Naperville team takes youth football crown

It's a game the Pee Wee Naperville Patriots won't soon forget.

The Patriots, undefeated defending champions of the American Youth Football League, won their second straight title Friday with an 18-12 win in overtime over the Manassas Mutiny in Kissimmee, Fla.

Manassas, out of Virginia, also was unbeaten coming into the game, winners of the Pee Wee Division II national championship last year. Naperville was Division I champ last year.

"A lot of people had been waiting to see this matchup," Patriots coach Doug DiFusco said.

The Patriots (15-0) had never trailed going into halftime all season, but were down 12-0 in a blink of an eye. In a crucial turning point midway through the second quarter, Doug DiFucsco Jr. caught a wide receiver screen and ran it 30 yards to the Manassas 1-yard line. The ball popped out, took a bounce and Naperville running back Latrell Matthews scooped it up for the score to make it 12-6. Manassas had not been scored upon in two seasons until then.

"It was the spark we needed," coach DiFusco said. "Our defense dominated after that."

With 2:20 left in the fourth quarter, Mike Dudek scored on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Gross, tying the game. In overtime, Manassas got the ball first. On third and goal, Naperville's Dan Dolehide broke up a pass with a jarring hit in the end zone. On the Patriots' ensuing possession, Gross took in a 1-yard bootleg around the left end. Gross passed for 212 yards in the game.

"To be able to go down to a team like that and come back, it's remarkable," coach DiFusco said. "They showed some incredible heart and fortitude."

In the Junior Midget championship, several members of last year's Pee Wee champs went up against the team they beat for the Pee Wee title, the Chandler Rattlers from Arizona. This time, Chandler came out on top 12-8.

Chandler went ahead 6-0 in the first quarter, but Naperville (14-1) came back to take an 8-6 lead. Dylan Andrew found Austin Guido on a screen, and Guido went 36 yards for the score. Ryan Mulhern booted the extra point to make it 8-6. But on an ensuing possession, Chandler scored on a 60-yard touchdown pass on third and 10.

"We came up just a hair short," coach DiFucsco said. "We played as well as we were going to play. The teams couldn't have been more evenly matched."