A youth flag football team from New York’s Capital Region is fighting for a spot in Sunday’s championship game at the 2026 NFL FLAG Championships in Westfield, Indiana. The Clifton Park Giants — a 14U boys squad competing under the New York Giants’ regional banner — squared off Sunday morning against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ regional representative from Ocala, Florida, in the tournament’s semifinal round.
The game aired live on ESPN starting at 10 a.m., with the championship set to follow on ABC at 4 p.m.
A live look at the broadcast, posted by the NFL on X, showed Ocala leading 7-6 in the first half, with 1:55 remaining and the Giants facing second-and-goal after a tipped pass fell their way. That score reflects only a mid-game snapshot — the final result of the semifinal has not yet been confirmed by any credentialed source, and this article will be updated once it is.
How Clifton Park Got Here
This is the RFP Patriots organization’s second straight trip to the semifinal round. The team — which operates under different NFL team names depending on which regional tournament sends it to nationals — qualified this year by winning a regional event hosted by the New York Giants, earning the Clifton Park Giants label for the championship weekend.
A favorable tip drill gives the Giants the lead before halftime!
2026 @NFLFLAG Championships on ESPN/NFLNhttps://t.co/u9u8C2TJ7A to find a league near you pic.twitter.com/kIMXTImC2p
— NFL (@NFL) July 26, 2026
The path here wasn’t easy. Clifton Park opened the tournament Friday with a 21-14 win over the Carolina Panthers’ regional representative in the Round of 16. Saturday morning brought a tougher test against the Seattle Seahawks’ rep out of San Diego, and the Giants pulled away for a 33-20 win, according to News10.
Quarterback Brady Von Schiller, a rising sophomore at Christian Brothers Academy, threw five touchdown passes in that quarterfinal victory — every one of them caught by a CBA classmate. Alec Frazier hauled in one, while Alex Rivera and Jacob Turner each caught two, per News10’s reporting.
| Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | Carolina Panthers rep | Won 21-14 |
| Quarterfinal | Seattle Seahawks rep (San Diego) | Won 33-20 |
| Semifinal | Tampa Bay Buccaneers rep (Ocala) | In progress |
A Small Town With a Chip on Its Shoulder
Eight players make up the Giants roster, with four of them — including Von Schiller — coming from Christian Brothers Academy. Compared to the Florida-based programs that dominate youth flag football’s talent pipeline, Clifton Park is an outlier, and the team has leaned into that underdog framing.
Von Schiller told News10 that most people watching probably don’t even know where Clifton Park is, and said the team is using that as motivation. A teammate, identified by News10 only as Jones, was even more direct about the group’s confidence in its offense, saying the scheme spreads the ball around too well for opponents to key on any one or two players.
That confidence carries extra weight given how last year ended. The program’s 2025 run — then playing as the Clifton Park Bills after qualifying through a Buffalo Bills regional — also reached the semifinal, only to fall 41-12 to the eventual champion representing the Jacksonville Jaguars.
What’s Next
If Clifton Park advances, the Giants would play for the 14U boys national title Sunday afternoon on ABC. NFL FLAG’s championship weekend in Westfield features more than 350 teams across boys, girls, and international divisions, according to ESPN’s tournament coverage.
