Photo provided/Shawn Hittenberger
The Creswell ”Oakland” Raiders – a flag football team of Creslane fourth graders that competes in a Eugene-Springfield area NFL Flag Football league – won its last two regular-season games May 19 to finish at the top of their league and secure the top seed to the June 9 playoffs.
”After their only loss on Mother’s Day, they had a more determined attitude going into these last two games,” said head coach Shawn Hittenberger.
The Raiders’ won their first game Sunday, against the Carolina Panthers, 18-6.
”It was a very defensive battle, leading to a relatively low score,” Hittenberger said.
Creswell’s final regular-season game, also played Sunday, was against the Jacksonville Jaguars, with the Raiders winning 28-12.
”The Raiders were great on both sides of the ball; they never trailed in either game,” Hittenberger said.
After finishing the regular season atop league standings with a 6-1 record, the Creswell Raiders secured the top seed to their league’s four-team playoff tournament. The Jaguars are the second seed, the Panthers are the third seed and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the fourth seed.
The Creswell Raiders will play the Steelers and the Jaguars will play the Panthers at 5 p.m. June 9 at the Bob Keefer Center for Sports and Recreation in Springfield.
The winners of those games will meet in the championship game at 5:45 p.m.
”As we have finished the regular season, we will switch our focus on the playoffs,” Hittenberger said. ”We will continue to improve the execution of both our offensive and defensive strategies as well as our game-day focus. If we execute our game plan, have good focus and attitude, we have a great chance to be the champions.”
