The Northeast Pensacola Wildcats capped off the 2018 season in style, winning four titles at the Northwest Florida Youth Sports Association championship weekend at Milton High School.
The Wildcats’ four championships is the most in NWFYSA, accounting for half of the championships awarded on Saturday.
The SYSA Tigers and Bellview Packers each won two championships on Saturday to round out the eight championships awarded.
The Wildcats went unbeaten on the day, winning in the 7U, 8U, 9U and 11U divisions. All four of those teams also capped off unbeaten seasons with those wins.
All told, NEP went a combined 68-13 this season in its first year as an 8-team program. The Wildcats sent seven teams to the playoffs and six teams into the semifinal round.
7U sets tone in 21-6 win over Bellview
Tristan Lipton got NEP’s day off to a bang, taking the handoff on the very first play from scrimmage and going 70 yards for the touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead over Bellview.
Lipton was back at it a few plays later, scoring on another long touchdown run to extend NEP’s lead to 14-0 over the Packers.
Bellview was able to cut the lead to 14-6 midway through the third quarter, but Lipton added another touchdown run to increase the lead to 21-6.
The defense did the rest, holding Bellview scoreless the rest of the game to capture the championship with a 21-6 victory.
Lipton was named the MVP of the game after scoring three touchdowns and also coming up with a huge tackle on defense late in the game.
The 7U Wildcats finished the season with an 11-0 record and outscored its opponents 223-35 this year.
8U Wildcats defense gets in done in 7-6 win over Bellview
NEP’s 8U squad has shown off its offensive diversity all year, but the true strength of the team has been a smothering, relentless defense.
And that proved to be the difference on Saturday as the Wildcats finished the season with an 11-0 record after holding on for a 7-6 win over Bellview.
The Wildcats jumped out on Bellview early in the contest, getting a touchdown run by Kaden Posta to go up 6-0. Keegan Flowers then hauled in a huge PAT conversion pass from Trae Townsend to allow the Wildcats to take a 7-0 lead.
NEP then got behind its defense, which came up with a big stop on a PAT to remain ahead by a 7-6 margin.
On Bellview’s last possession of the game, Camden “Bone” Siefert came up with two huge sacks to preserve the victory for the Wildcats.
The 8U Wildcats outscored its opponents 258-43 this season.
9U Wildcats sweep Bellview to win title
Facing the Bellview Packers for the third time this season, the NEP Wildcats got an early touchdown from Zayvion Davis and then relied on a stingy defense to pull out the 6-0 victory and cap off an unbeaten season.
The Wildcats and Packers played three times this season, with the final margin being a combined 21 points in the three games.
The championship game was very similar to their previous two matchups, with the Wildcats using a solid defensive gameplan to keep the Packers out of the endzone.
11U puts on a show in championship game
The fans that suck around for the Wildcats’ last game of the day were in for quite a show.
The 11U Wildcats jumped out to an 8-0 lead on third play of the game, and scored two defensive touchdowns in rolling to a 32-0 win over Pace.
The Wildcats made short work of the Patriots, gaining 189 yards of total offense, led by Koby Howard with 68 yards on five carries. Nigel Nelson added 63 yards on five carries.
Raigen Motley showed off NEP’s aerial attack by completing 3-of-5 passes for 31 yards.
The Wildcats scored three times on defense, getting an early safety, a fumble return by CJ Nettles and a 90-yard interception return by Howard to end the game.
The 11U Wildcats outscored opponents an astounding 395-25 this season. Average margin of victory for the Wildcats this season was 33.6 points.