Local Spring Youth Football Teams Head to Playoffs

The Lynn Silverbacks football organization will send its teams into the New England Youth Tackle Football League playoffs this weekend.

The Silverbacks, who field four tackle football teams (ages 8-14) and one flag football team (ages 6-and-under), completed regular season play last Saturday at Manning Field.

Pop Warner Coach Dennis Rowe (left) and Pete Dow, coach of the Lynn Silverbacks 10-Under Football Team.

Lynn resident Joel Machado is the founder and president of the New England Youth Tackle Football League. John Raye, 35, is the president of Lynn Silverbacks Football.

More than 100 players are competing for the Lynn Silverbacks, according to Raye, who is also vice president of East Lynn Pop Warner.

“So far we’ve played Revere, Everett, Lawrence, Top Gun (regional team), and teams from western Massachusetts,” said Raye, a 2004 Lynn Tech graduate. “This is our third year in the league. Last year, we were unable to play because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The New England Youth Tackle Football League season runs from March to June.

Raye said he was introduced to football coaching by East Lynn Bulldogs Pop Warner Coach Pete Dow, who coaches the Silverbacks 10-Under team. “When my son (Greg) started playing football at the age of five, I was helping out as much as I could and trying to be a good parent and then I met Coach Pete and he asked me to come on board and he’s taught me everything I know,” said Raye, who works at JetBlue Airlines.

Dow, with Raye as defensive coordinator, has directed East Lynn Pop Warner to three state championships. Dow’s 10-Under Silverbacks team is a contender for the playoff championship.

“We’ve been practicing three days a week,” said Dow. “The players are enjoying football in the spring and this helps get them ready for the fall season.”

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