A single game of football could make history for one James City County team.
York High School’s Bailey Field is set for a “Super Bowl” of Hampton Roads’ best youth football leagues on Saturday. The James City Jaguars are facing the Newport News based Tri-City Hurricanes in a historic football game for the James City County team.
The James City Jaguars have never won a berth to the final game of the season. The team of 11- and 12-year-old boys has been playing since about 2006, according to team President Mark Hayes Sr.
Only the two best teams of the 16 teams in the league face-off in the event.
The 24 boy squad went 8-1 in the regular season of the Peninsula Youth Football and Cheerleading Organization (PYFCO), one of Hampton Roads’ oldest sporting organizations, before winning two playoff games, according to the team’s Head Coach Chad Samuelson.
The team has only lost to the Oldtown Ducks, a loss they later “avenged” on the way to the “Super Bowl,” Samuelson said.
“We came back and beat them in the semi finals,” Samuelson said. “We got to avenge our one loss of the season so we were quite happy.”
For Hayes, his son on the team, Mark Hayes Jr., and the rest of the players: it all comes down to one moment, one final game.
“They’ve never won two playoff games in a row, to them it’s a big rivalry between the Hurricanes and the James City Jaguars,” Hayes said. “It means a lot to them.”
PYFCO president Criszon Courtney said he was proud of all the players in the league, as the boys face a stiff ethical code meant to instill positive values that will help them later in life.
“We try to teach them some camaraderie and the fundamentals of course,” Courtney said. “Winning isn’t everything. It’s all about a kid-friendly environment.”
The Jaguars’ opponent, the Tri-City Hurricanes has between 20 and 30 players, Hayes said. But the number of players isn’t as important when your team has heart, he said.
“The time and energy you put into football, on top of your school work, gives you the commitment to be a better person as you’re going into your junior years of middle school and onto high school,” Hayes said of the Jaguars.
Samuelson said the game was about teaching players good ethics both on and off the gridiron. Internal personal success breeds success on the field, he said.
“If you tackle somebody, help them get up,” Hayes said. “That’s what also gives them the inner drive to be better themselves.”
Courtney said the Jaguars had never had as good a season as this, but the team will face a tough opponent Saturday.
“They’re well coached and very disciplined,” Courtney said. “They’re just a hard hitting little team.”
Gameday is Saturday Nov. 18. The game starts at 2:30 p.m. at York High School’s Bailey Field. Admission tickets cost five dollars.
