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The Chillicothe Swarm will wrap up their 2018 campaign with the Midwest Football Alliance All-Star game on Saturday, September 8, in Des Moines, Iowa. The second year team was awarded seven All-Star selections, for their performance in 2018. Former Hornet, (Thomas) Hayden Major was selected at Linebacker and ended the season third in the league with 73 tackles and also tied for third in the league with 5 interceptions, 99 yards and a
touchdown. Defensive End, David Smith, the oldest of the Smith brother was selected as an All-Star at age 37. Five years the senior over Daniel Smith and seven over Michael Smith, David was never in a scenario growing up, that would allow the brothers to play together at any level. “I never thought that I would have ever been able to play football with my younger brothers,” said Smith, “I’ll never be able to fully express what that means to me. Being selected as an All-Star was just icing on the cake.” The senior Smith will hang up his cleats after the MFA All-Star game and join the coaching staff in 2019. Kansas City recruiting last off season paid off well, providing the Swarm with two transplanted All-Star selection in Running Back, DeMarco Wright and all around utility veteran, Albert Fitts. Rookie Running Back, Dillon Triplet, out of Baker University was part of the one-two-punch that helped the Swarm rank number two in the league in rushing yards. The Trenton native is excited about his second season. “There are a lot of good football players that come from this part of Missouri”, said Triplet, “the Swarm gives us an opportunity to keep playing and it can be like putting an area all star team together.” Second year Wide Receiver, Tanner Johnson, and Linebacker, Michael Smith earn their second nominations for their 2018 performances. The youngest of the Smith brothers was an honorable mention after 2017, but was a known commodity this past season and was on every team’s radar. Johnson was a second team selection in 2017, but team’s had a tough time preparing for him in 2018. Johnson played half the season at Quarterback, half at Wide Receiver, was third in punting and led the league in Kick returning for the second year in a row.
The team was much improved in 2018 and internal expectations are high for the Swarm’s third year. Not only did they improve in the box score and the stats sheet, the growing coaching staff and talent base gives reason for those high expectations. Head Coach J. Saucedo plans to raise that bar for 2019. “The MFA is the most professional league out here,” said Saucedo. ”That also makes it the most competitive. This community has been very, very supportive during the building stage of our development, but now it’s time to win, and that’s what we plan to do.”
The Chillicothe Swarm will hold football tryouts for the 2019 season on October 6, and cheer/dance tryouts will be held a week later on October 13. To learn how you can be a part of the Chillicothe Swarm, go to Chillicothe Swarm on Facebook, www.chillicotheswarmfootball.com or email at chillicotheswarm@gmail.com.