‘We did it’: Tulsa NOAH captures National Homeschool Championship
As Tulsa NOAH coach James Ballinger looked at his team before the season, he knew they’d have a shot at the national title.
His roster?
A future Division-I defensive lineman.
A star quarterback, running back and receiver group.
And four of five returning offensive linemen.
“We just returned a lot of guys that we knew were going to be good,” Ballinger said. “We knew it was going to be tough still, but we figured we had a pretty good shot at it.”
With all of the talent, Tulsa NOAH entered the season ranked No. 1 nationally among homeschool teams. The Jaguars ended the season atop the rankings as well.
Tulsa NOAH took down No. 3 Georgia FORCE 42-9 in the National Homeschool Football Tournament Championship in Panama City Beach, Florida on Saturday. It’s the largest margin of victory the tournament has featured in a championship game. It’s also Tulsa NOAH’s first national title since it began play in the NHFA tournament six years ago.
“That’s one of the best games I’ve seen them play,” Ballinger said of his team. “We still had mistakes here and there, but it was a well-performed game. It was a special performance.”
NOAH stands for Northeast Oklahoma Association of Homeschools and focuses on developing athletes in a Christian environment.
“We’re a faith-based organization,” Ballinger said. “Spiritual growth is really our main focus even beyond winning national championships.”
Tulsa NOAH is one of the biggest homeschool programs participating in 11man football. The Jaguars fielded 62 players at one point in the season. However, 56, went to the national tournament.
The program brought in and sculpted homeschool talent from across the state. Danny Okoye, a 6-foot-5, 230pound defensive lineman, has been the standout player all season, and he’s earned 18 offers from Division-I programs, such as Georgia, Notre Dame, OU, Oklahoma State and USC.
But quarterback Chet Green and running back Benjamin Lowery have also turned in stellar numbers. Green threw for 21 touchdowns and nearly 1,900 yards, while Lowery rushed for 1,523 yards and 19 touchdowns en route to the title.
How does the tournament work?
The national championship tournament is more like college football’s final four than it is a traditional high school state tournament.
There are more than 30 11-man homeschool football programs in the country. Throughout the season, the teams’ rankings are put together by a committee in Florida that tracks the team’s records and who they’re playing. After the season, the teams are put into brackets based on those rankings.
Four teams are placed in each of Division 1, Division 2, Division 3 and Division 4 brackets. The remaining teams are put in the Bowl Bracket. This year, a record 22 teams participated in the tournament.
“There was always a debate,” Ballinger said of the old format. “It was kind of like where there was the AP National Championship… So, there were multiple teams claiming to be national champions. So, it’s merged really to where this tournament really defines it because everybody participates in it.”
Teams placed in the Division 1 bracket are the four teams playing for the national championship. Tulsa NOAH earned a top ranking after a 10-2 record this season.
“Throughout the year, you’re really fighting to try to make sure you’re in that top four so that you have a shot to be Division 1 national champions,” Ballinger said.
“We’ve been in the top four every year, and last year we kind of felt like we should have been in the top four last year, but we ended up winning the Division 2 bracket that we were in pretty easily.”
To make sure it got in this time around, Tulsa NOAH played one of the toughest schedules this season. The Jaguars played every home school team ranked in the top six and multiple instate schools. Non-home schools Tulsa Metro Christian (12-0), the third-ranked team in Class 3A, and Kiefer (11-1), which is No. 4 in 2A, were the Jaguars’ only two losses this season.
In the tournament, the teams are guaranteed two games no matter the outcome. Tulsa NOAH won its first game on Thursday, advancing to the championship game on Saturday before claiming the crown.
With all of the talent on the roster, the Jaguars were able to meet their expectations and goals before the season. Just about an hour after the final, Ballinger went to Twitter and left one message.
“We did it,” he said.