Sept. 10 was the season kickoff for the Mineola PAL 9-year-old White and Maroon Chiefs and they were victorious at home. The 9-year-old White Team beat Garden City 13-0 and the 9 Maroon Team beat East Rockaway 18-7.

The Chiefs 9 White Team beat the Garden City Thunder 13-0 with devastating and crushing defense led by Andrew Cunningham, Thomas O'Connell, Brian Smith, Michael Patalano and Thomas Davis. The Chiefs offense was able to move the ball all day long because of sound blocking by the offensive line of Gavin Dowd, Teddy Capsis, Andrew Hastings, Michael Delio, Kyle Facibene, Lucas Golon and the leadership of quarterback Thomas O'Connell. Scoring is summarized below:

• Ryan Eccher - 3-yard touchdown run

• Ryan Eccher - 1-yard touchdown run

• Thomas O'Connell - extra point pass to Andrew Cunningham.

The Chiefs 9 Maroon Team dominated both sides of the ball against the East Rockaway Raiders and won 18-7. The Chiefs offense was able to move the ball because of great blocking by the offensive line centered by Mathew Lafaye and anchored by John Clancy, TJ Kemmet, Tom O'Dwyer, Danny Gonzalez, Kevin Klimas and hard to catch Justin Johnson. The defense was in the Raiders face all day with great intensity by Michael Elefonte, Anthony Preston, Peter McCormack, Eric McCloskey, Nicky Reda, Brian Greenberg and Brendan Sullivan.

Scoring is summarized as follows:

• Justin Johnson - 53-yard touchdown run; 41-yard touchdown run; and touchdown pass to Michael Elefonte.

Every 9-year-old played and had fun as they participated in the victories. The players who contributed to the wins were James Gerstner, Dominic Paggi, Kyle Spruill, Austin Certa, Vinny Napolitano, Chris Asam, Niam Smith, Antonio Prunella and Joe Pino.