Raiders win five-man world title

The Las Vegas Raiders youth flag football team finished second in the world last year, losing to a team from Florida, Mo Steel, in the final in the Bahamas.

The Raiders, made up of players ages 12-16 from across the valley, avenged that loss at this year's NFL Flag regional tournament and then won their second straight world regional title to set up a possible rematch with Mo Steel for the world championship.

The Raiders, who went 6-0 to win the regional event, the Oasis Bowl, which took place in Las Vegas, won their first four games at the World Cup of Flag Football, which took place in the Dominican Republic, to advance to their second straight final in the youth division, where rival Mo Steel awaited.

The Raiders trailed 14-13 with eight seconds left, when Moe Bonnet, quarterback and team captain, found Jason Brown in the corner of the end zone with a 15-yard touchdown toss to lift the Raiders to the five-man title, 19-14.

"That made it sweet. That made the trip, and the 10-hour layover in Florida, all worth it," head coach Larry Medford said.

The Raiders also competed in eight-man flag football, but had to settle for second place in the world, when they fell, literally, to Mo Steel, 7-6, just 10 yards away from victory.

"We would've went to the final, but the field was so muddy, our kid slipped on a reverse and he had the whole field wide open and sealed off," Medford said. "We'll take them next year. We'll come home with two trophies next year."

The Raiders feature several high school players, as Bonnet played freshman football at Western, Ryan Cerda played freshman football at Cheyenne and David Day and Dillon Moffitt played for Palo Verde.

Bonnet only threw one interception in 11 games at the regional and world events.

"He makes good reads and he just wins," Medford said. "He handles the pressure well and he doesn't throw many interceptions.

"(Brown) has got one of the best set of feet I've seen in the game of football. He doesn't drop any passes and he can put his two feet down inbounds anytime."

The Raiders also feature co-captain Tommy Hale, a wide receiver/lineman, Bobby Hassler, Miles Okada and Joey Piastro.

The Raiders, who have won a plethora of other league, city and national titles, beat the Henderson Mobstars for this year's regional title.

"They were a lot bigger and faster. Teams usually think we're a team in the smaller division, because we only have two or three big kids," Medford said. "The rest of them are small and skinny, but our quickness and agility was better.

"We draw quite a big crowd at these things as well. Our kids are really well-liked, because they're very talkative, well-behaved and they stay out of trouble."

Medford, who hopes to take the team to another world regional event in Boston in May, said the trip to the Dominican Republic was an educational, cultural exchange for the kids as well.

"It was great for the kids. They got to go down to the beach, visit Christopher Columbus's grave and visit the First Cathedral of the New World," he said. "They got to see some history, eat some foreign food and play football."

Some of the Raiders have played together for five years. Medford said there are close to 175 players in the Charleston Heights Community School league and 400 players in organized leagues in the area overall.

"A lot of parents like it because it's noncontact and the kids have a great time and they all get to play a lot," Medford said.


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