The Marion County Juice Bucs are national champions. Ocala’s 14U team knocked off the New York City Ravens 33-21 on Sunday to win the Boys’ Under-14 title at the 2026 NFL Flag Championships, capping a run that saw the team survive a nail-biting semifinal before pulling away in the final.
Quarterback Drake Eason was named tournament MVP. He threw for three touchdowns and 168 yards in the championship game alone, and he did it from a spot on the depth chart nobody saw coming. According to WCJB, Eason wasn’t even the starting quarterback when the tournament began.
How Ocala Got There
The road to the title ran through a semifinal that came down to the final play. Ocala trailed the New York Giants representative late, and Eason delivered a touchdown pass to Kingstyn Henderson with 14 seconds left to put the Bucs back on top. WCJB reports that Dzyreron Simpkins sealed the 19-18 win with an end-zone interception on the Giants’ final Hail Mary attempt, sending Ocala through to the championship.
Earlier in that same semifinal, Eason set the tone with a one-handed interception he returned for a pick-six, then added a second-half touchdown throw to Ashton Garnes to briefly put the Bucs ahead 13-12.
The Bucs from Ocala, FL are the 14U Boys Flag Champions!
2026 @NFLFLAG Championships on ESPN/NFLNhttps://t.co/u9u8C2TJ7A to find a league near you pic.twitter.com/iSOFqoUEfi
— NFL (@NFL) July 26, 2026
The Championship Game
Ocala didn’t wait around in the final. Eason found Henderson for a score to jump the Bucs out to a 21-7 lead, and the defense turned the game into a rout from there. Garnes intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, and Eason added a second pick-six of the weekend on defense — his second straight game with a defensive score to go with his passing numbers.
By the time it was over, Ocala led 33-13 before New York City added a couple of late scores to make the final 33-21.
The NFL’s official X account posted a celebration clip of the Bucs receiving their trophy, noting Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones handed out the hardware at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana. (No verifiable standalone link for that specific post was retrieved in this session, so it’s attributed in text only.)
| Team | Score | Record in Championship Run |
|---|---|---|
| Marion County Juice Bucs (Ocala, FL) | 33 | Won semifinal 19-18, won final 33-21 |
| New York City Ravens | 21 | Advanced to final, fell in title game |
Eason’s Postgame Mood
Eason kept his answers short after the win. Asked how the Bucs closed it out, he pointed to the group’s consistency all weekend:
“We keep pushing. We couldn’t let off the break,” Eason said, per WCJB.
He was just as low-key when asked about a behind-the-back pass he uncorked during the run: “That’s just me. I just had to try again,” he said, according to the same report.
The celebration plans were already in motion by the time the team left the field. Eason said the group was headed to Chili’s, with Dick’s Sporting Goods and Dave & Buster’s on the agenda next — a fitting cap to what WCJB described as a long, hot tournament weekend for the Marion County program.
What the Event Means
This was the third annual NFL Flag Championships, presented by Toyota and operated by RCX Sports. The event moved to the Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana, for its 2026 edition, running July 23-26 with championship games on the final day. It’s billed as the largest youth flag football tournament in the world, and the NFL says this year’s field topped 350 girls’ and boys’ teams from around the globe — the biggest version of the event yet.
Flag football’s profile keeps rising alongside events like this one, with the sport set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. For a program out of Marion County, Sunday’s win puts Ocala on the national map in a sport that’s growing fast at the youth level.
