STROUDSBURG, Pa. — It was the final play of the 16U International Flag Football Championship game in Orlando.
With 20 seconds left in the game, wide receiver Jordan Wilcox pulled the final flag to solidify the win for Pocono Cobra Force of Monroe County.
"This was the most confident I was in any tournament. I honestly believe we were going to win it from the jump. Our first day, we had a few struggles, but I knew my team would pull together," said Wilcox.
The team competed in the AFFL World Flag Football Championship in Orlando, Florida, last weekend.
Pocono Cobra Force beat the Florida State Champs 14-13, bringing home some pretty nice hardware.
"They came down with their mindset of we're going to play together, and even though in the pool play, which was on Saturday, we lost two games — one of them in double overtime. They never started fighting with each other they just kept going, and then finally, when we got into the championship, we ended up winning both games by 1 point," said Coach Dana Antal of Pocono Cobra Force.
The guys say the biggest difference between flag football and regular football is you can't tackle in flag football.
"It's way harder because you don't really have eleven (players). You only have five. You've got to cover everything. One thing I would say that's the same between them is intensity is way high. One play, you can do something good, and then you can do something bad," said Andre Reames, a linebacker and running back.
"People talk down on flag, but they really underestimate it. It's really fun. I mean the community, the environment in flags is so much fun, everyone's super nice, and it's competitive. It's everything you want in a team," said Ethan Dudsak, a cornerback.
Athletes say it is nice to see the sport they've been playing for years finally get the recognition it deserves.
"Now they actually have a USA national team for flag football which I actually went to one of the events, and I actually played against teams from Mexico, Japan, and Canada, so it's really exciting to watch flag football grow and be a part of that," said Luca Antal, a running back.
The boys say this will be an experience they'll never forget.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.