Red Fox Spring football takes off

The North Fort Myers Community Park was the place to be on Saturday, especially if you are a football fan.
Yes, there was a lot of Babe Ruth baseball happening, but there also was football, and lots of it as the Red Fox football program put their five teams on the field against a team made up of Cape Jr. players.
By looking at the crowd for the season opener of this short, five-game season that has no postseason and so games that don’t matter in a competitive context, you would have thought the Peace River Conference championship was at stake.
The home team did not disappoint, winning four of the five games, including one in rather dramatic fashion.
The 8U North team shut out Cape Junior 14-0, while the 10U north team jumped to a 22-0 halftime lead and held on for a 22-6 win.
10U coach Tristan Anderson said while his team came out a little slow, it was able to eventually force its will on Cape Junior.
“We practice so we can dominate and play together. We practice to be relentless. I see 100 percent potential in every player,” Anderson said. “We have new kids and they’re learning the basics before we get to all the special stuff. Even for the kids who have been here for a while.”
The 12U game was the most exciting, with Cape Junior taking a 7-6 halftime lead before North was able to bounce back to take the lead 13-7.
Cape Junior recorded a safety to cut the lead to 13-9 midway through the fourth quarter, but a Phillip Botsford interception in the closing minutes sealed the win.
12U coach and Ref Fox program president Steve Brown said it wasn’t a pretty win, but they’ll take it, especially since the new kids proved to be surprisingly versed at moving the football.
“Our young offense moved the ball better than our more experienced offense. We have a lot of work to do, but our championship team last year started out slow as well.” Brown said. “The spring season isn’t about wins and losses as much as getting a lot of players a lot of playing time and teaching.”
The 14U team capped off the day with a win.
Red Fox Athletics is a non-profit organization that provides academic and athletic opportunities to people in the local community. It is not affiliated with Pop Warner football.