The 2017 Columbia Youth Football season came to a close at Walter Payton Field at Gardner Stadium Saturday night with two teams taking home championship trophies.
In the bantam league (grades 3-4) championship, Trustmark Bank (East Marion) avenged two regular season losses with a 16-0 win over Zellco Federal Credit Union (Columbia). Citizens Bank (West Marion) came up with a 13-0 win over State Bank (Columbia) in the bantam consolation game.
The youth league (grades 5-6) championship ended up being one heck of a game. Undefeated Trustmark Bank and State Bank went into overtime scoreless with everything on the line.
State Bank scored first and converted the extra point to go up 7-0. Trustmark Bank answered with a touchdown of its own but opted to go for the two-point conversion and the win but failed, ending the game 7-6 in favor of State Bank.
Co-commissioner Tom Porter said between players and cheerleaders, there were more than 300 children participating in the league.
“The season was wonderful,” co-commissioner John Smith said. “We had nice group of guys come out, had some good coaching and the cheerleaders performed real well.”
A big development for the league this season was the implementation of coaches having to become safety certified, according to Player Safety Commissioner Marcus Brown.
“What we did with player safety was primarily set up with USA Football for all of our coaches to be USA certified,” he said. “That process allows us as coaches to become more knowledgeable on how to interact with the children. It’s very imperative that children are developed properly and acquire those skills necessary to play this game safely.”
The coaches spent long hours working to become certified.
“It was a process of taking online courses that could take as long as six hours for completion,” Brown said. “It took a lot of sacrifice for our coaches to become more knowledgeable for the children and providing the basics to be as safe as possible in preparation for the next level.”
Brown added that children learning proper technique was of the utmost importance.
“I believe it enhanced the knowledge of the coaches to pass on to the children, and the knowledge that’s acquired in the midst of becoming certified is learning proper technique,” he concluded. “We were able to teach those fundamentals and basics of proper technique, which is used for players to be safe while making a form tackle or even proper ball carrier techniques.”
Columbia Youth Football Teams
Citizens Bank Bantam: Lily Albritton, Dakota Nolan, Jagger Crawford, Kaden Patterson, Eian Gore, Jordan Johnson, Keandre’ Bridges, Josh Eaton, Mason Little, Darren Lewis, Camden Creel, Donovan Lee, Caden Stringer, Andrew Beasley, Jayce Vince, Sikoi Abram, Dean Moran, Judd Philley, Hagen Forbes, Graydarious Burks, Roy Scarborough, Brandon Bullock, Corden Lee, Logan Green, James Lee, Conner Baughman, Jessie Harvey and Jacorey Jackson.
Citizens Bank Youth: Devin Broom, Nathan Lewis, Devon Taylor, Jaydan Vince, Jayvieon Barnes, Levi Binkley, Owen Martin, Waylon Moran, Deundre Youngblood, Deonte Youngblood, Kayne Caruana, Roman Farlow, Taviyun Johnson, Braxton Albritton, Brandon Martin, Kemarieon Akins, Zye Bowman, Tyler Tinajero, Braden Green, Ryan Beasley, Jonathon Miller, Fernando Peters, Logan O’Quin, Brandon Rhondes, Ethan Stogner, Daniel Stringer, Jude Stringer, Eli Rockco and Jacob Buffalo.
State Bank Bantam: Chris May, Kydrick Young, D’Marious Newton, Nervarious Coleman, Ashton Daniels, James Tyrone Davis, Jakwon Hassan Lewis, Logan Johnson, Riley Pittman, Zentavious Sims, Christian Zelaya, Keena Stepney, Ja’Marian Martin, Aaron Conerly Jr., Myles Clark, Ashton Diaz and Nigel Expose.
State Bank Youth: DiAndre Bridges, Naji Cain Jr., Jashawn Hal, Eric Hammond, Nicholas Riley, Kevin Cowart, Jaylen Smith, Jerry Tolbert III, Nik Carney, Collin Haney, Amarrion Hopkins, Caymen Watts, La’Jaryl Oatis, Bricelan Johnson, Tyson Johnson Jr., Derek Recasner, Zaccheaus Neal, Jaxon Martin, Jeremiah Martin, Jawon Luter and Larry Brister.
Trustmark Bank Bantam: Malik Payton, Ryan Mallory, Ahmir Simon, Tyler Varnado, Terrance Carpenter, Devon Williams, Ramonde Pittman, Amari Hill, Bryan Brown, Devon Belton, Camron Waller, Talan Waller, Bryson Foxworth, Kam’Ron Weary, Jacobi Brooks, Jayden Knight, Brian Foxworth, Cameron Stepney, Kendell Peters and Jabarrus Jefferson.
Trustmark Bank Youth: Ka’Ron Weary, Alex Miller, Kyler Collins, Tyriek Price, Donny Anderson, Frank Compton, Kaleb Jackson, Ladaneion Harvey, Paden McLin, Ladarien Haynes and Marquin Lambert.
Zellco Federal Credit Union Bantam: Timothy Artis, Shamar Averett, Ty’ren Bridges, Marcus “MJ” Brown, Hagi Cain, Jakarius Crumedy, Roderick Curney Jr., Gavin Davis, Eli Duncan, Noah Duncan, Christian Expose, Landon Fortenberry, Gabriel Franklin Jr., Kadarious Hopkins, Brandon Jefferson, Clytravus Lewis, JaMorea Loyd, Jackson “Wyatt” Miller, Kathan Neese, Kavion Newson, Clydarrien Peters, Achilles Pittman, Traevian Ratliff, Austin Rawls, Angel Rios Tomlinson, Cortez Robinson, Jacob Sistrunk, Hayden Verucchi Jr. and Gregory Laird Jr.
Pictured Above: State Bank defeated Trustmark Bank 7-6 in the youth football league championship game Saturday night. | Submitted Photo
