DAC wins second flag football championship

For the second consecutive season, De Phillips Athletic Club (DAC) has produced a national champion in flag football in the 11-12-year-old division.
After winning the regionals at Hofstra University in October, the DAC Sharks dominated the competition at the NFL Flag Football Tournament of Champions, winning all five of their games last month at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
Last year, the DAC Panthers, based in Whitestone, won the nationals and were chosen to represent America in the NFL Flag Football World Championships in Cologne, Germany against opponents at least two years their elder. The 14-and-under group, it turned out, were ineligible. This year's team will be one of three teams up for selection to represent the United States for the world championship. The other two are a boys and girls 14-and-under.
The Sharks' only single digit victory was a 7-6 win over the Cardinals (Las Vegas). They beat the rest of the opposition by a combined 98-18, including a 33-6 throttling of the 49ers (California) in the championship game, recently televised live on the NFL Network.
They were led by the three holdovers from last year's team - quarterback Yianni Gavalas and receivers Eddie Roscigno and Brian Kruger - but also had vital contributions from this fall's additions, including Travis Whitfield, Tiquan Garner, Pablo Valdez, Tyler Ruiz and Sal Vincenty.
A southpaw, Gavalas tossed 14 touchdowns, five in the title game. Roscigno caught 10 scores, and Ruiz and Kruger each scored twice. &#8220It's a great feeling,” Yianni said. &#8220All of my friends have been talking about it, and I've been getting a lot of attention because of it.”
&#8220I thought we would be pretty good,” Coach Jimmy Gavalas, Yianni's father, said, &#8220but I didn't think we would do as well as we did.”
The Sharks finished just 4-7 during the DAC regular season. But playing up in competition - they were in the 12-14-year-old division - helped in the regional and national tournaments. &#8220It makes the game at their own level seem a lot slower,” Gavalas said. &#8220They can see a lot more things and react better to it.”