SANFORD — It sure hasn’t looked like the offseason for football if you have been out and about Central Florida the past few weeks.
Especially this past weekend.
After the City of Sanford Parks and Recreation Department held its usual Saturday filled with Youth Flag Football and Youth Soccer league games, the SRD wrapped up its Adult Spring Flag Football Spring Season with a Postseason Tournament on Sunday at the Tim Raines Sports Park on the corner of 13th Street (Celery Avenue) and Mellonville Avenue.
The Regular Season came to an end on April 6 with the Rum Runners (7-0) claiming the Championship ahead of Backyard Elite (6-1), Wasted Talent (5-2), Subzero - Oblivion (4-3), Bokey Bandits (3-4), DT Dawgz (2-5), The Misfits (1-6) and Kaijus (0-7).
The top four teams advanced to the Postseason Tournament and the results pretty much followed the regular season standings, although the Rum Runners thoroughly dominated.
In the Semifinals, the Rum Runners ran past Subzero-Oblivion, 26-6, and Backyard Elite outscored Wasted Talent, 27-24.
The Rum Runners then duplicated their performance in the semi’s, rolling over Backyard Elite by the same 26-6 score.
The Rum Runners were led by Player/Coach Jack Ditmyer and the rest of the roster consisted of Parker Reilly, Austin Colburn, Joshua Bowman, Tony Gilotti, Alex Waites, Derek Jordan, Rashaun Jacques, Tyree Haywood, Tristen Burgess, Brenon Foxworth, Matthew Trzeciak and Kamose Menna.
But it wasn’t just the amateurs getting in on the action as the three local Division 1 colleges _ Bethune-Cookman University, UCF and Stetson University _ wrapped up a month of Spring Practices.
The Hatters, under new Head Coach Mike Jasper, played a scrimmage on April 12 and completed practice on April 17, while the Knights played a pair of scrimmages open to the public on April 5 and April 11 _ with Seminole County products Ja'Cari Henderson, Demari Henderson, Chasen Johnson, Kam Moore (Seminole), Braeden Marshall, Carson Hunshaw (Lake Mary) and Andrew Harris (Lake Brantley) all making an impact _ and wrapped up Spring Practice on Friday.
The Wildcats held a traditional Spring Game last Saturday (April 12) with former Seminole High School and UCF quarterback Timmy McClain making his return to Florida a successful one, leading the Gold Team to a 20-10 victory over the Maroon Team at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium.
McClain spent 2024 at Arkansas State and appeared in four games, completing 14-of-21 passes for 163 yards with three touchdowns (two against Michigan) and no interceptions and carried the ball 19 times for 39 yards and a touchdown.
