MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Jays are back to practicing nearly daily after winning the D1 Nation Spring 2023 National Championship this month in Rantoul, Illinois.
"We [were] happy, excited," said Zaakr Clark, who plays quarterback, receiver and other positions for the team. "Oh yeah, and nobody scored on us."
The score of the first game was 28-0, the second game was 30-0 and the final game was 14-0.
"Practice makes perfect," Clark said. "The coaches helped us win."
With an overall record of 150-5, Coach Adel Morey says on average the team only loses a couple of games per year. He has worked with most of the boys since they were eight.
"We try to keep them all together and when you start young and piece it together, by the time they're 9, 10, 11, they're a powerhouse," Morey said. "This is the same group that got beat 55 to nothing by a top 10 team in the nation and now to become one of the top 10 teams in one of the national brackets, it speaks volumes."
Their victory also comes three years after shots rang out during a practice at Jordan Park.
"We had to take cover, get behind the building and get in cars to drive to one of our coaches' house," Clark said. "I was scared, nervous. Yeah, I was just scared, nervous. It was just crazy."
After that, the team moved their primary practice location to Bryn Mawr Park.
"We've done a lot to get over it," Morey said. "When we go out of town we take kids to do fun things. Especially that time, we were taking them out to water parks, go-karts."
No one on the team was hurt in that drive-by shooting but just a couple of years later, someone they looked up to was killed in another shooting.
"Deshaun Hill Junior," Clark explained. "He was a member of the Jays. Then he went to North High School and he passed."
East Ridge High School right tackle Calvin Heinrich was 12 at the time.
"Football is more like an outlet when it comes to dealing with certain situations and stress," the Jays alumnus said. "It's a good way to get grief and anger out."
"I don't know as a parent how to even explain that," added his mother, Carrie Heinrich, whose Facebook live stream discussing the shooting has since reached 1.6 million views. "It shouldn't be okay and it's programs like the Jays that are trying to make it so that all kids have an opportunity."
Look for the Minnesota Jays in the Youth National Championship this December on ESPN. There's now a GoFundMe account to help cover travel costs.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: