This is the third year this team is together with a three-year regular season record of 18-4. Including playoffs, the team has a 22-4 record, with back-to-back Super Bowl championships. Some of the players started as early as 2nd or 3rd grade playing flag football, with 4th grade being the first year tackle football is permitted.
Your team has done really well. Tell us about the team?
Aside from the back-to-back Super Bowl Championships, this team, which started during a Covid shortened 2020 season, is the first in Cranford history to not only win a Super Bowl, but win two Super Bowls in a row and record a perfect season doing so, going 10-0 this season. We beat Clark in November 2021 to take the Championship with a score of 19-0.
Seems like the kids never gave up all season long. What was your strategy that made you undefeated?
We are very fortunate to have some amazing athletes on this team with very talented baseball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer and wres-tling athletes coming together to build this 31 player team. We also have players who participate in martial arts, theater and hobbies as far away from the football field as cooking. We started in 2020 and 4th grade with 18 players, but we now have 31. The coaches make the team challenging, but we do our best to keep it fun. We use over 85 plays taken directly from the NFL and NCAA, and we have a fun defense that almost went the entire season without giving up a score. We outscored our opponents 235-24. That was our strategy: keep it challenging, keep it fun, learn the game the way it was meant to be played and win.
What have you learned from participating in this sport? What do you like best about the sport?
While the coaches are working to teach the players the intricacies of this complex game, those practices all are a brilliant disguise to teach the players about accountability, responsibility, teamwork, camaraderie, leadership, sportsmanship, critical thinking, decision making and most importantly, failure.
What is your favorite moment?
Our favorite moment of the season had to be winning our second consecutive Super Bowl as a Home Team playing against the Clark Crusaders on Clark’s field. We had an amazing turnout from our parents and neighbors, who supported our team so well. Clark was an excellent opponent, who we played in a close game two weeks earlier. We won that game in Cranford 12-6, but we knew we would have to work hard to beat them a second time, let alone in a Super Bowl.
What do you plan on doing next season?
Next season: We are winning our third in a row. No doubts! Ever!
One tip for someone looking to get into this sport/activity:
I think that any person considering playing football should give it a chance. Although it is a full contact sport, the level of contact at this age lends itself to learning the sport in a safer way. Any person looking to get involved also should be ready for a mental challenge of learning the plays and executing them in coordination with their teammates. There is a fair amount of studying involved, but it is so much fun when it is practiced and played the right way. One final piece of advice: put aside your personal goals, ego and statistics. It takes every person on the team to win one football game and there only is one ball allowed at a time. Humility is a very big part of success in football.