Having already won a league championship, the Hollister Pop
Warner Pee Wee Vikings moved one step closer to the National
Championship after defeating their first-round opponent
– the previously undefeated Anchorage Buccaneers.
Having already won a league championship, the Hollister Pop Warner Pee Wee Vikings moved one step closer to the National Championship after defeating their first-round opponent – the previously undefeated Anchorage Buccaneers.
Hollister will be playing for the Pacific Northwest Region championship this weekend. They kickoff on Saturday at 11am at Townsend Field in Santa Clara. Their opponents will be the Carson City (Nevada) Senators. A win in that contest would send them to Florida to compete for the national title.
The Vikings found themselves down early against Anchorage but rallied late in the game after an interception to win 8-6.
The first quarter set the tone for the game. The Bucs defense, which had allowed just six points all season, established control early, forcing the Vikings to go three and out several times.
Viking ballcarriers had a difficult time finding holes to run through against the Bucs pursuing and blitzing defense.
Diligent player preparation and productive game plans crafted by the coaching staff enabled the Vikings pulled off the win. Special teams play was a decisive factor throughout the game as punter Jared Lantis delivered punts up to 40 yards long putting the ball deep in the Bucs territory to gain an advantage in the field position battle.
But Anchorage got a long run at the end of the first quarter, which set up a short touchdown plunge to put the Buccaneers up 6-0. But in a play that would help decide the game, their conversion kick was blocked by Tyler Decker.
Outstanding defensive play by Adrian Soto, Ryan Disalvo, Justin Raine and notably Junior Davila prevented any additional damage in the first half. In the second quarter, the Vikings won the pass defense battle. Soto, Tyler Pina, Raine and Lantis had several solo tackles, stopping the Bucs at all angles.
Cornerback Isaac Navarette picked off a pass, killing a Bucs drive and set up the Vikings offense for what would be the game-winning scoring drive.
Following a 30-yard pass play from Decker to Raine, and an 8-yard first down run by Raine, Davila took a handoff from Decker to the right side, breaking a tackle and raced 22 yards to tie the score at 6-6.
Pina came on and kicked the two-point conversion to bring the large crowd of Hollister fans to its feet. In the second half with the Vikings ahead, the defensive and special team players came up big.
The Vikings kick off to the Bucs resulted in fumble recovered by Isaac Navarette. The Bucs defense held and the Vikings had to punt the ball back.
Anchorage had another chance but couldn’t get by the aggressive Viking defensive line. Huaracha, Raine, Soto, Israel Lovato, Sebastian Valencia, Isaac Munoz and Disalvo plugged running lanes and stopped any inside running game while disrupting outside attempts by relentless pursuit of the tailbacks and quarterback from the ends. The Bucs punted the ball once again.
In the fourth quarter, the Vikings defense stopped three drives. Davila recovered a fumble after a huge hit by DiSalvo on an Anchorage runner.
But with less than thee minutes remaining, the Anchorage defense rose to the occasion, pushing the Vikings back to improve their field position. Once again Lantis came in a booted a 40-yard punt to give the defense some breathing space. It again appeared that the Vikings had victory in hand when Mikey Soto intercepted an Anchorage pass and returned it to the 21-yard line.
But once again the Buccaneers defense rose to the occasion, pushing Hollister back again to force a final punt by the Vikings. With time running out, the Bucs quarterback threw three incomplete passes, nearly connecting down the middle on a deep ball that would have been a certain touchdown.
On fourth down and less than a minute left, the Bucs ran a sweep to the left but the runner was stopped by Davila and Lantis in the back field.
