#11 below is Jesse! Woo hoo!! :-)
Jesse's football team had their final game this weekend and boy what a game! We had such a great time watching Jesse. Below is an article from the Rocky Mountain Football League website. I highlighted the part about Jesse. The really exciting part was that he was named the MVP and got his very own trophy :) Avril and I were just beaming with pride!!
LOGAN FINISHES PERFECT; CAPTURE AA CROWN
Utah Valley Desperados-13 Logan Stampede-27 AA Championship
(Logan, UT) Call them whatever you wish; over-rated, under-rated, the team with the easiest schedule, anything you want…just make sure you call Logan Stampede the champs, the undefeated champs at that.
“We’re not going to complain one bit,” said retiring Logan (10-0) General Manager Dave Curtis. “There are not a lot of teams in the RMFL that can say they had a perfect season.”
Curtis brings up a terrific point about his organization’s perfect record as the Stampede is the only team in the RMFL at either level to finish with a spotless record.
“People can say what they want,” added Curtis, “the fact is we beat every division leader in the AA. I think we earned the title the right way; as a team, on the field, and no one can take that away from us.”
Logan Stampede Head Coach Bracken Atkinson noted that he felt the pressure as well. “Going for a championship was easier than going for the undefeated season. That was a lot more pressure than a championship,” he said.
Any way the game gets broken down, every fan in attendance recognized that the tempo was set early by the Stampede. After taking the opening kickoff, Logan drove the ball 80 yards for a Mike Jenkins to Justin McDermott touchdown pass from 12 yards, even after a pair of back-to-back interceptions that interrupted the drive albeit temporarily. Utah Valley’s Sim Tiatia did his best to stall out the Logan drive at the Desperados 41 yard line, only to have Logan’s Brandon Carlisle do the same to Utah Valley’s Brock Adamson the very next play.
“It was an interesting beginning for sure,” said Curtis, “we’re just glad that series of plays went our way in the end.”
Then, after a big defensive stop courtesy of Logan’s AA leading defense, the Stampede offense was able to score again early second quarter with a Dave Williams five yard run that was set up by a spectacular Jenkins to Ted Stokes 37 yards pass which was caught amid double coverage. That score would place the Stampede up 13-0, a score that wouldn’t last until half, as Williams punched it in one more time from one yard out with mere seconds on the clock, leaving a halftime score of 20-0.
The second half would prove to be more of the same, however, this time the sparks would come from the Logan defense as they would hold the Desperados scoreless for a third quarter courtesy of a big fumble and Logan recovery, and two Utah Valley drives that ended via a turnover on downs. They only real action at all from the third quarter was a big Calvin Behm punt after a series of penalties that sailed over 60 yards only to be fumbled by the Logan return man, and recovered by the Desperados gunners. However, this quick burst of flame was quickly extinguished as Logan’s Drew Augustus and Jake Green sacked Utah Valley’s Adamson on the ensuing second and third downs for a total of 23 yards lost, but more importantly, removal of the Desperados from scoring range. The Desperados were forced to play for field position in a time when they desperately needed to score as they wound up fourth-and-halfway to Salt Lake City.
The fourth quarter was the only time the Desperados were able to find the end zone as Lee Edwards ran one in from three yards, and Brock Adamson was able to find Ryan Lang from 9 yards late in the fourth. However, the game was not entirely out of reach as the Desperados clawed their way back to within two scores, but the Logan defense quickly ended that pipe dream as they forced a big turnover on downs with a critical Adamson to Dom Perry pass break up with 3:20 left on the clock. After the big stop, Logan was able to more-or-less milk the clock out as they would go on to defeat the Utah Valley Desperados 27-13, and become the only undefeated team in the RMFL as well as the 2009 AA Champions, and a likely member of the RMFL’s 2010 AAA.
“It’s been a work in progress that has been built by a lot of quality guys,” said Curtis. “We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, and it feels good to go out on top.”
Perhaps the only person with more to be elated about as a result of Saturday night’s action was Logan wide receiver Jesse Yarger, who was selected unanimously by a five member selection committee as the Championship game’s Most Valuable Player.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know the award existed,” said a very excited Yarger. “Winning the game was the first priority, this was just gravy. There are plenty of guys that were equally deserving as or more so than me.”
Yarger would finish the night with 9 catches for 96 yards, however, the overwhelming factor in the selection was that many of his 9 catches were drive saving plays; a truly “clutch” performance to be sure.
“It’s all a little surreal, actually,” Yarger said. “We just pinned our ears back and did our jobs collectively. It was one big team effort.”
Certainly it was. Mission accomplished.
*Photos of the game came be seen and purchased from Pete at http://www.trueaggies.com/.
Here is our happy family after the game. Jesse is holding his MVP trophy, which Avril is eyeing intently.
Skyler Chambers, Jesse's friend also played an amazing game. Also pictured here is the proud father, who faithfully attended all of Jesse's games.
The ginormous trophy is the team Championship one, the smaller one is Jesse's MVP trophy. I'm glad we got the smaller one to take home cuz I don't know where we would put the huge one in our house.
