
"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