Montgomery Village Youth Football rallies to championship victory after a shooting nearly derailed its season

MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. — A team of 13-year-old football players in Montgomery County is looking to keep its season alive with the help of the community.

“It’s literally been a rollercoaster. It’s been the epitome of heart and dedication," said Montgomery Village 13U head coach, Jonathan Frazier.

In late September, the Montgomery Village 13U football team’s field was a crime scene.

Police say two groups started shooting at each other near hundreds of youth football players and their families. One 17-year-old was wounded.

“It was our homecoming, so I thought they were popping fireworks," said 13U player Cayden Herbert. "I look over and I just see people scattering.”

“We just heard pop, pop and we just all ran into the forest," said Herbert's teammate, Hayden Joppy.

Montgomery Village Youth Football's remaining season was in question.

"I was wondering if we were still going to have our football season going on," said 13U player Dylan Turner.

Play and practice stopped for two weeks.

“Totally derailed our energy, our journey. Kind of put a major detour in it," said Frazier. "It tested us. I’ll say mentally, organizationally, as a family, as a football family."

Montgomery Village clawed its way to the championship game last weekend and fought to take the game to overtime.

"We get a big defensive stop to get the ball, go defense first. Then we get the ball, and we have to use all four plays to get to the one-yard line and we win on the last play of the game," said Frazier. "If that’s not fitting, how you end the story, I don’t know what is. Especially after what we’ve been through.”

The championship win qualified this squad for the Youth Football Nationals in Naples, Florida next month, but they can’t get there without some help from the community.

“I really wouldn’t want to do it with any other team," said Herbert. "I feel like we’re extremely blessed to have all of our lives and to even have the opportunity to play in Florida. It’s amazing.”

"It would be really good to go down to Florida and compete against other teams and have a chance to win the National Championship and bring it back to the village," said 13U player Houlston Anderson.

The team is hoping to raise around $25,000 to fund a week-long trip, Dec. 7 to 14, for 38 players to compete for a national title.

“I don’t want them to not have this opportunity because we just didn’t have the funds. That would be crushing," said Frazier. "If anybody wants to get behind something that has a message or something that’s tangible, that you can see, that’s really going to have an impact on these kids’ lives, then I would ask them to help us out."

“It’s not even about just having fun, it’s about our future and we’ve been through a lot," said 13U player Elijah Farrington.

If you would like to support Montgomery Village Youth Football's trip to Florida next month, click here.