Blackhawks win LCFL Championship for Back to Back Titles

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (November 15, 2011) – Well history has been made in the LCFL as the Inglewood Blackhawks (12-0) completed a dominating undefeated LCFL season en route to winning the leagues first ever back to back championship as they defeated the North County Cobras by the score of 6-3 at Paloma Valley Stadium in Menifee, California.  With on and off rain throughout the day, both teams turned to their defenses to hold it down for the day.  The Cobras received the opening kickoff and held the ball for an amazing 12 minutes before culminating with a 30 yard field goal by Enrique Leyva to take an early 3-0 lead.  That score remained the same into the half as the Blackhawks didn’t muster up a score before intermission.  Although playing solid on offense behind the quarterbacking of Reggie Haynes (7 of 17 for 138 yards) and timely runs of (RB) Brian Flowers (14 carries for 50 yards) the Blackhawks were facing one the the stingiest defenses all season.  But the Blackhawk defense is not that bad either as they were the #1 defense in the league only giving up an average of 4.4 ppg.

 

In the second half, the Blackhawks got a bit of offensive momentum going as (WR) Solomon Jones ignited his troops.  Jones (5 receptions for 103 yards) made some timely catches to put the Blackhawks in great scoring position.  After a 28 yard reception put them in field goal range in the third quarter, kicker Mark Drake came on and nailed a 28 yarder to tie the game 3-3.  The Blackhawk defense again came through with 4 consecutive stops on the Cobras offense to pin them back in their own territory.  The defense was led by (LB) Roy Otis (5 tackles, 2 sacks), (DB) Ken Henderson (7 tackles, 1 interception), (LB) Leon Friend (5 tackles, 1 pass defense), and (DB) Curtis Perkins (4 tackles, 2 pass defenses, and 1 interception).   With their great play, this led to the Blackhawks getting great field position during the 4th quarter.

 

The score remained 3-3 until 8:42 of the fourth quarter, that’s when kicker Mark Drake jogged on the field to attempt a 42 yarder in the rain.  After a perfect snap by Richard Beas, a great hold by Jonathan Johnson, and a strong kick from Drake, the ball sailed through the uprights to give the Blackhawks a 6-3 advantage.  Both teams played see saw for the most part of the rest of the game until the Blackhawks put it away behind the strong running of Brian Flowers and John Nairn to close the game out with a 6-3 victory. 

 

 Mark Drake was named by the LCFL as the Championship Game MVP.  “I’m so proud of Mark and the rest of this team because we were faced with the elemnts of the game (rain) and we found a way to continue to make things work”, stated Blackhawk head coach, Tony Reid.  Winning last year was beautiful, but going back to back and undefeated makes this one a little more sweet.  The Blackhawks (currently #3 in the polls) have been contacted by Minor League Football News, the major publication and organizers of the Minor League National Championship Game to either face the Colorado Springs Flames, New York Predators, Central Penn Pirahnas, Chambersburg Cardinals, Troys Fighting Irish, or South Buffalo Celtics for the #1 spot in America.  At press time, no opponent is in place due to more games to be played, but we’ll keep you all posted.  Congratulations Blackhawks.