West Clermont Youth Football’s third-grade team has been about as dominant as possible this season.
The team earned a first-round bye in the playoffs, but returned to the field on Sunday, October 27 with a shutout win over Lakota North.
Heading into the Super Bowl this weekend at Lakota West against a team from Oak Hills, the team is undefeated, having scored 460 points on the season. They have yet to allow a score defensively. According to head coach Tom Jetter, the victory in the semifinal was one of the more difficult games his team has played this season.
“It was one of the tougher games we had,” Jetter said. “These kids are relentless. When we’re backed into a corner, they always find a way to do it. I’m not sure how.”
The Wolves have spent the last few years experimenting, trying to find a league to challenge the kids on the field. The team played in the Clermont County Youth Football League two years ago before moving on last season. This year’s squad plays in the Greater Cincinnati Youth Football League with teams from Milford, Edgewood, Kings and Hamilton, among other places.
Jetter said the team’s play in 2019 has been exactly what he thought it would be.
“I knew that the team was solid,” Jetter said. “We’ve switched leagues two times looking for tough competition because the kids get bored. I knew we were solid, I just didn’t know how much until we saw better competition.”
The team faces other squads from outside the Cincinnati area, according to Jetter. They’ve traveled to tournaments and faced all-star teams from Kentucky and teams from Atlanta, Georgia.
Still, Jetter said the squad’s most recent win was the most difficult.
“Up until [Sunday], we weren’t really tested,” Jetter said. “We gave up a few first downs, but something is special with this group.”
Jetter thinks that something comes from the bond the players have, a culture that West Clermont is trying to instill from the high school level all the way down.
“Our high school coach is big on coaching family, and we’ve kind of followed that,” Jetter said. “There are teams with better athletes, but we have good kids that want to play well for each other.”
That bond has allowed the Wolves to overcome a size disadvantage, according to Jetter.
“The one flaw we have is we’re undersized,” Jetter said. “We have smaller kids. There’s a lot of times when we come to a game and they’re like, ‘That’s the third grade junior Wolves team?’ We’re small, we’re fast, but more than anything, the mindset is right. They believe in themselves.”
Jetter continued, noting the team tries to prepare for games the same way most high school teams do.
“We watch film, we break them down,” Jetter said. “We try to see what they’re doing. The kids come up with their own gameplans. More than anything, they learn to understand football and the time it takes to be successful. It’s not a show up on Saturday thing, and I think they’ve taken to that really well.”
That type of effort requires a dedicated coaching staff, and Jetter praised his coaches for the work they put into the team.
”I can’t say enough about the coaches we have,” Jetter said. “I’ll get coaches from at 12, 1 a.m. saying hey, I’m watching this or I’m looking at this. There are times where they go to watch better teams play to see what they’re doing differently. These coaches, it’s 24/7. It’s non stop.”
The parents also play a key role in the team’s success, and Jetter makes sure they’re involved in the program.
“The biggest thing you can do is to win over the moms and the parents,” Jetter said. “Ninety percent of the time, they’re the ones making the big head signs. They’re the ones bringing the kids to practice, cooking dinner. Moms are behind the scenes. We make a big point to get the moms involved. We have a bit of a thank-you where we do boys of fall team pictures with them oms. We go to the high school stadium and take pictures with mom.”
Jetter and the junior Wolves traveled to Lakota West for their final GCYFL postseason game on Saturday, November 2. The squad defeated a squad from Oak Hills 20-0 to win the Super Bowl title.
