Finishing off the 2020 Flag Football Season on Top
Matthew Minsk
After the AJA Flag Football team’s dominant 41-7 championship win over Weber, players hoisted a newly-minted “turnover log” — which was really just a log the team found on the field at practice the previous day and wrote “turnover” on — as their trophy. They assumed, as Athletic Director Rodney Zimmerman later confirmed, that the championship trophy from last year had been bought by Weber and wasn’t going to be handed over. More than that, players remembered the trophy literally falling apart as the Rams received it last year, so they figured a redemptive moral triumph would suffice.
Head Coach Justin Katz decided that the Jaguars deserved some hardware to go along with the victory, which capped off an undefeated season. After buying the trophy himself — which looks like a miniature replica of the Lombardi Trophy awarded to the Super Bowl champion in the NFL — Coach Katz worked with Coach Zimmerman to plan a trophy presentation in front of the student body during Community Time.
Coach Katz stressed the relevance of a physical trophy. He said that the team “deserve[s] a recognition for all the hard work [they] put in, so it can be on display for everyone to see.” He called it a “legacy, so that when others walk the halls, they can reference the accomplishment this team made.” Coach Zimmerman expressed the hope that in the future, the league could chip in to buy a trophy that would travel around to the victorious school for that year, but that each school in the league could keep a plaque to document their championships.
Looking at the season as a whole, Coach Katz praised the team, saying, “We accomplished all the goals we set out to complete.” He cited focus during practice as leading to players “improv[ing] each day,” which made the players “better as individuals but also as a team.”
Junior running back and pass rusher Josh Asherian took a similar positive route. He remarked, “I am glad we got to go through with the season,” and despite certain COVID-19 restrictions, “it was worth it 100%.”
Part of the mental hurdles for AJA came from a close loss in the championship game last season. After this season ended with the Jaguars victorious, even the loss made the win sweeter. “It felt good to get revenge on the same team that took our trophy last year,” Josh said.
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