It may not be the only National Championship recognized at the 7th and 8th grade levels of football but it is the most recognizable one by far. Team Kentucky, at both the 7th and 8th grade levels, descended upon Indianapolis, Indiana this past weekend and both punched their tickets to Naples, FA. Now there was a report on social media in support of the belief the 7th grade Team Kentucky FBU had never before been this far in the National Tournament. That isn’t true. This may well be the first Team Kentucky 7th grade to get to the Championship weekend in Naples, FA but this isn’t the first Team Kentucky FBU 7th grade team to be one of the last 8 teams standing.
Back in 2015, Team Kentucky 7th grade won its regional played in Elizabethtown, Kentucky at E-Town High School’s Panther Stadium. That year, Kentucky won its opening game, by forfeit, as the West Virginia team it was slated to play didn’t show up. In the second round, Team Kentucky blasted Tennessee 36-0. That edition of Team Kentucky, 7th grade, then went to the Super Regional in Gwinnett County, Georgia, right outside Atlanta, where they made it to the Super Regional Final against the home-standing GFL (Gwinnett Football League). There were four Super Regional sites around the Country, and the winner (and only the winner) was to then advance to Naples for the National Semis. Team Kentucky 7th grade (circa 2015) lost in the Super Regional Final to GFL. That loss aside, Team Kentucky 2015 was in the tournament’s final 8 and, under today’s formula, would have played GFL in Naples, as opposed to Gwinnett County, Georgia. In 2016, FBU expanded the invitees to Naples to the final 8, as opposed to the final 4, thereby playing its National Quarters in Florida as opposed to having a Super Regional.
So, all of the above aside, this is the first time Team Kentucky 7th grade has gotten the opportunity to advance to Naples, FA with an opportunity to win the FBU National Championship but not the first advancing this far in the tournament. Team Kentucky 8th grade has advanced to Naples, FA in 2016, lost in the Regional Championship game in 2017, and now advanced for a second time here in 2018, or two of the three years since the field, in Florida, was expanded to 8 teams. In 2016, Team Kentucky FBU (8th grade) finished 5th nationally. Good luck to both Team Kentuckys and here’s to hoping we bring home two National Championships.
Reporting for KPGFootball, this is Fletcher Long reminding all of you ballers out there to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE.
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