Plantation Flag Football League wraps up season with Super Bowl wins
For the 300 players on 31 teams in the Plantation Flag Football League, the ultimate prize is a Super Bowl title.
That was recently achieved in four age groups as champions were crowned in the 8-under, 10-under, 12-under and 14-under divisions at Plantation Central Park. Teams in the youth league are nicknamed after colleges and universities.
The 8-under title went to the Auburn Tigers, with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets securing the top spot at the 10-under level. The Georgia Tech squad endured a rocky regular season, but got hot during the playoffs and wrapped up play on the gridiron with a 7-7-1 overall record.
The Seminoles competed against seven teams in the 12-under division and won that Super Bowl showdown to conclude its season action at 10-3.
In the 8-under tournament, there were seven clubs vying for the firstplace trophies. The finals came down to a match-up between the Auburn Tigers and the Southern Illinois Salukis. Auburn entered the playoffs undefeated and kept its winning ways going with a 24-6 victory. The Super Bowl victory improved the Tigers to a 14-0 record.
Tigers coaches Wayne Clark and Jean Nicole were thrilled to see the season end on a perfect note. This was the third matchup between Auburn and Southern Illinois and on each occasion the result ended up being in the Tigers’ favor.
“Our closest game this year was during a downpour where you could barely see in front of you and we won that game by six points,” Clark said. “We had a very balanced attack of running and passing.”
Auburn quarterback Brandon Nicole connected with Ronan Nieland for a passing touchdown, and Nieland subsequently came through again with a long running play. Isaias Hernandez made a big contribution as he added two rushing touchdowns, while on the other side of the line of scrimmage Mathis Rothchild was a defensive stalwart with 12 flags pulls.
Other members of the Auburn Tigers team are Brady Clark, Chance Fletcher, Logan Rigaud and Michael Stringer.
The Hurricanes, who won the Super Bowl as a 12-under squad last season, came back to win as 14-unders. The Canes competed against five teams and finished the season with an 11-2-1 record.
The 6-under division was comprised of five teams and was for set up for instructional purposes only.
All divisions played games following a 7-on-7 format, with the exception of the 14-under age group which played 4-on-4. The clubs that made it to the Super Bowl final received first- and second-place trophies.
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