Remember that story about David defeating Goliath? Imagine if David had to beat that guy up four times in six days.
That’s what the Plant City Dolphins did in the United Youth Football League National Championships’ Mighty Mites bracket.
Those four teams — the Tidewater Redskins, Bristol Wardogs, Staten Island Hurricanes and Homewood Flossmoor Vikings — were coming off of undefeated seasons in their regular-season action. On the day of the game against the Hurricanes, Dec. 10, there were even rumors among the Dolphins’ fanbase and organization that Staten Island hadn’t lost a game in three years.
If that’s not intimidating, nothing is.
Meanwhile, this appeared to be a Dolphins squad that didn’t fit the same mold. These Mighty Mites — the Pee-Wee squad in TCYFCC play, which admits younger players than the UYFL — went 10-3 in regular-season play and although they made the Superbowl, lost to the undefeated East Bay Bucs, 12-6.
But, hey, if a team’s going to lose its conference championship game, why not make up for it by winning a national tournament?
“We went into it last year and got beat pretty good,” head coach D.J. Brewington says. “I’m not gonna say that that’s the mindset we went into it with, but I know the competition from up north is usually really tough.”
The Dolphins got started on Sunday, Dec. 7, with a first-round win over the Redskins. The defense, anchored by team leader Seth Hogan, completely dominated Tidewater and paved the way to a 13-0 win. That was all well and good, but none of the Dolphins would call it the game where they really believed they could win it all.
However, that game didn’t take long to happen.
The very next day, in the quarterfinals, Plant City was matched up with the Bristol Wardogs, one of the teams that had gotten a first-round bye in the tournament. The game required a great effort from the Plant City boys, who found themselves trailing late in the cold, rainy game.
Down by one score in the third quarter, Plant City found itself facing a 4th and 12 situation, but the Dolphins stepped up when they needed to most: Mitchell Rodriguez threw a pass to Carver Wineinger to get the first down, and the receiver ended up turning the play into about a 40-yard gain. The Dolphins were able to score on that drive, and thanks to Tyler Martines’s recovery of Colby Brewington’s onside kick, were able to score again.
The Dolphins and Wardogs continued to battle in the rain, taking their game to double overtime. Plant City ended up on the winning end of a 26-20 final score, and it was then that Brewington says the players and coaches really begun to believe that they could do something great.
After a one-day break, Plant City took on Staten Island in the early afternoon. It ended up being a slugfest, but the Dolphins handed the Hurricanes the team’s first loss in allegedly three years. After trailing in the first half, the Dolphins were able to solve the New Yorkers’ defensive puzzle and overcome some of the calls on the field. The game ended with an 18-12 final score and, shortly afterward, Brewington bought the UYFL game film for the Vikings.
After two nights and one day of watching the tape, Plant City was ready to take on Homewood Flossmoor. It wasn’t tough for the Dolphins to prepare for this one, as the Vikings run the same single-wing offense that Plant City uses, but a championship game is still a championship game. It’s nothing to be taken lightly.
After falling behind at halftime, 13-7, the Vikings scored again to make it a 19-7 game. However, they also started to look gassed by the end of the third quarter. On the other hand, the Dolphins were just getting started.
The offensive line stepped up big time, giving Plant City’s signal-callers plenty of time to make decisions and find gaps to hit. Fortunately for the blockers, running back Eden Williams made the most out of the opportunities. He scored three rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make it a 27-19 game, and a late sack on fourth down of the Vikings’ final drive iced the game.
The Dolphins left the Otis M. Andrews Sports Complex that day with the best Christmas present a young football player could ask for: championship hardware.
THE SQUAD
1 – Omari Kask, DL
2 – Jaxson Peacock, OL
3 – Jourdan Anderson, DB
4 – Mitchell Rodriguez, DE
5 – Charles Watson, OL
6 – Carver Wineinger, OL
7 – Tanner Rollyson, OL
8 – Maarcus Springfield, DE
9 – Colby Brewington, DL
10 – Michael Mowery, OL
14 – Tyler Martines, DL
15 – Chase Dexter, DB
20 – Eden Williams, RB/LB
21 – Luther Scarlett, OL
22 – Joshua Brown, OL
32 – Tyson Griffin, DB
40 – Seth Hogan, LB/FB
71 – Jeremiah Leon, OL
74 – Joshua Leon, OL
85 – Case Watson, LB
Coaches: D.J. Brewington, Josh Peacock, Mitch Rodriguez, Kenny Watson, Lee Griffin