Southmoreland midget football brings home championship

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Keera Frye in News, Sports // 0 Comments

An army of red and black flooded the Chartiers-Houston High School football stadium last month. Parents rushed onto the field to hug their children and players were hoisted into the air by their proud coaches. For the first time, Southmoreland’s Division 1 midget football team was bringing home a championship trophy.

“For me personally it was great to win, but all I cared about was how it made everyone else feel,” said coach Adam McCune. “I was so ecstatic for the players, cheerleaders, coaches, parents, and everyone else who got involved this year and showed their support!”

The Division 1 team had a successful season leading up to the championship with a 8-1 record. Their only loss was to the undefeated McGuffey team who they met again in the championship. With a different outcome.

“I was thrilled for all the fans that had traveled down to root the boys on,” McCune said. “McGuffey is five minutes down the road, and they also had double the (number of) players, but our cheering section outnumbered theirs. It just shows how much this community loves our student athletes and wants to see them succeed.”

The Scotties triumphed over the Highlanders with a 13-8 victory to win the championship. Touchdowns were scored by two 5th grade players, quarterback XZavier Robinson and running back Treyvon Lee.

“It’s always cool hearing your name announced,” said Robinson. “But it’s even more exciting to hear it at a championship game.”

McCune said it had been awhile since he worked with players of that age, but after the first practice he said he knew they were talented.

McCune said assistant coach Chris Harper told him: “I have been coaching this age group for nine years across three leagues, and this is by far the best team I have ever been a part of.”

Coach McCune recalled having a quick meeting with the players at the beginning of their first practice.

“I only knew three or four of their names,” McCune said. “I told them, ‘I am here to win a championship. Who is here for that same reason?’ Every player raised their hand immediately and I knew then that they wanted the same thing as I did.”

McCune said that despite the young age of the players, their mental toughness was a great factor.

“Their aggressiveness, confidence, and mindset that they were not going to be defeated was outstanding in the championship,” McCune said. “There were moments in the game where a weak-minded team would have folded, but our boys weathered the storm and just kept fighting every play.”

In the regular season, the team went into the McGuffey game with a 2-0 record. But McGuffey “came out ready to play and we did not,” McCune said. “After the first few series, the boys became intimidated and started to not trust each other. From a coaching standpoint, I put the blame on myself for that game. I didn’t have them ready mentally for a team like McGuffey.”

However, things had changed and players had improved since that first game against McGuffey.

“By the time we made it to the championship the boys had experienced a lot of unique situations that I believe prepared them for that game,” McCune continued. “The loss to McGuffey earlier, the overtime win vs Charleroi, and the semi-final game vs AG-Silver that was close from the beginning until the very last play.”

McCune said that in the week leading up to the championship game, he “reminded them every day at practice about what I had said to them at the first practice – about being there to win a championship. So before the game I reminded them of that again. I also promised them that if they gave every bit of effort they had for the next 40 minutes, they would be walking off the field as champions.”

And they did.

McCune said as far as he knows, this recent championship is the first midget football championship for any Southmoreland team.

“I hope that it’s the first of many, and I truly believe in what Ron Smith has started within this organization,” McCune said. “As long as everyone keeps up with their support with him, there is going to be a lot more championships in the near future.”