Youth Football energizes parents

"Sorry Texans, This is a Giant State," read the sign the Giants cheerleaders held up before the players ran through it, the crowds cheering from the stands.

But this wasn't East Rutherford, N.J., and the Texans football team did not come from Houston. This was Ratliff Stadium late Saturday afternoon, and these were the championship games for the Central Permian Basin Youth Athletic Association. And in the end, the Texans won 7-6 against the Giants. The Varsity championship players aren't even 13, yet more than 500 parents and fans were riveted to the action, some standing and screaming at each pass.

Even the fourth- and fifth-graders playing the Junior Varsity championship drew a sizable crowd in the bleachers.

"Play smart! Play smart!" shouted Mia Nelson as she ran from her seat, following the Reagan Elementary Texans JV team as they tried to overcome a four-point deficit against the Burnett Colts with less than 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Their drive ended with an interception.

"It's over," a now-subdued Nelson told her younger son. "They played a good game."

And like the NFL counterparts, cheerleading took center stage --er, field, between the games. McKynzie Golden, a sixth-grader cheerleading for the Lyndon Johnson Giants' Varsity team, said the team trained two days a week, 90 minutes a day through their season and learned two new dances just for this game.

PULLOUT: Varsity Championship

Winner: Texans - Reagan

Second: Giants - Lyndon Johnson

Third: Vikings - Blackshear, Milam, Hays

Fourth: Cardinals - San Jacinto, Noel

Fifth: Bengals - Ross, Goliad

Sixth: Titans - Murry Fly

Seventh: Cowboys - Pease

Eighth: Packers - Dowling, Alamo

Consolation Champion: Raiders - Crane

Junior Varsity Championship

Winner: Colts - Burnet

Second: Texans - Reagan

Third: Packers - Dowling, Alamo

Fourth: Vikings Purple - Blackshear, Milam, Hays

Fifth: Vikings White - Blackshear, Milam, Hays

Sixth: Giants Blue - Lyndon Johnson

Seventh: Cardinals White - San Jacinto, Noel

Eighth: Cardinals Red - San Jacinto, Noel

Consolation Champion: Rams - Zavala, Travis

Third Grade Championship

Winner: Texans - Reagan

Second: Jaguars - Barbara Jordan

Third: Giants - Lyndon Johnson

Fourth: Vikings - Blackshear, Milam, Hays