Round Two of AYFL 120 lb. Division Playoff Predictions

Chad Wilson
Warriors and Wildcats Two Top Ranked Teams

It’s that time again.  Predictions for the games in the most exciting division of the American Youth Football League in Broward County, Florida.  It seems my prediction riled up some folks last week and may have fired up a few others.  What can I say?  They’re just predictions folks.  Certainly nothing personal as I have a connection with almost every team in the playoff picture.  Unfortunately,  no one wants to see me predict a tie for no other reason other than the fact that ties can’t happen!  Just my opinion and in this division,  a prediction is more about a team being really good than the other team being bad.  So, no offense should be taken.  With that being said,  I predicted three out of the four games in this division right last week.  Only Pasadena beating PPO kept me away from perfection.  There were no upsets which is not usual.  Things get hot and heavy this week with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line so here’s how I see it.

(#1 ) Weston 16   (#4)  Pasadena 6

Oh sure I could go wild here and pick Weston to lose but why?  The Warriors line up every week looking like a team that should and could be beat but for 38 out of 39 weeks that has not been the case.  Weston has perfected the little things and have allowed the big things to take care of themselves.  Running, blocking and tackling are their specialty and they do it at a level higher than anyone else.  Pasadena may be the most gritty, hard nosed team in this division and if I ever needed to go collect some money,  I would take these guys with me.  However,  we are talking football and you can’t argue with Weston’s history and ability to win the big game.

(#3)  Cooper City  20  (#2)  West Pines 14

These two teams met in week eight of the regular season with West Pines winning in overtime when an extra point attempt by Cooper City hit the uprights and fell into the end zone.  West Pines also withstood an opening drive by Cooper City that died inside the 10 yard line.   Since that game,  West Pines has not really been the same.  They struggled the next week against a bad Northeast team,  lost to Weston two weeks later and had all kinds of problems against Sunrise last week.  Cooper City will be well motivated for the rematch and with two teams so evenly matched,  I like the loser of the first matchup to get their revenge.

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Let the insults reign!  I love the passion of youth football in South Florida!

AYFL – 120 lb. Division Playoff Predictions

Chad Wilson

This is perhaps the most competitive division this year in the American Youth Football League in Broward County, Florida.  You have a division where as many as five teams have an equal chance of standing on top of the mountain at end of the season.  Here is how I think things will shake out in week one of the 120 lb. playoffs.

#1  Weston – 18   #8  Plantation – 0

Plantation was dominated in the first meeting in week 5.  Weston has continued to get better as the season has gone on.  They also rebounded well from having a 38 game win streak snapped by PPO two weeks ago.

#2 West Pines – 30  #7 Sunrise – 12

Sunrise is the most unpredictable team in the post season.  One week they will blowout an opponent.  The next week they will get blown out.  West Pines should be motivated after loss to Weston last week

#3  Cooper City – 20  #6  Ft. Lauderdale – 0

Cooper City will control the tempo and the clock in this one.  Ft. Lauderdale is on the edge of greatness but not quite there yet.

#5  Pembroke Pines – 12  #4  Pasadena – 6

This is a tough draw for the Panthers. Pasadena won a tough battle in the first meeting over a month ago.  Teams usually learn their lesson in the rematch.  PPO without one of their top players leaves Pasadena in a quandary as to how PPO will attack.  A good game here that PPO wins with a late touchdown.

 

Bomb ‘Em for 90! Jordy Nelson, Devin Hester Take it to the House on Sunday

Chad Wilson

There’s nothing more exciting than a football player taking a football and weaving through defenders to go the length of the field.  In celebration of that and to give a shameless plus for an awesome Dri-Fit T-shirt,  I am going to be holding the weekly/monthly “Bomb ‘ Em for 90” segment on Gridironstuds.com.  This week we are going to take a look at two plays from the NFL yesterday and both were accomplished by players from the NFC North Division.

First up was Green Bay’s Jordy Nelson.  The much maligned receiver operating in the finest receiving corps in the league hauled in a slant and go (slugo) route from Aaron Rogers and raced 93 yards to the end zone vs. St. Louis yesterday.  It was just another big play for this offense enroute to another victory to move them to 6-0 on the season.   Here’s a view of that exciting play:

Next up, we have a man who is no stranger to the end zone and to traveling the length of the field at high speeds.  You may have missed it last night and who could blame you as the Bears were busying beating Minnesota’s back out in a snoozer.  With the Bears up 26-10,  the Vikings just scored a touchdown and came up with the brilliant idea of kicking the ball to Devin Hester.   You can only guess what happened next.  Hester tap danced on the Vikings’ beard and their hopes as he ripped it down the sidelines for a 98 yard kickoff return.  Now the Bomb ‘Em for 90 Committee usually reserves the highlights for touchdown passes of 90 yards or more but we will make occasional exceptions for extraordinary plays and players.  Hester and his deed falls under those categories.  Check out his dazzling return and entry into the Bomb ‘Em for 90 Hall of Fame:

From the high school edition,  which is what I really want this to be,  you have to take a look at the man who coined the phrase,  taking a kickoff back 90 yards for a touchdown earlier this season versus Goose Creek High School and that’s University School’s MacGarrett Kings.  Take a look:

Get Your Bomb ‘Em for 90 Dri-Fit T-Shirt

Bomb' Em for 90 Dri-Fit

Here’s a shirt that every wide receiver, quarterback, running back, kick returner or offensive player should own.  It’s the ultra comfortable,  highly sporty,  make a statement, Gridironstuds.com “Bomb ‘Em for 90” Dri-Fit T-shirt.  If you are electric and you know it,  sport one of these and let everyone know.  Wear it to practice,  wear it on game day, wear it under your pads,  wear it to camp, to the combine, to the park,  wear it in the dark and let ’em all know,  that at any moment you could “Bomb ‘Em for 90”  Only $25..   Send email to: cwilson@gridironstuds.com now

Did you Bomb someone for 90?  If you had a touchdown play for 90 yards or more and have the video,  let us know.  Send an email now with the description and link to the video to: cwilson@gridironstuds.com.

Freshman QB Breaks Florida State Record with 10 TD passes in One Game

Chad Wilson

There are good games and there are games like the one freshman QB Tucker Israel had on Thursday Night.  The signal caller surpassed the Florida state record of eight touchdown passes in a game when he went out and rained down 10 TD passes on Celebration High School in a 68-10 win for Lake Nona.  If you are looking at those numbers and thinking it was bombs away,   you would be disappointed.  Eight of Israel’s 10 touchdowns traveled less than 20 yards in the air.  Israel hit Ryan Sousa on a pair of skinny slant pass patterns and that was as deep as it got.  The rest of Israel’s TD passes came from a combination of jet sweeps in which he chucked the ball one yard ahead to a player in motion and screen pass type dump offs to a back standing at the line of scrimmage.  Regardless of this fact,  it worked for Lake Nona as they had a 54-10 halftime lead on the well whipped Celebration team.  Israel fell short by one of the national record of 11 TD passes thrown in a game.  On the season,  Israel has 24 TD passes and only four interceptions with an eye popping 1808 yards to boot.  Lake Nona has won five straight since losing their opener to Orlando University High School.  It’s gonna be a great year and a great career for this freshman.  If he stays healthy he will likely own all of the state passing records by the time he dons his cap and gown.

Here’s a link to a full story and video of this performance:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/os-hs-celebration-lake-nona-20111013,0,7844775.story

Desean Jackson Has Been Doing It Big For A While Now

Chad Wilson
Desean Jackson in his Poly days

We all see him on Sunday’s giving the other team fits and making opposing fans say words they should not be saying on Sunday.  However,  Desean Jackson is not new to this.  Jackson was a phenom in high school playing for popular California High School Long Beach Poly.  Jackson was groomed for greatness… literally.   Jackson was trained by older brother and friends to be a playmaking machine.  Young Jackson took the training and ran with it.  It’s always good to look back and see what a guy used to be especially when he’s now a pro getting it done.  Max Preps takes a look at Desean Jackson’s playmaking high school days in their segment called “Way Back When”   Image for MaxPreps Video.

Cane on Cane Violence: Hester and Shields Slap Boxing on a Sunday

Chad Wilson

 Yes,  I know it’s old news but there are still those of you out there who have not seen it.  So this is for you.  A couple of weeks back, the Packers were out doing their thing which of late is beating the back out of the Chicago Bears (sorry windy city fans).

During the course of another Packers victory,  Sam Shields found himself going down field with Hester on a pass route and things got a little testy.  Don’t know who shoved who first and what may have led up to this but what I do know is that Hester and Shields started to go “All Andre Rison vs. Deion” on each other.  Luckily the referee and cooler heads prevailed before it go full scale but this is the first I can recall two Hurricane teammates getting into it with each other on the field.  Now, this would not have been unusual on the Hurricane practice field but to see it when they are on separate pro teams is unusual.   For those wondering,  Shields and Hester were not at Miami at the same time.  Shields came right after Hester’s departure. If anyone can name another instance in which this would have happened,  please comment.  If anyone can think of an instance in which players from the same school got into on the NFL field,  please comment.

Finally,  who would win a race between these two?  Shields has been clocked at 4.23 and Hester at 4.24.   That would be better than this facemask pounding contest.