A pair of teams from the Greater Charlotte Youth Athletic Alliance are celebrating 2010 American Youth Football national championships.
Last month in Orlando, Fla., the Mint Hill Chargers captured the Eighth Grade championship in All-American Division, and the Northside Hurricanes earned the Pee Wee crown in National Division 1.
The American Youth Football is the largest youth football program in the world.
Mint Hill claimed its third national championship in four years and took down the one team to interrupt its run in the process.
The Chargers shut out the 2009 champion Park Ridge (Ill.) Falcons 38-0 in the title game to cap a dominant season. Mint Hill finished 16-0, outscoring its opponents by an astounding 714-28 margin. The Chargers went 11-0 in the regular season, highlighted by victories over local private schools Cannon School and Concord First Assembly, then the rolled to the Atlantic Regional title to advance to nationals.
Northside also knocked off a nemesis on the way to its national championship and a final record of 12-1. After winning the state championship with an 18-6 victory over the Mint Hill Mountaineers, the Hurricanes captured the Atlantic Regional title with a 14-12 victory over the Fredericksburg (Va.) Bears, a win that snapped the Bears' winning streak at 36 games.
At the national tournmament, the Hurricanes also survived tough games in the final two rounds, eventually taking out the Oak Grove (Calif.) Razorbacks 26-14 to win it all.
