he Raiders finished fourth in the state after playing in the Michigan Youth Flag Football Championship over the weekend.
The fifth graders from the Andersonville and Bailey Lake elementary schools finished their season 13-2.
‘I couldn’t be more proud,? said Coach Kevin Bellant.
The team went into the tournament with a record of 8-0.
The tournament began on Saturday for the team as they faced off with the Plymouth-Canton Ravens. In the game, Brad Austin made two touchdowns when they beat the Ravens 12-0. Prior to the game with the Raiders, the Ravens had never lost a game in two years.
The boys continued as they played the Warren Colts in game two. The Raiders showed why they had never lost a game by beating the Colts 33-12. Austin made four touchdowns during the game and Paul VanBukirik made the fifth touchdown.
On Sunday, they played from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., four-and-a-half hours of ‘non-stop action,? Bellant said.
In their first game, they won in overtime with a score of 12-6 against the Walled Lake Colts. They won on a pass caught in the end zone by Richard Johnson.
Then, they played the Canton Redskins. The Redskins hadn’t lost a game in two years, until they crossed paths with the Raiders and lost 14-7.
In the third game, the Raiders lost 6-24 against Northville’s Our Lady of Victory.
They went on to win their fourth game against the Plymouth-Canton Patriots, 22-0.
In their last game against the Oakland Colts, they lost 7-32.
The two teams they lost against were travel teams. Some of the travel teams have experience playing on tackle teams and use flag football as an opportunity to work on passing and catching.
‘We got beat. They were precise,? said Bellant. ?(We are) basically champs of non-traveling teams ? they are real special players. Brad Austin is a little super-star.?
Austin made seven touchdowns on Sunday.
During flag football, the boys learned all positions and were able to play all the different positions.
‘We finished the year strong. I’m proud of them. They are real special players,? Bellant said.
When flag football returns in the spring and next fall, the Raiders will be back with Bellant as their coach.