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Our weekly Tucson Youth Football & Spirit Federation (TYFSF) Game of the Week featured the 10U teams from the Vail Vikings and the Tucson Raiders with the Raiders coming away with a 32-6 victory.
The 10U Raiders and Vikings met up Saturday morning at Cienega High School and the parents and fans witnessed plenty of big plays from both teams. The score may not tell the whole story especially with the Vikings collecting 243 yards of offense to 241 for the Raiders.
The Raiders capitalized on almost every chance they had while the Vikings were able to move the ball but couldn’t get in the endzone.
Jordan Naveunxay picked up 53 of his game-high 129 yards rushing on the Vikings first drive. His 26-yard dash put the Vikings up 6-0 but Jeffers Haag returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to tie the game up 6-6.
The next two Viking drives ended in fumbles and the Raiders were able to score after the second turnover as the game moved to the second quarter. Jeffrey Segar threw an 11-yard pass to Ahmad Locus and a 33-yard strike to Haag to spark the drive.
Andres Baca set up a first-and-goal after a 12-yard run and Segar ran the ball in two plays later to put the Raiders up for good, 12-6.
The Vikings came up with the defensive series of the game later on in the second quarter after the Raiders were set up with a first-and-goal at the one-foot line. A couple of stops and huge sack had the Vikings taking the ball back at their own 17 but the Raiders responded with a another big turnover.
Diego Rivera was able to get into the backfield and he picked off a lateral pass and returned the ball 17 yards to put the Raiders up 18-6. Both teams struggled from there and the score remained 18-6 at the half.
The Vikings recovered a fumble on the next kickoff but gave the ball back on downs at the Raider 25. A roughing the passer penalty kept the Raider offense on the field and Segar cashed in again, this time on a 54-yard touchdown throw to Locus to give the Raiders a 24-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Naveunxay came up with an interception to put the Vikings back in business. Naveunxay broke away on a 57-yard run a couple of plays later but the Raiders got the ball right back on another turnover and Martin Kahn was able to run one in from 63 yards out to give the Raiders a 32-6 lead after Segar hit Haag on a 2-point conversion.
Segar finished the game with 126 yards passing on five completions. Locus collected 65 of those yards and Haag pulled down 61.
“It was a good day,” the La Paloma fifth grader said after the game. “All my throws came from everybody doing the right thing. Blocking and running the correct routes. Blocking helped me out.”
Kahn finished with 73 yards rushing and Baca added 15.
On the other side, the Vikings put up some big numbers in addition to the 129 yards rushing from Naveunxay.
River Ries had 41 yards rushing and Alex Garcia added 32. Ries also threw for 22 and David Garcia added another 22 through the air. Both Hyrum Tanner and Alex Garcia finished with 22 yards receiving.
“I just played hard and ran as fast as I could,” Naveunxay explained. “We just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. I was able to see my holes but we just couldn’t finish.”
Naveunxay is a fourth grader at Vail Deseret Willow.
11U Vikings & Scorpions
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here, on AZPreps365.com and on the pages of the Vail Voice and the Tanque Verde Voice. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com
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