The eight and nine year-old Lakewood Youth Football Association Cougars trampled yet another opponent on Saturday Oct. 29.
They took out Oak Harbor 33-6 at Lakewood High School behind strong play from Dash Gilbert and Kyler Rumple. Gilbert and Rumple combined for five touchdowns on the day, including Rumples 20-yard fourth-quarter interception return for touchdown to ice the game.
In only their fourth year of existence, the Cougars youth football program has had significant success. The undefeated Peewee team will continue on in the playoffs, needing another win to reach the championship round. Peewee players are grouped into a category of 120 pounds or less to keep teams roughly equal in size. This emphasizes the fundamentals of the sport as opposed to having teams with significant size advantages.
Against Oak Harbor, the Lakewood speed and blocking ability was evident as Coach Ron Rumples group had no trouble moving the football.
He got a large contribution from Gilbert, who found room on an end-around in the third quarter and steamed 50 yards through the center of the field on his way to a touchdown. The play was set up by a defensive fumble recovery from Kolby Gralapp, who along with the front four of Lakewood, controlled the line of scrimmage all game long.