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Hoffman Estates jr. pee wee football team wins national title

The Hoffman Estates Redhawks football team became national champions Friday morning by defeating the Deer Valley Snakes of Arizona 16-0 in the Pop Warner Division II Junior Pee Wee Division Super Bowl in Orlando.

The Redhawks are boys 9 to 11 years old from Hoffman Estates and neighboring suburbs who won the opportunity to compete in the national championships by completing a perfect 13-0 season this fall. While the team went to nationals last year, this was its first championship.

Coach Rick Cyr of Elk Grove Village said coaches of other teams competing in Orlando told him after Redhawks games that they had never seen an attacking defense quite like that of the boys from Chicago's Northwest suburbs.

"Everybody understood that they had a job to do," Cyr said of his players' extraordinary discipline.

Parent volunteer Carol Hominac said the boys managed to cap off their championship season by dominating the final game.

"They pretty much controlled the line of scrimmage the whole game," she said. "It was mostly a defensive battle. The boys played really well!"

In fact, they seemed better prepared for the game than the shower of awards and accolades that immediately followed.

"I think they're almost a little in shock," Hominac said from the sidelines afterward. But she felt everything would begin to sink in after the team returned to the hotel.

Cyr said the boys did seem to appreciate the moment they'd worked so hard for, posing for photos with Walt Disney World's Goofy afterward.

"Everybody's ecstatic!" he said of the postgame celebrations.

Cyr particularly wanted to thank his fellow coaches as well as the president of the Redhawks, Mark Mueller, for the work that went into building a champion team.

He did not immediately know what kind of celebrations might follow upon the team's return home. With some members leaving by van Saturday morning and other flying back Saturday, the entire team is expected to be home by sometime Sunday.

Hoffman Estates Village Manager Jim Norris said the village will be holding a reception for the champs at a yet unspecified time. The arrangements will be worked out once the team and organizers are back in town.

"It's pretty cool!" he said of the team's national victory.

Coach Chris Coalson lifts player Danny Cyr in celebration as the Hoffman Estates Redhawks clinch the national championship in their Pop Warner youth footfall division in Orlando Friday. PHOTO BY GERARDO MORA/IPAPHOTO.COM
Players and coaches celebrate as the Hoffman Estates Redhawks clinch the national championship in their division of the Pop Warner youth football league in Orlando on Friday. PHOTO BY GERARDO MORA/IPAPHOTO.COM
The Hoffman Estates Redhawks celebrate after winning the national championship in their division of the Pop Warner youth football league in Orlando Friday. PHOTO BY GERARDO MORA/IPAPHOTO.COM
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