Football

YOUTH FOOTBALL FINALS ALL SET: OUTLAWS TO PLAY 2 OF 3

Outlaws squeak by Cowboys in Matua

Published on

July 27, 2025

GSPN

By Nick Akimoto

It all comes down to this. The GNYFF Championships matchups are set and the teams are ready for their shot to win it all.

For the Manha Championship, the Outlaws will be matchup up against the Cowboys, the Packers will play the Steelers for their shot at the Metgot trophy, and the Outlaws and Angels will duke it out to see who stands atop the Matua division. The Championship games will take place this Saturday at Tiyan field. The Manha Championship will start at 10 am, the Metgot division will start around noon, and the Matua Championship will kickoff around 2 pm.

MATUA THRILLER

In the last game of semifinals weekend, the second place Outlaws faced off against the third place Cowboys for a trip to the Matua championship game. When the teams met up in the regular season, the game finished in a tie. Now that they were meeting in the playoffs, at the end of the day, a winner will need to be decided.

The Cowboys were the first to find their way into the endzone. The Cowboys quarterback, Ezekiel Maysho, dropped back and found Damian Ooka, who had got leverage on his defender in the endzone and reigned in the pass for touchdown. The Cowboys would go into the halftime with a 6-0 lead, but the Outlaws quickly evened the score after Ghesan Gaje lobbed a pass to his tight end, Anton Santiago, who was off to the races, narrowly breaking off two tackles as he sprinted his way into the endzone.

For their extra point attempt, the Outlaws called out their power formation, with Johnnie Brub under center. At the snap, Johnnie bounced out from the pile and tossed the ball to Zhien-Drayce Nauta, who pulled it in for the extra point to go up 7-6. The two teams would then trade blows, as Maysho snuck in a touchdown for the Cowboys, and Nikepwi charged in a rushing touchdown for the Outlaws. As the refs blew the whistle at the end of regulation, the Outlaws and Cowboys would go into overtime tied at 13-13.

To start off overtime, Maysho cradled in a touchdown for the Cowboys, but their extra point attempt was stuffed. The Outlaws would match the effort, as Gaje rolled out to the right and found Santiago in the endzone. The Cowboys’ defense would remain stout, however, as they denied the Outlaws extra point attempt.

On the next round of overtime, the Outlaws and Cowboys would fight tooth and nail to deny each other from getting into the endzone.

As triple overtime rolled around, the players were hunched over. At this point, the winner of the match would be decided on who had something left to give for their team. On the Cowboys’ overtime possession, Maysho threw a quick slant over the hand of the Outlaws linebacker into the arms of Ooka, who hauled in another touchdown. Once again, however, the Outlaws would stuff the Cowboys from securing their extra point attempt. The Outlaws, with the game on the line, tried to run the ball to get the yards needed to get into the endzone, but the Cowboys run defense proved to be too steep a hurdle. On fourth down, Gaje received the snap from shotgun and started running right, before he eventually tucked the ball in and dashed his way into the endzone.

With a chance at a trip to the ship, the Outlaws trotted their power formation back out and set up another quarterback sneak for Johnnie Brub. As the scrum collided, however, Brub slyly handed the ball off to Nikepwi, who skipped his way into the endzone to convert the extra point attempt and bring the Outlaws back to the championship.

EZRA RUNS THE STEELERS INTO THE METGOT GAME

In the game before, the Steelers were able to punch their ticket for the big game thanks to the effort of Patience Ezra. Ezra hauled in three picks off the Angels offense and ran in two touchdowns for the Steelers, including one in which he flipped the entire field and broke through several Angels tackles on his way to the endzone.

Saturday’s Semifinals

Manha: Outlaws 26, Steelers 12

Metgot: Packers 32, Outlaws 0

Matua: Angels 14, Packers 6

Sunday’s Semifinals

Manha: Cowboys 20, Packers 13

Metgot: Steelers 13, Angels 0

Matua: Outlaws 25, Cowboys 24