TAFT U15 - The Boys in White - unstoppable!

      On a beautiful early summer day, the TAFT Under-15 boys played host to the powerful Helsinki Roosters. Considered to be two of the top teams, the winner would take the driver's seat to home field in the playoffs.
     The Roosters won the toss and elected to receive but their opening drive was stopped by Eemeli Tuovinen's fourth INT of the year. The Boys in White would roll down the field and Derek Broman would cap the drive with a powerful 11-yd TD. Viljo Lempinen's extra point would make the score 8-0.
     On the Roosters' next drive they would turn the ball over on downs. TAFT would continue to roll behind the running and passing of Jesper Korkalainen and he would do it himself from the 2-yard line.
     After Jasper Lindqvist recovered a Roosters fumble, and a nice drive of passing to Lempinen's and Santeri Lindfors, Korkalainen would finish off the drive with a 19-yd TD. Lempinen's extra point kick would give TAFT the lead at halftime 22-0.
     TAFT would take the ball to start the second half and not waste any time scoring again as Eemeli Tuovinen would catch a 28-yd TD to extend the lead to 30-0.
     The Roosters showed why they scored 108 points in their first two games as they drove down the field to score on a fourth and goal to get on the board. They would quickly recover a fumble on TAFT's next drive and be inside the red zone looking to get back into the game. A crushing hit by Lindqvist would end that hope as the ball popped loose and was recovered by Patrik Palvas.
     TAFT would extend their lead on their next drive as a nice combination of running and passing would lead to Broman's second TD and TAFT would go up 36-8 early in the 4th quarter. One more stop of the Roosters and another long drive by TAFT would end with Korkalainen powering in to the end zone and running in the extra point to cap TAFT's scoring for the day. A late TD throw by the Roosters would the scoring for the day at 43-14.
     The TAFT coaches are very proud of the inspired effort by the Boys in White. They were missing a few guys but others stepped up and everyone gave maximum effort. A win against a tough opponent like the Roosters is always satisfying.
     TAFT's next game is the showdown for first place between the only two undefeated teams left. The Seinäjoki Crocodiles have won their first two games by a combined score of 120-22, so TAFT knows they have their hands full in Seinäjoki on July 5th.