Hail to the . . . Marshall Heights Bison
District-Based Youth Team Wins Pop Warner Super Bowl

By David Betancourt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Marshall Heights Bison, a Pop Warner youth football team that for years has been one of the most dominant and successful of its kind in the District, can now stake its claim as No. 1 in the nation after winning the league's Super Bowl in Orlando.

The championship game, held Dec. 9 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, was nothing new for the Southeast-based squad, which consists of 33 boys, ages 13 to 15. The Bison had made the title game in 1999, 2000 and 2003, but had lost each time.

This time, the Bison defeated the East Anchorage (Alaska) Eagles, 24-12, for the Midget Division championship.

"We knew what the makeup of a championship team was," Coach Andre Ford said. "We felt that we had a good chance because of that this time around."

In the District, 70 teams that belong to 20 different associations participate in a Pop Warner-sanctioned league administered by the Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Club, a branch of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington. The teams compete against each other and then against squads of similar age and size in the region and nation from August to December. Over the years, District teams have made it to the national championship six times, including the Bison's four times.

Two other area teams made it to the Pop Warner Super Bowl: The White Oak Warriors of Silver Spring won in the Pee Wee Division, and the Marlow Heights Hurricanes of Prince George's County lost, 14-13, in the Junior Midget Division.

For the Bison, even after winning the regional championship, a trip to the Super Bowl seemed uncertain when the team and coaches had to scramble to come up with the money to cover travel, housing and food for a week-long stay in Orlando. After a television story in November about the team's plight, hundreds of individual and corporate donors stepped forward, including the Fannie Mae Foundation, which contributed $30,000.

"It was all segments of the Washington community coming together to help this team realize their dream," said Michael Williams, who was commissioner of Pop Warner teams in the District until his resignation at the end of last month.

Ford, a postal worker, grew up in Marshall Heights and started the team in 1994. He said being part of a team -- and the daily two-hour practices three times a week -- give the players a positive focus.

"We knew from the first day that this team was going to be special," Ford said.

The Bison amassed a 15-0 record. Dating from last season, the Bison have won 26 straight games, and they have not lost to a team from the District since 1999.

"Our philosophy is, we're going to outwork everyone," Ford said. "We always want to think we put more into it than the other team. We put in hard work during practice so that in the fourth quarter we're not the team getting tired."

Aside from not losing in more than a year, the Bison have gained the respect of their peers, not just because of their winning streak, but by the way that they win.

On defense, the Bison are practically unmovable. In 11 games this season, they did not give up a first down. Against East Anchorage, they didn't give up a first down until the second half.

Greg Estes, the defensive coordinator, is a longtime friend of Ford's. He takes pride in his defense; its roots are in complexity, but he says the players have embraced his schemes.

"We play like the '85 [Chicago] Bears," Estes said in a reference to the team that won Super Bowl XX. "We run a 6-2 formation. We come with pressure, and we don't back off. Even good players don't want to be harassed constantly, and that's what we do."

On offense, the Bison were just as dominant and ran just as complex a scheme. Ford implemented a no-huddle offense designed to keep defenses on their toes. When a number is called by Ford to his quarterback, Davon Taylor, Taylor immediately calls out the number to his teammates, who wear identical wrist bands that have numbered plays on them.

"We call it 'grassketball,' " said Ford. "It's like a fast break on grass."

Taylor, 14, an eighth-grader, added: "We score points fast and get down the field quick."

The quarterback ran for a touchdown, passed for more than 100 yards in the championship and said he walked away from the win with a strong sense of pride.

"It was a great experience for me because I won a national championship, and I'm the first quarterback to win a national championship from Washington, D.C.," he said.

While dominating on the field is what the Bison will be known for on the national stage, it's the memories that the team members take back with them that make their coaches the most proud.

"We had a kid the day of the championship game, he started crying," Estes said. "We asked him what was wrong, and he said that he just loved that we were in Florida, he loved the people he was with and that he didn't want the feeling to go away. To me, that's what Pop Warner football is all about."