Vikings register three shutouts in first round of Pop Warner
playoffs
BY Justin Vivian & Dena Gregory SpEcial to the Free Lance
Mighty Mites
Hollister 8, Brentwood 0
Hollister’s Mighty Mite Vikings closed out their season with one of their strongest performances in a struggle between two of the league’s best defenses.
Hollister controlled the ball for the first nine minutes, slowly moving deep into Brentwood territory on good runs by Aaron Tobia, Nathan Fhurong and Dacoda Miracle. But the Falcons defense stiffened and denied them a score, setting the tone for the entire game.
When Brentwood finally got the ball, Ezzie Lovato made two consecutive backfield tackles and Tristan Wahl forced the Falcon runner out of bounds on a sweep. On their next defensive series, Clay Schwall made an interception but an ensuing fumble on the return gave the ball back to the Falcons.
Instead of allowing Brentwood some momentum, Kyle George, Justin Sanders and Buddy Barrientos put the Falcons in reverse by forcing losses with backfield tackles on three consecutive plays.
Brentwood’s defense matched Hollister’s tenacity, completely shutting down the Vikings running attack. When the Vikings got the ball in the second half, they decided to try to pass over the ferocious Falcon run defense. Daniel Hopkins found early success, hitting Austin Cascio for an 18-yard gain. But Brentwood adjusted and stopped that drive short of the goal line to preserve the scoreless tie.
Hollister began to play a field position game as Barrientos and Russell Enz made great back field tackles, pushing the Falcons back close to their own end zone. Brentwood made a good gain to earn some breathing room and then decided to try the pass.
George intercepted the throw, giving Hollister a first down on the Brentwood 16. The Vikings quickly had a first and goal, but once again the Falcon defense put up a wall, taking possession back on their own 3.
Following tackles by Barrientos, Tommy Ford and Matthew Rabago that pushed them back to the 1, Hollister scored the first points of the game with a safety as the Falcons quarterback fell on a bad snap in the end zone to make the score 2-0 Vikings.
The ensuing kickoff was returjdurkinned by Sanders 25 yards to the Falcons 3-yard line, but Brentwood was determined to keep the Vikings from scoring and held them at the gate until they turned the ball over on downs.
Hollister shut down the Falcons offense again, taking over the ball at the 17. The offense finally broke through as Cascio made a 10-yard run for a first and goal at the 7. Two more tough runs by Danny Perez and Ford got the ball to the 1.
From there, Bryan Noble plunged into the end zone for the game’s only touchdown with less than five minutes left.
The Falcons had two more chances, but Andrew Huaracha stepped up to make several big tackles, and Barrientos recovered a Falcon fumble to seal the win for Hollister, concluding a very successful year for the Mighty Mite team.
Junior Pee Wee
Hollister 27, Pacifica 0
Hollister’s defense continued to be the talk of the league, posting its seventh shutout of the season.
Hollister scored the only points it would need on the first play from scrimmage as Mikey Koroluk ran 51 yards to paydirt, breaking several tackles. Cody Cameron added the extra point run.
After Alex Huaracha made a tackle to snuff a Pacifica fake punt, Dylan Yamasaki made a 20-yard run to give the Vikings a first and goal, but the Tigersharks defense stepped up deny the Vikings a score.
In the second quarter Koroluk scored on an 60-yard run on a broken play. The Vikings had lined up for a punt, but an errant snap and heavy rush forced him to run. He passed 11 Tigersharks on his way to a touchdown that put Hollister up 14-0 with Yamasaki’s extra point run.
The Vikings put the game out of reach on the second half kickoff as Chris Cook returned it 72 yards for a touchdown.
When Pacifica got the ball back, Cody Freitas promptly intercepted a pass, which was followed by another great run by Cook for 25 yards on a power sweep, with Phillip Castro throwing a key lead block to spring Cook for big yardage.
Quarterback Angel Pasillas bootlegged 15 yards into the end zone on the next play and Johnny Corral added Hollister’s final point with his conversion run.
Facing elimination, the Tigersharks took to the air, but their first pass attempt was broken up by Castro. The Hollister defensive line, which played superbly all day, prevented other passes from even being thrown as they sacked the quarterback several times.
Their efforts were spearheaded by Jordan Goldstein, who made many tackles throughout the game and recovered a fumble.
The Vikings now return home for the semifinal playoff, where they will host the Delta Bay Buccaneers at 1pm Saturday at Andy Hardin Stadium.
Junior Midget
Hollister 28, Pacifica 0
Hollister’s undefeated Junior Midgets rolled into the semifinal round of the playoffs with a 28-0 shutout of Pacifica.
The Vikings scored early and often throughout the contest. They broke into the end zone when Julius Travis took a hand off from Tyler Decker, sweeping to the right into the end zone for the score. Tyler Pina converted the kick to give the Vikings an 8-0 lead.
Late in the first half, Hollister ran the two-minute drill, moving the ball inside Pacifica’s 5-yard line. With only seconds left in half, Decker hit Travis in the end zone for the score, giving them a 14-point lead.
Isaac Navarette returned the second-half kickoff to midfield and Hollister was soon on the board again.
The Vikings handed off the ball to Castro, Mikey Soto, Pina and Jacob Martin and pushed the ball inside the 20. It was Castro who got the touchdown, taking the hand off and sweeping right to paydirt. Pina added two points with the kick to make the score 22-0.
Hollister’s defense dominated all day as the defensive line of Ryan DiSalvo, Conner Stevens, Jonathan Huaracha and Darin Hopkins pressured the quarterback all day long.
Pacifica tried a different quarterback in the fourth quarter, and the pressure forced a bad throw that was intercepted by Travis and run back 40 yards for the game’s final score.
The Vikings now come home to host the Gilroy Browns in the semifinal playoff round. That game begins at 5pm Saturday at Andy Hardin Stadium.
Cheer Squads
Hollister’s cheer squads competed on Sunday at Santa Clara University at the Peninsula League cheer championships.
Three Hollister teams have qualified for the Pacific Northwest Regional championships, including the Pee Wee and Junior Midget squads, who took first place, and the Junior Pee Wees, who took second.
