East Tampa (FL) vs. Lihue (HI)

East Tampa Bandits from Florida played the Lihue Patriots from Hawaii in the first round of the DII Pee Wee National Championship. The Bandits were the first to get it into the touchdown with a quarterback sneak from the one yard line, the result of a take away by the Bandits defense putting the team on the 1 yard line late at the end of the first half.

Coach Longboi of the Patriots rallied his team who came out with the desire to win. He said he told them “They need to play hard,” and that they did. One a play that Longboi said was designed for a first down ended up being a quarterback sneak for 31 yards butting the Patriots on the board. The Patriots had their PAT blocked. The score remained tied at 6-6 late into the fourth quarter when the Patriots marched down the field and had a halfback option pass to get into the end zone. The Patriots made the PAT, making the score 14-6, which is how the score ended.

Coach Duaney of the Bandits told his team at the half to continue playing strong and that the team was in a good position being up 6-0. Duaney said “You can't win a big game like this and miss tackles like we did.”

A unique aspect of the Patriots is that their quarterback maybe their best runner while their halfback is their better thrower which seemed to come out in today's game.

Longboi gives a lot of the credit of his team's success to the community and families who have been a huge help not only financially but coming out to the games and showing the support. Longboi went as far as to say this win was a result of the large contingency of fans and cheer squad.