GIDDINGS – The Tri-County Youth Football League’s championship day will be twice as special for East Williamson County this weekend in Giddings.
Taylor Youth Ducks are competing in the TYFL Super Bowl in both the Varsity and Junior Varsity category Saturday, Nov. 11. The contests will both be against the respective teams from the Thrall Youth Football League. “We’re excited to get this opportunity with neighboring towns,” said Quincy Griffin, head coach of the Taylor Youth Varsity team. “There’s a lot of families that will have some split households Saturday in Giddings.”
The JV Ducks-JV Tigers matchup will begin at 12:15 p.m. at Gidding High School’s Buffalo Stadium and the varsity game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. on the same field.
Taylor Youth Ducks quarterback Jadannien Johnson performs a stiff arm move in a matchup against Thrall Varsity Oct. 14 in Taylor. Photo courtesy of Andre Seawood
The varsity division is made up of kids aged 10 to 12, with the kids largely enrolled in fifth and sixth grade. Taylor’s team is the No. 2 seed in the league with a 7-1 record, while Thrall is the No. 4 seed in the league with a 5-3 record.
The Tigers defeated No. 1 Rockdale in a 14-7 upset to advance to the championship game. The Ducks defeated No. 3 Lexington 18-0 to advance to secure their third consecutive appearance in the title.
“The key to this game is going to be for us to continue to be physical,” Griffin said. “That’s what we’ve been all year. We are hard-nosed, physical and fast on defense…we need to be what we have been.”
The JV division is composed of 8 to 10 year olds who are in third and fourth grade. Taylor JV is the No. 2 seed in the league with a 7-2 record, while Thrall JV is the No. 1 seed in the league with a 7-1 record.
In the semifinal round, Thrall beat Lexington 21-6 and Taylor beat Rockdale 27-12 to set up the Super Bowl matchup.
Griffin said people in the Taylor area should consider attending the game, even if they aren’t related to the athletes.
“When we talk about building culture, this is how you build culture,” Griffin said. “You build it from the ground up and from the youth level. How awesome it would be for our community to come out and support our kids in the biggest game in their young careers. They aspire to get to this level in our youth program.”
Thrall JV and Taylor JV split the two times they matched up in the regular season. Taylor Varsity won 39-7 in their sole contest this year against Thrall Varsity.
