The minors game between Team East and Team Central started out slow before building into a Team Central thunderstorm where they emerged with a 25-6 win. In a game of long-rushing touchdowns, Ashton Watson was named overall MVP while Cordel Epale was given offensive MVP honours and Justin Tate the defensive MVP honours.
RB Ashton Watson (Central), the overall MVP.
The speedster running back Ashton Watson (#1 Central) earned two touchdowns, the first was over 40-yards and the second a 55-yarder. They proved to be his own personal highlights. āWell, it wasnāt just me. It was the team overall. So, I thank the team for making the blocks for me,ā he said. āI think that all together, we played really well. We kept up the intensity.ā
Frank Farinaccio, the head coach of Team East, was awestruck with Watsonās performance. āHe is a stud, well deserving,ā he said. āHe can make things happen even if there was nothing there. He was phenomenal.ā
REC Cordel Epale (East), the offensive MVP.
The Eastās only scorer, receiver Cordel Epale (#18 East), had his own impressive touchdown run that was registered at 80-yards. āA lot of this was like the offense, the o-line, the QB passing nice passes, the o-line doing nice blocks. It was fun. It was really fun,ā he said.
While he didnāt take credit, Farinaccio gave him some. āI think Cordel did a wicked job,ā he said.
Despite watching Central tear up the field at his teamās expense, Epale had plenty of respect for Watson. He said, āCentral played a very good game. Number one, he was good. That 55-yard touchdown, yeah, it was a nice pass, a nice run.ā
DB Justin Tate (Central), the defensive MVP.
With fast players on both sides of the field, defensive back Justin Tate (#26 Central) had his hands full. But, he held his own. ā(My personal highlight) was probably my tackle in the backfield when they got an interception,ā he said. āI am really proud of myself, but I couldnāt have done it without the team.ā
While Tate was solving Eastās offense, the East couldnāt really solve him. Farinaccio said, āI thought their defensive back who was the defensive MVP made a lot of nice plays. We were trying to get the ball outside. I think he made most of the plays.ā
Tate was impressed with how his team handled the game: āI am really proud of our team. We did it as a team effort. It was a really good game.ā
Eric Parent, the head coach of Team East, had no arguments with the MVP selections. āI thought they were bang on,ā he said. āThey were the best players on the field for sure.ā
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