Saints Go 2-2 In National Flag Football Tournament

Up 14-13 with time running out, the players, coaches and supporters watched the opposing team’s Hail Mary pass sail into the end zone and fall harmlessly to the ground. A one-point win and trip to the NFL Flag National Tournament of Champions semi-finals looked to be theirs until they saw the referee’s yellow flag flying through the air.

A defensive penalty in the end zone meant the ball would be placed on the one-yard line, and the opposing team would get to run one more play. They did, they scored, and the Saints' tournament was over.

The game-deciding penalty was questionable as the Saints player was called for obstructing the receiver’s vision and not directly touching him to cause pass interference.

“You never want a penalty to decide the game one way or the other,” said head coach Nathan Arroyo.

But even in losing, Arroyo saw his team do what he had worked with them on all year along—playing the game and treating their opponents with respect.

“I stressed winning and losing with class all year,” Arroyo said. “They shook their hands and left it at that. I’ve got a really good group of players and families and it showed.”

The Saints started off the tournament playing great football. In their first two games of pool play they shut out their competition by scores of 28-0 and 7-0. In the final pool play game, they came up just short on their own last second play—a Saint’s receiver was downed right outside of the end zone on what would have been a game winning touchdown.

But with a 2-1 record, they earned the third seed for the start of single elimination play. And more importnalty to coach Arroyo, he was able to make sure that everyone on the team had the opportunity to get out on the field.

“ESPN Wide World of Sports is a fantastic facility. The fields were beautiful. There was a ton of stuff going on all around the kids,” said Arroyo. “I wanted to make sure that every kid that went over there played.”

While the loss certainly stung, it did not put a damper on how successful the team of 9- to 11-year-olds was this year or keep the kids from enjoying the rest of the trip.

“We went undefeated in league, were back-to-back regional champions, to be in Florida as one of the best eight teams in the country—to lose like that was a tough pill to swallow,” Arroyo said. “But a couple of hours later we hit the pool and had a good time. They rebounded pretty well.”

That rebounding finished off with a banquet for all the teams at Epcot Center and a special viewing area for the evening’s firework show.

 “They’re a special group of kids. Everybody’s proud of what we did,” said Arroyo.