Two Valley teams will play for a national title later this week after victories Wednesday in the AYF National Championships at Austin Tindall Park in Orlando, FL.

The Phoenix 8th-grade All Stars used a safety in the final minutes to secure a win 10-8 over the MidConn (Connecticut) Stars and advance to the Conference All-Stars title game Friday morning against the Chicagoland Stars. The Scottsdale Firebirds moved on to the Midget division championship, also Friday, with a 16-8 win over the Oak Grove Roughriders.

Two other Firebirds teams will play for third place after losing Wednesday. The Jr. Midget Birds fell 32-24 to the two-time defending national champion Naperville (IL) Patriots, and the Pee Wee division Firebirds were beaten 19-6 by the Staten Island Hurricanes.

Safety lifts Stars

It was only fitting that a defensive score would resolve the battle between Phoenix and MidConn. The two teams played a fierce, hard-hitting contest where neither side could exert control on offense.

Phoenix had the best chance to score in the opening half, getting the ball at the MidConn 29 after a poor punt went out of bounds with 2:46 remaining until halftime. The Phoenicians started the drive with a motion penalty and were unable to move the ball, however, turning it over on downs.

They did take advantage of their next break.

Jaimesan Joseph-Naeole recovered a MidConn fumble at the 4:55 mark of the third quarter, setting up the Phoenix offense at the MidConn 33. An 18-yard run on third down by Robert Delgado put Phoenix at the 6. Cory White was tackled for a 4-yard loss but then gained 6 tough yards to set up third-and-goal from the 2. He punched it in from there, Ka’Wuan Ellis drilled the conversion kick, and Phoenix had an 8-0 lead with 2:16 left in the quarter.

It stayed that way into the fourth, as the teams traded punts and smothered each other’s offense. Phoenix fumbled at their own 1 at the 9:29 mark, however, and it took MidConn just one play to tie the game up.

“The defense has played two unbelievable games,” Phoenix coach Steve Dunn said, “and I really thought we could hold them there, with the way we’ve been playing. You don’t have much of a chance, though, when they get the ball at the 1. That’s a tough assignment.”

White returned the ensuing kickoff to the Phoenix 40, then carried 11 yards on first down to move his team into MidConn territory. A sack and a delay-of-game penalty stalled the drive, however.

MidCon muffed the punt and set up at their own 3. The teams exchanged 15-yard penalties, resulting in a MidConn punt from their own end zone. Phoenix could manage nothing on offense, however, setting up a chance for punter Nicholas Ramirez to be a hero.

“I told him to put the ball right in the corner,” assistant coach Derrick Stinson said, “and that’s just what he did. Big, big play.”

Ramirez’s perfect punt put MidConn inside their 5 again. Two plays lost 3 yards. Delgado then smacked the MidConn ballcarrier 2 yards in the end zone and held on, Steven Dunn slashed in to clean up, and Phoenix had the game-winning safety with just 2:02 left in the game.

Midget Birds win

It didn’t start out well for the Firebirds, who didn’t get an offensive play in the first quarter. Oak Grove ran 18 straight plays after receiving the opening kickoff, driving from their 34 to the Birds 12 before losing the ball on downs at the 8:52 mark of the second quarter.

Once they finally got the ball, though, the Firebirds put together an 11-play, five-minute scoring drive. Nick Carovillano carried five times on the drive, including a punishing third-down run of 14 yards to keep the drive alive and a 3 yard burst for the TD. Quarterback Brian Woodward’s 35-yard pass to Ryan Castellani set up the TD, Ben Sweet’s conversion kick made it 8-0, and the Roughriders got just six more offensive plays before halftime.

Will Edwards’ 28-yard kickoff return to start the second half set up the Firebirds at their own 38, but they went three-and-out. Oak Grove started their first drive after intermission with a motion penalty but then went 72 yards in 13 plays, tying the game 8-8 with 1:02 left in the third.

The Firebirds responded quickly. It took them just four plays to score what proved to the game-winning TD.

Carovillano gained 21 on second down to move the ball into Oak Grove territory on the final play of the third quarter. He started the fourth with a 2-yard gain, and Woodward scampered 28 yards around left end for the score. Sweet added the conversion, and it was 16-8 Scottsdale.

Oak Grove put together a nine-play drive starting at their own 38 after the ensuing kickoff. They got as far as the Firebird 29 before turning the ball over on downs with 4:08 left in the game. The Firebirds then held the ball for the rest of the game.

Carovillano, who finished with 77 yards on 11 carries, gained 29 on second down. Woodward gained 10 and 7 on two runs after beautiful ball fakes, and Scottsdale ended the contest taking a knee.

“We knew our defense would step up and take it after we got the lead,” coach Jeff Schlueter said. “Those guys are by far the best team we’ve played all season. They had some great athletes and were very well-coached.”

Jr. Midget Birds battle

Things could not have started any worse for the Firebirds in the Jr. Midget semifinal.

Naperville, a suburban Chicago team that is the two-time defending Pee Wee champion and winner of 37 straight games, used a reverse on the opening kickoff to take the ball to the Scottsdale 25, where Cules Rose made a touchdown-saving tackle. It only delayed things, however, as the Patriots scored on their first offensive play to grab an 8-0 lead.

The Firebirds then committed six penalties in their first eight plays, forcing them to punt from their own end zone. The Patriots blocked the punt, recovered it for a TD and had a quick 16-0 lead.

Scottsdale did not roll over for the national powers from Chicago, however. They started at their own 40 after the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds and drove 60 yards in seven plays for a score. Brad Nordstrom and Gary McKay hooked up for a 47-yard pass play on third-and-13 to keep the drive alive. Malcolm Thomas then carried for 10 yards, Nordstrom hit Rose for 9 more, and Thomas finished the drive with a 1-yard TD run. Austin Percey’s conversion kick made it 16-8.

It took the Pats just four plays to score. A 69-yard run made it 24-8 at the 4:14 mark of the first quarter.

Scottsdale drew back to within a touchdown when Nordstrom and McKay connected again, this time for an 84-yard TD that made it 24-16. Naperville drove 80 yards in just more than two minutes, however, capping the drive with a 1-yard run with just 18 seconds left in the half to go up 32-16.

Nordstrom threw another TD pass, this one from 48 yards out to Rose, early in the second half to make it 32-24. And while the Firebirds held their own against the talented Patriots, they could not overcome their poor start and never got closer.

Scottsdale will face the Liberty Lions, the Atlantic representative, in the third-place game Friday.

Pee Wee Birds fall

Staten Island scored twice in the first half and never trailed in the Pee Wee semifinal.

A 72-yard, seven-play drive put the Hurricanes up 6-0 late in the first, and a 44-yard broken play resulted in their second score just as the half was ending for a 12-0 lead.

Scottsdale made it 12-6 early in the second half, driving down the field with powerful runs between the tackles by Kito Brown and Brandon Mantos, who capped the drive with an 8-yard TD run.

The Firebirds got the ball right back and seemed to have shifted momentum when Sage Hattery recovered a fumble at the Scottsdale 37 with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter. With Mantos, Brown and Cody Scott pounding the ball up the middle, Scottsdale drove to the Staten Island 33 before turning the ball over on downs.

It then took the Hurricanes just one play to score, a 67-yard dash that made it 19-6.