Junior Eagles Team

2013 Junior National Championships

The 2013 Junior Nationals will be held in Canberra from the 16th to 20th April 2013.

For more information check out the 2013 Junior Nationals section

2009 Junior National Championships

The Gridiron Australia 2009 Junior National Championships were held at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast from 30 May until 7 June.

Head Coach John Murphy took with him a squad that was small on numbers but big on courage and ability. Ably assisted by Defesive Coach Tom Kinloch, Offensive Coach Richie Garraway, Team Managers Jordon Pigott and Alan Dew, John set about dismantling the ghosts of the past few national chanpionships, where no help and small squad were the order of the day.

Game 1: In the first game played on Sunday 31st May, the highly talented Junior Eagles showed their win against the ACT in December in Melbourne was no fluke and they again demolished the ACT 54-0. Standouts in this game were the S/Hawks RB Matt Pitt with 5 scores and almost 400 yards rushing and LB/QB Vinnie Scheffer with 8 sacks. It was a great start to the tournament for the Eagles and all players aquitted themsleves well.

Results Game Day 1: VIC Eagles 54 def ACT Monarchs 0 and WA Raiders 45 def SA Fire 19.

Game Day 2: The Junior Eagles had the day off and got to sit back and watch the action.

Results Game Day 2: NSW Wolverines 52 def WA Raiders 6 and QLD Sun Devils 22 def ACT Monarchs 0.

Games Day 3: This saw the Eagles match up against defending two time champs the QLD Sund Devils. There appeared to be a great deal of suspense and emotion surround this game with both teams hoping to advance to the championship final. In what turn out to be a tight encounter the Junior Eagles sent shock waves through the tournament by beating QLD 14-8. It was an outstanding performance with star Buccs WR Jesse (Sakers) Morton latching onto a Vinnie Scheffer ball deep in the 4th quarter for the winning score. The stand out again in this game was no doubt Vinnie Scheffer who played both side of the ball along with Warriors DL Adam Gotsis and Rory Dew. This win against all predictions put the Junior Eagles into the final against the NSW Wolverines.

Results Game Day 3: NSW Wolverines 54 def SA Fire 6 and VIC Eagles 14 def QLD Sun Devils 8.

FINALS:

6th v 5th: ACT Monarchs 24 def SA Fire 20

4th v 3rd: WA Raiders 28 def QLD Sun Devils 6

2nd v 1st: NSW Wolverines 12 def VIC Eagles 8.

In a dramatic game to end the tournament NSW got over the line against the VIC Eagles. It was a brusing encounter with both defenses holding out most of the day. With less than 2 minutes to go with the score 12-8 to NSW, VIC were driving inisde the NSW 20yard line. On 1st down RB Matt Pitt went on a sweep to the right and made 5 yards. During the play one the NSW players was seriously hurt and the game was called to a halt to wait for an ambulance. Once the game resumed, the officials set the down marker at 3rd down and not 2nd down. Coach Murphy exploded on the sideline but it fell on deaf ears and the officials continued play at 3rd down. 3rd down resulted in a run play with no yards and on 4th down the Eagles were stopped on a run 1 yard short of the first down marker and the game was over. Who knows what would have happened if the Eagles had the three downs instead of two.

It was a great tournament and the Junior Eagles play fantastic football. The MVP of the tournament for Victoria was Vinnie Scheffer.

On another note the boys were treated to some one on one and group coaching from SMU Coach Jeff Reinbold. Jeff turned out to be a wonderful addition to the championships, with coaching for players and staff along with personal advice to players about making it in the USA. He was a champion bloke and took a special interest in the Eagles and we applaud him for that.

On a personal note, thank you to John, Tommy, Richie, Dan, Jordo and ‘Big Al’ Dew for moulding a group of kids into a fine team who not only respected each other but also won the respect of every team in the tournament.

Garry Wilson

Former GV President.

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