It was a season to remember for McKinleyville Youth Football and the cheerleaders.
On Sunday, the McKinleyville AAA team capped a big postseason with a championship victory over Del Norte North at Hoopa, one day after all three McKinleyville cheerleading squads won their competitions at the Six Rivers Cheerleading competition at Eureka High.
All three of the Mack youth football teams made the playoffs this year, but it was the AAA team that stole the show with a big finish to a memorable campaign.
And they clinched the championship with a big offensive performance in a 45-12 win.
“The boys played hard, they played hard all season,” head coach Ryan Baxter said. “They came out and they took care of business. I’m super proud of them.”
Colton Hawkes had a monster game in the win and scored multiple touchdowns, while Lavell Washington also scored a touchdown and Maverick Utt pulled in a TD reception from quarterback Tanner Baxter.
But it wasn’t just the team offense that paved the way to victory and laid the foundation for such a successful season.
“It was a combination of everything,” Ryan Baxter said. “The boys just played well together.”
And every kid on the roster played a role in the win.
“Everybody came in and contributed,” the head coach added. “That was the nice thing about it. It wasn’t just a one-man show.”
McKinleyville finished up 8-1 on the season, with the only loss coming against the Northern Knights by a score 26-25 late in the regular season.
But the players seemed to learn from that defeat and would comfortably get the better of their three final opponents, including back-to-back playoff victories.
“The one setback didn’t seem to derail things and we were a pretty well-oiled machine,” Ryan Baxter said.
All in all, it was a group of players that the coaches enjoyed working with all season, and the collective attitude they brought to practice was something the coaches appreciated.
“Just the effort that they put in day in day out,” Ryan Baxter said. “Practice was always easy. It never felt like it was coaching. It was never work. It was something we looked forward to. And the competition level was high. Everyone of them always wanted to compete. They really strived to do better.”
The championship roster also included Zane Niehaus, Cooper Jones, Reece Combs, Weylin Bedell, Fanuatanu Alofaituli, Tyler Bradfield, Peyten Sargent, Nathan Ryan, Evan Gould, Jackson Stemper, Tatum Brock, Crew Hicks, Samuel Bones, Rowdy Furber, Garrison Lockard, Anthony Secor, Reylan Benge, Jack Ford, Angel Wilson-Baltazar-Perez, Blake Smith, Lucas Coelho, Dominic Avila, Jack Ahrens, Ryot Arneson, Henry Workman, Caleb Albers, Kolby Chipps, Eli Lockard and Toh-Tet Nelson, as well as assistant coaches Brian Lorenzen, Junior Alofaituli and Zach Smith.
Longtime legendary McKinleyville youth football coach Dale Cash also played a key role on the path to success and oversaw the team defense in his 45th year coaching.
And the association board played a role, setting the teams and cheerleading squads up for success.
“They did a great job just organizing everything,” Ryan Baxter said of the board. “They took the stress and pressure off the coaches and gave us the tools to succeed.”
