Members of the West Falcons hold up the Gordon Scott Memorial trophy after defeating South in the LYF seventh-grade title game Sunday at Youth Sports Inc.

The seventh-grade championship game in Sunday’s Toy Bowl showcased the top two teams in the city, but the West Falcons made sure there was no doubt as to who was number one.

The Falcons defeated the South Golden Eagles, 45-0, and hoisted the Gordon Scott Memorial Trophy as the Toy Bowl champions of the highest age division in Lawrence Youth Football.

Coach Myron Grady, who was named Coach of the Year, wasn’t too surprised by his team’s effort.

“When we have played the way we’re capable, we’re the best team in the city,” Grady said. “That’s not to take anything away from the other teams, but when we play like this, nobody is able to play with us.”

Grady credited much of the Falcons’ success to the star running back duo of Jeffrey Belaire and Jermel Fleming.

“They run with power and they’re very fast,” Grady said. “They’re more physically mature than a lot of other kids this age.”

Between touchdowns and extra-point conversions, the pair was in the end zone a combined seven times on the day and easily rushed for more than 100 yards.

Belaire got things started quickly on the first drive with a run of 20 yards that ended in a diving touchdown over the left pylon.

Fleming ran the extra point in to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead with over five minutes to play in the first quarter.

As the glory went to West’s offense, the defense deserved just as much credit for the win. Sundya the Falcons added another shutout to their long list of victories. In fact only one team, Manhattan, scored a touchdown against West in city league play. That game was the first game of the season.

“Our guys were ready to play,” Grady said. “They clicked on all cylinders. Offense was working, defense was ready to go and it just snowballed.”

The Falcons were strong on the defensive side of the ball all day and a quick stand had the Eagles punting within minutes.

The punt rolled at least 15 yards after first hitting the ground, but Belaire rewarded the solid punt by returning it all the way back for another score. Fleming followed with the extra point to make the score, 14-0.

South gained some defensive momentum as it made its first stop of the game later in the first quarter after West added a third touchdown.

The Falcons decided to pass for the extra point rather than run, and South’s DeCorey Pittman made a smart play on the ball to knock down Daniel Clausing’s pass.

At the end of the first quarter the score was 20-0, but the strong defense on the extra-point try was a sign of hope for the Golden Eagles.

They looked to turn the momentum in their favor when Mason Coleman returned the ensuing kickoff to his own 40-yard line.

On the next play, however the Eagles gave the momentum back with a fumble, recovered by West’s Thomas Wolls. The miscue seemed to begin a string of turnovers for the Eagles.

Eagle defenders held strong on fourth-and-eight play to get the ball on downs, but they soon gave up the ball again.

West’s Trent Chamberlain had the first of his two takeaways when he intercepted a pass by South’s Michael Penny.

With 4:30 to play in the first half, West drove to score again on a Clausing pass to Calloway Schmidt, who had his name called for making big plays several times on the day.

Another South fumble late in the half was recovered by Tyler Baum, and Ty Hensley later wrapped up the drive with a touchdown reception.

West led at halftime, 33-0.

From there the scoring slowed, as the clock kept running in accordance to the league’s mercy rules.

During that time, Fleming scored twice, both from 25 yards out.

Chase Reiling of the Eagles stuffed an extra-point run at the line of scrimmage, and the South defense stiffened again on a Sean Cesari extra-point try.

Extra-point defense may have been the Eagles’ strongest aspect of the game, as they held West to just three scores out of seven attempts.

The game marked the end of the season for the majority of the players, but a select few have continued practicing this week as part of a city All-Star team.

“I wish I could have kept all my kids on the all-star team,” Grady said. “But the fact was we had to narrow it down.”

The team consists of players from each of the seventh-grade teams and will play in a tournament the evening of Friday, Nov. 3, at the Youth Sports Inc.