On Saturday, Oct. 26 Blue Ridge High School, in Lakeside, hosted the Northeastern Arizona Youth Football League (NAYFL) championship game – and a Globe-Miami team was there to contend for the league title.
That team was the Minors, who are part of the Copper Community Youth Sports (CCYS) Punchers tackle football program. The Minors, comprised of fifth- and sixth-grade players, enjoyed a 6-2 regular season; their losses came against Round Valley and Snowflake.
They met Round Valley again October 19, in the NAYFL playoffs, and made good their loss with a 22-14 victory. Zane Albo, Carter DalMolin and Lucas Spurgeon each scored a touchdown for the Minors, and Albo and Cason Olvera added a two-point conversion apiece. The win earned the Minors a slot in the championship game versus Snowflake, who advanced to the other slot with a 37-0 shutout of St. Johns.
In a championship tilt that CCYS described as “a hard-fought game on defense” in an email to the Copper Country News, the Minors’ season concluded with a 22-0 loss to Snowflake. Zane Albo and Jaevohn Palmer each had an interception for the Minors.
The CCYS Punchers are a youth tackle football program with 82 players on three teams: the Minors, Mighty Mites (K-2) and Juniors (third and fourth grade). The Minors are coached by Gregg Marin. Other coaches are Chris Marin, Brandon Palmer, Daniel Hicklin, Michael Betom, Nathan Olvera, Jesse Mata and Damian Gonzales.
The NAYFL consists of nine teams: Blue Ridge, the CCYS Punchers, Holbrook, Payson, Round Valley, St. Johns, Show Low, Snowflake and Winslow.
