The sound of a whistle pierced the air.
“Huddle up!”
A group of fourth-grade boys sprinted towards seniors Hank Hunter and Jack Reeves as the two coaches kneeled on the turf field. It was the team’s weekly Wednesday night practice.
Hunter pulled out his clipboard and sketched out the offense’s next play. The five kids on offense stood in a tightly knit huddle around the two senior football players, whispering to ensure none of the defensive players could hear their next play in their scrimmage.
But the five defensive players weren’t listening; they were on the opposite side of the field, singing a song they learned that day in school — “Fifty Nifty United States” — with their defensive coach, senior Davis Eakes.
As soon as the offense finalized their play, and the defense had wrapped up singing the final chorus of “Fifty-Nifty,” the ten boys lined up, all wearing the same yellow flag football belt.
The three varsity football starters — Hunter, Reeves and Eakes — coach a team of 9 and 10-year-olds all from Westwood View Elementary School called the Coyotes. This experience not only serves as an opportunity for them to gain leadership skills but also a way for them to coach the next generation of SM East football players.
The 4-foot-tall quarterback yelled “Set, Hike!” and the play began. Each defender matched with an offensive player, a strategy they learned from Eakes. The quarterback spiraled the football across the field with the same form Reeves taught him and threw it to an offensive player who was able to find an open window, just as Hunter showed them.
“They really look up to us, which is great,” Reeves said. “And I think that they're going to use the skills that they learn from us later in the future when they come play at East.”
Hunter has been coaching the team consisting of his two little brothers and their friends for the past three years, alongside his dad.
This year, Hunter’s dad decided to step down as head coach, which caused Hunter ask Eakes and Reeves to help him coach. According to Hunter, Eakes is one of the smartest defenders on the field and Hunter needed assistance with defensive coaching. Hunter also says Reeves is a “Swiss army knife” of an athlete, someone who can help with offensive, defensive and quarterback coaching.
Most of the elementary teams they play against have dads who coach, which makes their teenage-coached team different from the others in the league.
“I'd say definitely all the kids have loved having [Eakes] and [Reeves] around,” Hunter said. “I think bringing them on has really made them better rather than just having a couple of dads who just kind of scheme up stuff and tell them where to go.”
The three try to incorporate varsity football strategies into the practices by doing formations similar to the ones Eakes, Reeves and Hunter do under the stadium lights on game days. They have even taught the Coyotes an NFL play — the Philly Special.
Despite the new high school coaches, the Coyotes hadn’t won a single game until their first playoff game on Oct. 5.
The Coyotes, as the kids call the team, were moved up to a more advanced league at Kansas City Football and Cheer this year, making the competition bigger than before — literally.
“We faced some really big kids,” Hunter said. “I mean, some kids that just make our boys look like second graders.”
Though the opposing players can tower over some of the kids, Reeves says Coyotes don’t quit, even in games when they don’t have a single point on the board. They continue to try and get touchdowns to keep the scores close.
Since September, the team has been practicing the plays and formations Eakes, Reeves and Hunter have been teaching them. And they finally paid off during the Coyotes' first playoff game on Oct. 5. Despite having only seven players on the field and no subs at all, the team won 18-0, their first win all year.
“On defense, we pitched a shutout,” Eakes said. “We didn't let the other team score. I give all the credit to the kids; they work hard.”
The whole team was thrilled, including the three coaches, Eakes said. All seven boys exchanged high-fives and hugs, jumping up and down eagerly.
To the coaches, the Coyotes’ success isn't measured in how many flags the defense can pull or touchdowns the offense can get; it's about the boys' love for the sport.
“Seeing their love and their skill grow from when they started to now, it's just like, been so much fun,” Hunter said. “They're always wanting to play, and just getting to share the love and knowledge of football with them is just such a good time.”
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