By ADRIAN STEWART CO
The Far Eastern University-Diliman (FEU-D) Baby Tamaraws ruled the UAAP Season 86 high school boys football tournament with a 3-0 dismantling of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Junior Golden Booters at the University of the Philippines Football Stadium on Thursday night, February 29.
The Baby Tamaraws ruled for a 12th consecutive season as they dominated the Junior Golden Booters, which are on their first-ever UAAP high school boys football championship stint.
Kian Niu broke the ice for the Baby Tamaraws with his 18th-minute conversion before Theo Libarnes doubled the advantage for the defending champion eight minutes after the restart.
The Junior Golden Booters tried their best to cut the deficit, but to no avail before the Baby Tamaraws secured the championship with a connection from Jacob Keleghan in the 78th minute.
Libarnes, who earned the Golden Boot and Best Striker award, said he was surprised to win the individual citations despite having a slow performance during the first round of eliminations.
“Unang-una po sa lahat, na-shocked nga po ako na nakuha ko po ‘yung Golden Boot award dahil ‘yung mga past few games ng first round, wala akong mga score, pero ‘pag second round, bumawi po ako,” Libarnes said.
Keleghan was also cited with the Rookie of the Year award, while graduating forward Gian Carlo Lucha was adjudged as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for FEU-D.
Ilonggo Kent Laurenz dela Peña and Edsel James Lauron of the Junior Golden Booters took home the Best Goalkeeper and the Best Midfielder honors, respectively, while De La Salle-Zobel’s Bacchus Ekberg bagged the Best Defender plum.
It was UST’s best finish in the tournament, as it led most of the season before FEU-D flipped the switch by winning the elimination round finale, and more importantly, the championship game.
“Mixed feelings, alam mo ‘yun masaya na nakalaro sa finals, but [at] the end of the day, natalo. Syempre, medyo low morale ‘yung players, but as a coach, you have to push them, heads up lang. Tanggap naman ng mga players,” UST mentor Marjo Allado said./ASC, WDJ