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Exciting finish for Friday Night Lights

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“Great season everyone, players, coaches, assistant coaches and parents. Thank you for a wonderful season!”

That message came from Scott Mahaffy, the league director of Newport-Mesa Friday Night Lights. It was a great flag football season and it all came to an exciting end with the playoffs and championship games last month.

The championshp games lived up to the hype:

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CHAMPIONSHIPS

7th & 8th Grade Division Championship

Without Coach Renier No. 1 seed UCLA fell to No. 2 USC, 27-10. The Bruins had defeated the Trojans on three previous meetings, but the quarterback play of Kyle McCauley and touchdown catches from Evan Siegal, Andrew Strauss and Stephan Chun. Exceptional play from Trevor Fried, Teddy Sneddon, Nick Rice and John Thomas. Peter Strauss coached USC.

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5th & 6th Grade Division Championship

No. 1 California showed off some exceptional defense and rolled No. 3 Washington State, 28-6, allowing only a late fourth-quarter touchdown. Throughout the season the Bears had the No. 1 defense allowing the fewest points allowed including the postseason. California Bears’ key players were Myles Agular, Karson Moore, JD Norris, James Solano, Cory Lewis, Jeremiah Craig and Mathew Starr. Mike Aguilar coached the Bears.

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3rd & 4th Grade Division Championship

The No. 2 Cardinal battled to the end and held off the underdogs, upset-minded No. 4 Florida State Seminoles, 34-24. The championship game was highlighted by three Ryan Miller TDs and another from Brennen Ekberg. The Cardinal defense showed why they belonged in the big game. Garrett Dorian and Tyler Zink’s strong flag pulling on defense and two timely batted down passes from Seth Allen was key to keeping FSU out of the end zone. Also solid contributions from Michael Timmering, Dustin Wood and Zach Fraser. Andrew Dorian coached the Cardinal.

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1st & 2nd Grade Division Championship

In one of the toughest games all season the undefeated and No. 1-ranked San Diego State Aztecs held off the tough defensive minded Nebraska Huskers for the victory, 12-2. San Diego State featured Shane Kelly, Nick Bichlmeier, Quinn Delaney, Cole Zeutzius, Conner Zeutzius, Parker Strauss, Andrew Blatt, Emerson Ethan and coach Sean Kelly.

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1st & 2nd Grade Division Semifnals

No. 1 seed San Diego State Aztecs 26, No. 5 Arizona Wildcats, 13

No. 3 seed Nebraska Huskers 14, No. 2 Hawaii Warriors, 0

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3rd & 4th Grade Division Semifinals

Upset of the night: No. 4 seed Florida State Seminoles beat previously unbeaten Ohio State, 12-8

No. 2 Stanford Cardinal beat scrappy No. 6 Arizona State Sun Devils, 18-4. An amazing touchdown saving flag pull by Dustin Wood and Zach Fraser kept the Sun Devils out of the end zone on the final two drives to ensure the victory.

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5th & 6th Grade Division Semifinals

In some of the most exciting action of the night:

No. 1-seeded California Bears squeaked by Oregon, 11-7, in a defensive battle. Cal caused six turnovers and allowed one touchdown while the league scoring leaders Oregon came away with nothing after two goal-line stands.

No. 3 seed Washington State Cougars had to come from behind on the final drive to score the go-ahead touchdown in the final seconds to beat No. 7 seed UCLA, 20-14.

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Friday Night Lights Playoff Games Nov. 18

1st & 2nd Grade Division First Round Playoffs:

No. 2 Hawaii Warriors – 29, No. 15 Florida State Seminoles – 14

No. 3 Nebraska Huskers – 31, No. 14 UCLA Bruins – 12

No. 4 Michigan Wolverines – 35, No. 13 Oregon Ducks – 6

No. 5 Arizona Wildcats – 30, No. 12 California Bears – 24

No. 6 TCU Horn Frogs – 20, No. 11 USC Trojans – 0

No. 7 Stanford Cardinal – 30, No. 10 Boise State Broncos – 7

No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish – 12, No. 9 Arizona State – 12; ASU won in OT

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1st & 2nd Grade Division Second Round Playoffs

No. 2 Hawaii Warriors – 18, No. 7 Stanford Cardinal – 6

No. 3 Nebraska Huskers – 20, No. 6 TCU Horn Frogs – 12

No. 5 Arizona Wildcats – 19, No. 4 Michigan Wolverines – 6

No. 1 San Diego State Aztecs – 41, No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils – 0

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3rd & 4th Grade Division First Round Playoffs

No. 2 Stanford Cardinal – 15, No. 15 Michigan Wolverines - 6

No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish – 30, No. 14 Arizona Wildcats – 24

No. 4 Florida State Seminoles – 26, No. 13 Hawaii Warriors - 0

No. 5 Boise State Broncos – 14, No. 12 Nebraska Huskers - 6

No. 6 Arizona State Sun Devils – 40, No. 11 Oregon Ducks - 6

No. 7 UCLA Bruins – 21, No. 10 California Bears – 2

No. 8 Oregon State Beavers beat No. 9 USC Trojans

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3rd & 4th Grade Division Second Round Playoffs

No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes beat No. 8 Oregon State Beavers

No. 2 Stanford Cardinal – 27, No. 7 UCLA Bruins – 12

No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish – 0, No. 6 Arizona State Sun Devils – 33

No. 4 Florida State Seminoles – 14, No. 5 Boise State Broncos – 13

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5th & 6th Grade Division First Round Playoffs

No. 8 Stanford Cardinals – 26, No. 9 Washington Huskies – 18

No. 5 USC Trojans – 32, No. 12 Utah Utes – 0

No. 7 UCLA Bruins – 20, No. 10 Oregon State Beavers – 12

No. 6 Arizona Wildcats – 34, No. 11 Colorado Buffalos – 2

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5th & 6th Grade Division Second Round Playoffs

No. 1 California Bears – 60, No. 8 Stanford Cardinals – 0

No. 4 Oregon Ducks – 44, USC Trojans – 6

No. 2 Arizona State Sun Devils – 6, No. 7 UCLA Bruins – 23

No. 3 Washington State Cougars – 15, No. 6 Arizona Wildcats – 0

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7th & 8th Grade Division First Round Playoffs

No. 1 UCLA Bruins – 27, No. 4 Michigan Wolverines – 0

No. 2 USC Trojans – 36, No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes – 7

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Spring registration is still open. To register or for more information go to https://www.NewportMesaFNL.com or contact league director Scott Mahaffy at NewportMesaFNL@gmail.com or (714) 625-2308.

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