Congrats to Harper-Archer: APS middle school football champs!

Harper-Archer defeated Parks in the APS middle school football championship held Thursday evening at Lakewood Stadium. The game had been rained out on Saturday and was rescheduled. Our own Scott C. King was out there to capture the excitement, and interviewed Harper-Archer head coach Jerry Willard here. (Willard is pictured above, middle.)

Willard expanded on the team’s success today:

The reason for our success was that our players never gave up. In the second half, we were down and had not done a good job blocking in the first half. In the second half our, players played with emotion and put their hearts in the game. Our line started blocking and we began running plays with some misdirection that slowed their defense. I think the biggest key to our success not only in last night’s game but in our entire season was our defense. We gave up very few points by tackling well and getting turnovers. The most points scored on us the entire season in one game was eight, which occurred in last night’s championship! Lastly, the support from our principal, staff, and parents has been tremendous. We were allowed to practice long ours most of the week. This allowed players who needed help in their studies to attend the after school program and/or tutorial and still make it to most of the practice.

Congratulations, Jaguars!