Owensboro Middle School’s 7th grade football team finished their season on a high note Sunday, claiming the Southwestern Kentucky Championship with a win over Christian County.
The Red Devils also beat Drakes Creek and Moss middle schools to win the eight-team tournament.
“It was a good experience for our teams because we got to play three teams we normally don’t play,” said head coach Greg Brown. “The kids put a lot of hard work in. Since basketball started after fall break, they’ve been practicing that while also playing football. After they won they were very excited.”
Blake Kimbrell, Trevor DeLacey and Dereon Crowe were named to the All-Tournament team.
The tournament is separate from the Kentucky Middle School Football Association’s state tournament. Brown and other coaches in the western portion of the state started the more localized event last year.
“All the coaches in the tournament started this last year as a way to benefit our programs,” he said. “All these teams had been part of the KSMA tournament at one time. We thought this was a better way to support our programs.”
OMS went 5-2 during their regular season. After dropping their opener, the Red Devils won five in a row before losing the final game.
“We were getting better every week,” he said. “Even though it was a loss, it was a learning experience. From that game on we had kids that were flying to the ball, we were creating turnovers, and we didn’t turn it over ourselves.”
Brown said it was nice to get to continue playing rather than ending the year with a loss.
“The biggest thing for us was we were glad we were able to provide a tournament for them and our season didn’t just end,” he said. “It got them valuable experience, so I think it was awesome for the kids.”
