Fort Mill youth team playing for state football title berth Saturday
The Fort Mill Parks and Recreation 11/12-year-old All-Star Mites football team is one win away from representing the town in the state championship game.
The Mites, part of Central District Division II, had a huge win Nov. 19, knocking off Chester in a 6-0 slug fest that gets them one game away of playing for a state title. They travel to Abbeville Saturday to play a game with a berth in the title game on the line.
Fort Mill, which plays in a division with teams from Chester, Kershaw and Lancaster counties, fought to a scoreless tie with Chester in the first half before putting the first points on the board in the third quarter. The defense did the rest.
Running back Brody Tesimale, quarterback Nate Thomas and running back/receiver Nick Chuttey had big games for the offense, but Fort Mill Parks and Recreation Athletic Coordinator Justin Davis said everyone had a hand in the win.
“They made some big impacts during the game, but it was really a total team effort,” he said. “We have enough kids where we have an offensive and defensive side of the ball and everyone played well all around. The defense played great holding Chester to zero points.”
Harrison Noll and Mitchell Shelton were two of many standouts on the defensive side of the ball, according to coach Scott Thomas, but everyone had a hand in the shutout.
“Those two kids played well, but really the entire defense played great,” Thomas said.
Fort Mill Parks and Recreation football teams have had plenty of post-season success in recent years, although Thomas said they haven’t won the state title in this age group in years – if ever. Several members of this year’s Mites team played in the Upper State championship as 9-10 year-olds two years ago, and another 9-10 year-old team made it to the state championship in 2013, but fell short.
“The team from two years ago had some of the kids who are on this team, so they have some experience with this,” Davis said.
“Winning it this weekend would be very good for the program. The way the tournament works, you keep playing as long as you win. Only one team is the division champions, so we’re representing our division, so it’s a big deal.”
Players include kids from Fort Mill and Tega Cay because Tega Cay, out of concern for the potential risk of brain injuries, stopped offering tackle football starting this year. They are the best of the best from the town’s youth teams in that age category.
Thomas, who has been coaching youth football for around six years, said his players are excited for the opportunity.
“Even though these kids are 11 years old, they know what it means to get to the championship for the town,” Thomas said.
“They know that it’s important for the town their representing and they know it’s important to us because we practice extremely hard and we have an extremely focused schedule that’s pretty intense. We put them in a lot of high-pressure situations to where when they get to game day, they’re not overwhelmed and don’t make many mistakes. There’s a lot of work and a lot of time being put in for these guys, so it’s very important to them.”
This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Fort Mill youth team playing for state football title berth Saturday."