Hard Hitting Football this Fall

Submitted by tiffanie.miley on

Football season has started again!!!  Here at Springville Junior High, many seventh and eighth graders take part in the community youth football program.  The two eighth grade teams are Quality Cleaner Vikings and the Ream’s Badgers.  The three seventh grade teams are the Rotary Mustangs, the Bona Signs Rams, and the S.O.S Bears. Games take place throughout September and at the first of October.  The eighth grade teams play Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings.  The seventh graders play on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings.

The current record of the Quality Cleaners before they played Reams was 0-2. They were defeated by the Payson Eagles on one play when their quarterback was tackled in the end zone, resulting in a two point safety.  The next game they played Mapleton and lost in overtime 12-18.  “We didn’t know what we were doing.  We were unprepared and on some plays we didn’t know what to do,” said Alex Valenzuela, eighth  grader and defensive guard for Quality Cleaners, about what happened in those first two games. 

The Reams Badgers  record going into the game against Quality was 1-1.  They won their first game against the Payson Cowboys 26-20.  The next game they lost against the Payson Eagles 6-0.  “I got hurt in the middle of the game. Then from watching my team I saw that they were getting worn out and tired.  The other team got one lucky play that cost us the game,” said Coleman Lindquist, an 8th grader and linebacker for the Badgers, about what happened against the Payson Eagles.

Quality vs. Reams, Vikings vs. Badgers, the two Springville teams went head to head  on an early Saturday morning, the sun starting to shine over the Rocky Mountains.  Both teams took to the sidelines, and the game began.  On the kickoff the ball soared in the air to about the thirty yard line, but the ball bounced over the returners head. The returner got the ball and was brought down on the twenty, its game time.  The first quarter was a scoreless one; both defenses were shutting down the offences.

Most of the second quarter was the same as the first.  With about five minutes left Reams was on Quality’s forty.  Reams started the play and the quarterback gave the ball to his halfback.  The halfback went left and broke a tackle, and ran down the rest of the field untouched.  Reams missed the extra point, 6-0 for Reams.  Halftime began .

Early in third quarter Reams ran down the Vikings  side of the field and score again, they miss the extra point, 12-0 Reams.  Quality doesn’t score any points on offence and go into the fourth quarter scoreless.

Midway in the fourth quarter, Quality was on about Reams 35.  The play started and Zach Gordon pulled back to pass, he couldn’t find anyone to throw to so he took off.  He broke a tackle and makes a touchdown, Quality got the extra point, 12-7 for Reams.  Reams got the kickoff and started on their twenty five.  A few plays into the drive Reams fumble on their thirty, Quality got the ball.  The Vikings tried to get a first down but they just don’t make it .  With a minute left Reams got the ball and the clock ticked away.  The game ended at 12-7 Reams.

“We lost because we kind of went into the game thinking that we were going to lose because they have big name players like Coleman or Parker Johnston,” said Alex Valenzuela about playing Reams.  The rivalry between Reams and Quality is considered a big deal between the two teams because both teams are from Springville. Coleman Lindquist said, “Playing Quality wasn’t that hard, they couldn’t block me and it was easy to make a lot of tackles.”What will happen next time Reams play Quality? “We will be better prepared next time we play Reams, and we will win,” said Alex Valenzuela. What did Reams think about playing Quality again?  “If we ever play Quality we will win. We are the best team in the league, not to be cocky, but we just are,” said Coleman Lindquist

Schedules for seventh and eighth grade games can be found at springvilleyouthfootball.com.

Attributions
Andrew Creer, SJHS Staff Writer