Super day for Eagle football team

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers BIG WINNERS-Head coach Erik Kramer, left, instructs his players. Six months of hard work resulted in a Super Bowl win for the Agoura/Oak Park Eagles.

In the Pee Wee Division championship last Saturday at Thousand Oaks High, the Eagles defeated the Santa Clarita Warriors 40-16. The team's players, coaches, parents and fans couldn't have been happier with the result.

The Oak Park team, consisting of 19 players between 7 and 8 years old competing in their first or second seasons of organized football, seemed to know just about everything about winning a Super Bowl.

Although there was no dumping of Gatorade onto the coaches' heads, the team did butt helmets, and faced the crowd holding one finger aloft while chanting, "We're No. 1! We're No. 1!"

"It's been an exciting year," said Annette Duke, mother of Oak Park's Adam Duke. "This team is like a good village. Everyone gets along and has done a great job. All the coaches, all the moms, everyone worked hard."

The Oak Park squad was coached by former NFL quarterback Erik Kramer, who played for the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers. Kramer was also a standout at Pierce College before turning pro.

"It's been a fun journey to see the kids come out and play this year," Kramer said. "You have to have patience with the kids because they have an attention span of about a minute and a half. You'll be talking to them about running a play, and the next second they're wondering how long until they all get together and get to play the new PlayStation game they have."

Sure enough, at halftime, when the public address announcer declared they were giving away a PlayStation system in one of the booths, all of the kids immediately looked up to wonder how they could get one.

Unfortunately for Santa Clarita, the boys from Oak Park could play pretty well on the field, especially 8-year-old Niko Harris.

Niko scored six touchdowns on the day, two of them on defense. He got the Eagles off on the right foot when he recovered a fumble and took it 60 yards for a touchdown with 7:50 remaining in the first quarter. After that, Oak Park never looked back. Niko had four touchdown runs on offense, all of them over 56 yards.

"I like playing offense more than defense because I get the ball more on offense," Niko said.

He said he likes watching the Chargers and running back LaDainian Tomlinson because they "work hard and have a lot of heart."

Niko also plays soccer when not on the gridiron.

Kramer's son, Dillon, also enjoyed the win by saying he liked playing offense more than defense. His favorite part about football, Dillon said, was hitting people.

"This is a great win for them today," said Coach Kramer. "I never won a championship at the high school, college or pro level, but I did win one year in a youth league. This is something they won't forget."

After winning the Super Bowl, Niko knew exactly what to say.

"I'm going to Disneyland," he said.