South Florida's 7th Grade FBU All-Star Team Advances to FBU National Championship in San Antonio


(Buford, GA)- In the inaugural year of allowing 7th graders to advance to Football University’s final four in the National Championship tournament, the South Florida 7th Grade all-stars are advancing to San Antonio, Texas.  Having only given up seven points in four games, this team is looking to bring home a championship on their grade level.

They began two weeks ago with wins over Southwest Florida and Central Florida in the opening rounds of the 64-team bracket tournament at Ovideo High School, a suburb of Orlando, FL.

Later, they advanced to the regional round in Atlanta (Buford) where they shut out all opponents and scored 28 and 35 points respectively in their wins over Charlotte and North Georgia in the regional championship.

Head Coach Eric Gudger of South Florida’s American Youth Football League (AYFL) and the West Pembroke Pines Optimist organization, feels like his team has a chance to  do something special in San Antonio.  The offense is lead by running backs Jakyus Johnson and Jordan Johnson and defensively the team is led by the twins, Tavonte and Lavonte Decius.

The South Florida seventh graders kick off against team Maryland on Friday, January 4th, 2013 at Harris field in San Antonio.  The winner advances to the National Championship in the Alamo Dome on Sunday, January 6th.

Brandon Odoi is a tenured journalist. He's covered youth football since 8th grade, high school football since 2009 and began covering college football in 2011 as a beat writer for the University of Miami Athletic programs. In 2011, he founded Football Hotbed a national multi-media platform for football across the country. He's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and spent his first five years as a professional working at ABC Television Network, ending his career as a producer in Miami. He's married with two sons and resides in South Florida.

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