Tusky Valley Youth Football wraps up dream season with win
Coleton Adams, left, and Alija Levengood of Tusky Valley carry their trophy off the field.
The third and fourth grade Tusky Valley football team defeated Indian Valley in what they call their “super bowl” game on Oct. 25. The team racked up a score of 18-0 at Kelly Field in Midvale, ending a season in which they gave up only 24 total points and achieved an 8-0-1 record.
Head coach Cade Adams said the game started tough, but the little Trojans quickly turned it around.
“Indian Valley had the ball to start with and they drove down the field and got close to scoring,” said Adams. “We caused a fumble and recovered it, though, and from there, our kids just took over.”
Adams said the team never played “behind the sticks” the entire game, meaning they never failed to gain less than three yards per play.
“Everybody did their job,” he said. “The kids ran hard, hit hard and never stopped. They gave 120% percent from whistle to whistle. All of my coaches did a great job, too.”
In his third year as head coach of the youth tackle football team, Adams is also president of the Tusky Valley Youth Athletic Foundation and the Inter Valley Youth Football League. A 2003 Tusky Valley graduate and iron worker, Adams coaches with a toughness parents don’t seem to mind.
“I’m not an easy coach,” said Adams. “I don’t believe in handing kids rewards for doing nothing. I make them work hard and listen, and sometimes they get yelled at, but our parents are great about it. I tell people, I’m not only teaching these kids football, I’m teaching them life, too. Every sport is a life lesson because you have to work hard for what you want to achieve.”
Adams said the team has greatly improved since he started coaching them three years ago. At the time, he had to add five second-graders to have enough players for a team.
“This year, those second-graders were fourth-graders and they finally got a super bowl victory,” said Adams. “Those five were my captains for the ‘super bowl’ game: Coleton Adams, Alijah Levengood, Jackson Hall, Vander Harris and Bryce Downing.”
Values learned on the gridiron
Adams believes strongly in the life lessons sports can teach kids.
“I think it teaches great discipline, a strong work ethic, leadership skills and confidence,” he said. “Being in a team environment also helps them develop social skills they will use throughout their lives.”
Himself a football player in high school, Adams loves sport and loves coaching kids.
“It’s some of the most fun I have,” he said. “I love coaching these kids. At the same time, it’s very nerve-wracking and causes me to have more and more gray hair.”
The team practices on the Water Works Park field in Bolivar. This year, they also played their games their because the coronavirus made using the high school field too complicated.
“The location is phenomenal,” said Adams. “I had people come up to me all year long saying how much they loved it there. I’d really like to work with the village to try to get electric there so we can have a nice concession stand and a scoreboard down the road.”
Other schools in the Inter Valley Youth Football League include Indian Valley, Malvern and Claymont. It also includes Sandy Valley and Strasburg, but Adams said those two teams didn’t participate this year due to the pandemic.
“So we picked up games against New Phila and East Canton, who may join our league next year,” said Adams. “We gave up only six points against New Phila in the first game of the season. In the second game, we played Malvern and tied 12-12. The third game, we beat Indian Valley 12-6, scoring on a fourth-down pass with only 13 seconds to go.”
Adams also said the team defeated Malvern later in the season by a score of 26-0, and, in their second outing against Indian Valley, won 20-0.
The celebration
Before the game, the team was treated to a send-off parade in Bolivar.
“We all met at the field and a had a Bolivar fire truck, ambulance, and police officer in the parade,” said Adams. “They escorted us down through town and people were holding signs and hootin’ and hollerin.’ It was pretty awesome.”
In addition to winning the big trophy, Adams said each player received a personalized trophy. “We had ‘Champions’ already on them before we even started the game.”
The winning coach said some of the best memories of his life came from sports experiences.
“These kids will have those memories forever,” he said. “They’ll be able to look back at this game and trophy for years to come. These boys deserved every bit of everything they got this year.”