SUPERBOWL SCHEDULE:

10:00 a.m. in Hubbard

C-Team Division

Italy (1st seed) vs Palmer (2nd seed)

12:00 noon in Hubbard

B-Team Division

Italy (1st seed) vs Ferris (2nd seed)

IYAA A-Team (5th & 6th graders):
RICE, TEXAS – The IYAA A-Team played their “wildcard game” at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning against the Palmer Bulldogs. With identical regular season records at 2-3, the winner would claim the fourth seed in the “A” division’s playoff standings to officially be considered a playoff team.

Italy’s Ken Norwood, Jr. kicked off to the Bulldogs who’s return man was quickly brought down by Joseph Celis. Palmer ran the ball in from 50-yards out on the first play from scrimmage to take the quick 7-0 lead.

Italy’s offense answered when Austin Maynard passed downfield to Ken Norwood to put the A-Team in scoring position. Isaac Salcido pulled the Gladiators within 1-point when his touchdown effort made the score 7-6.

With Italy threatening to score again, Palmer intercepted a pass in front of their own goal line. Determined to get points, A-Team’s defense forced a fumble in the endzone and the Palmer quarterback fell on it for a 2-point safety, giving Italy the lead 8-6.

Italy’s offense scored again before the half when Maynard passed downfield to Celis for a 40-yard touchdown. The conversion pass from Maynard to Norwood counted and the A-Team led at the break 16-7.

The A-Team continued to dominate the rest of the contest and eventually finished off Palmer in the 4th. A long Maynard punt pinned the Bulldogs deep. With 4:10 left in the game, Palmer came out in shotgun formation but the snap sailed over the quarterback’s hands and into the Bulldog endzone.

A hustling Jacob Brooks recovered the ball in the endzone for an Italy defensive touchdown. Salcido added the 2-point conversion. The game ended with the A-Team still alive in the Superbowl race with a 23-7 victory over Palmer, claiming the fourth seed in the playoff standings.

The win propelled the A-Team into the conference championship game against the Blooming Grove Lions at 6:00 p.m. later in the day. Also, the early Saturday morning win marked the first time in IYAA history that all three football teams, A-Team (5th & 6th), B-Team (3rd & 4th) and C-Team (K-2nd), all qualified for the playoffs along with their Cheerleaders.

IYAA C-Team (K-2nd graders):
At 3:00 p.m., the IYAA C-Team rematched the Hubbard Jaguars in their conference championship game. Italy had previously defeated the Jaguars 28-0 a few weeks earlier but Hubbard wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

A nervous Head Coach Gary Wood said before the game, “I’m nervous.” And with that he marched his young Gladiators onto the Rice playing field.

Penalties slowed C-Team’s scoring efforts early, but Italy quarterback Ricky Pendleton kept racing to the endzone hoping the points would eventually count.

After C-Team finally had a 6-0 lead, they were facing a 1st and 25-yards to go when Pendleton completed a long pass to Ja’Sean Brooks. Brooks broke tackles to give Head Coach Gary Wood’s offense a 2nd and 11 near midfield.

Pendleton eventually scored the touchdown and connected with Brooks again for the 2-point conversion. C-Team enjoyed a 14-0 advantage at the break along with their apples and Gatorade.

Thanks to two fumble recoveries including a strip by defensive end Bryce DeBorde, who plucked the ball from the quarterback’s hands, and a near interception by Pendleton, the Jaguars only managed one 1st down on an offsides call during the game.

In the second half, Brooks ran straight up the gut for Italy’s 3rd touchdown as the IYAA C-Team won the conference championship 21-0 over Hubbard. With the win, C-Team advances to the Superbowl next Saturday in Hubbard against Palmer. Both Italy and Palmer will be going into the game undefeated so it should be a good one!

IYAA B_TEAM (3rd and 4th graders):
Led by Tylan Wallace, Taron Smith and Kendrick Norwood, Coach Ken Norwood’s B-Team bullied the Blooming Grove Lions into submission. Italy’s defense caged the Lions up while the B-Team’s offense ran wild.

Just as effective through the air, Wallace connected on a bomb route with Norwood for an early score.

A Smith 99-yard touchdown run and a Wallace interception sealed the deal as the IYAA B-Team won the conference championship 36-6 over the Lions.

Undefeated, B-Team earns a trip to the Superbowl in Hubbard next Saturday where they will rematch against Ferris at 12:00 noon. Italy beat Ferris earlier in the season 19-6 making B-Team the favorite to win.

IYAA A-Team (5th & 6th):
The A-Team competed in their second game of the day at 6:00 p.m. against 1st seed Blooming Grove. With the almost impossible task of winning two football games in the same day, especially when it’s the first game for your second opponent, the A-Team met the challenge head on.

Hard hitting Isaac Salcido set the example for the A-Team defense. Before you can hit them, however, you have to catch them. The Lions were doing there best not to let that happen as they jumped to a quick 14-0 lead.

The oversized Lions offensive line managed to keep the A-Team out of Blooming Grove backfield making it easy pickings for the speedy Blooming Grove quarterback.

Italy receiver Cameron Carter tried to keep it close when he made a sensational catch for a touchdown off of an Austin Maynard pass.

Ken Norwood, Jr., Maynard and Austin Warren did their best to run the ball through the mass of blue jerseys but there was just no daylight peeking through as the sun had already set in Rice.

With the ability to both throw and run, the Lion’s quarterback proved unstoppable as the Lions built a huge lead. Italy’s Maynard found Salcido, in the 4th, for a 70-yard touchdown pass but it was too little too late.

The Blooming Grove Lions zipped to a 52-12 conference championship win over Italy knocking the IYAA A-Team Gladiators out of the Playoffs.

IYAA fans were proud of the A-Team’s efforts who battled all the way until the final buzzer sounded.

The 2009 IYAA A-Team Gladiators (5th-6th graders):