Mill Creek Jaguars earn trip to NFL Flag Nationals after title run

The Mill Creek Jaguars turned a six-game youth league season into a trip to NFL Flag Nationals by surviving a one-point loss, winning a two-game championship series and then sweeping through regionals as the Snoho Hustlers. For an 8U roster built across Snohomish, Everett and Mukilteo, the road to Westfield, Indiana, was defined as much by growth as by trophies.

The turning point came against the Marysville Seahawks, when the Jaguars fell 19-18 on a late two-point conversion. Parents and coaches treated that loss as a lesson in finishing games, and it showed up when the same Marysville team met them again in the championship series. Mill Creek responded with a 2-0 sweep to claim the 8U division title and advance to the regional stage.

At regionals, the group competed under the Snoho Hustlers name and kept winning. The Seahawks NFL FLAG Regional Tournament was held June 6 at Kasch Park in Everett, and three Snohomish County youth teams claimed championships there to punch their tickets to nationals. For the Jaguars, that meant the season stretched beyond league play and into the last qualifying round for the NFL Flag Championships.

The reward is a berth at the third annual NFL Flag Championships Presented by Toyota, set for July 23-26 at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield. The NFL says championship games are scheduled for Sunday, July 26, and more than 350 girls’ and boys’ teams are expected to compete at the 400-plus-acre complex, which has more than 30 multi-purpose fields. NFL FLAG says the sport now has more than 20 million players in 100-plus countries and across six continents, a reach that helps explain why a local 8U team can now chase a national stage.

Mill Creek is not going alone. The 12U Rec Mill Creek Cougars and the 10U Rec Mill Creek Footballers also qualified out of the Everett regional, giving Snohomish County three teams headed to nationals. The Cougars beat Umatilla Parks and Rec 26-6 and 20-0 on their way through, and Mattsen Coleman was named the 12U Rec tournament MVP. For the Jaguars, the next step is no longer just another Sunday in league play. It is Westfield, where a season that started with lessons in late-game execution now has a chance to end on a national field.