The Hollister Pop Warner teams wrapped up their final regular
season game last Saturday, as they hosted the Delta Bay
Buccaneers.
By Kitina Martin Special to the Free Lance
HOLLISTER
The Hollister Pop Warner teams wrapped up their final regular season game last Saturday, as they hosted the Delta Bay Buccaneers.
The Junior Pee Wees, however, advanced as the No. 1-seed this Saturday, and will compete against No. 8-seed Cambrian Valley at Branham High School at 9 a.m.
The Tiny Mites played strong, while the Mitey Mites battled the Bucs to a tie.
Summaries for the Pee Wees, the Junior Midgets and the Midgets will appear in Thursday’s edition of the Hollister Free Lance.
Tiny Mites
Hollister vs. Delta Bay
On Saturday, the Hollister Tiny Mites ended their season with a mini bowl of their own. The Tiny Mites faced off against Oak Grove from the North and the Delta Bay Buccaneers from the Northeast. Once again the Tiny Mites showed up to play Viking football.
Antonio Caro had his sights on the end zone more than one time, and Brody Cascio was also able to run the football down the field, leaving the defense grabbing for air. Big defensive plays by Justin Hawthorne, Markie Martinez and Kane Dealba stopped both the Buccaneers and Oak Grove offensive drives.
Caden Fhurong, Andrew Flores, Nate Sanchez, Gabriel Hernandez, Matthew Hernandez, Bobby Viramontes, Nathan Parra, Jadyn Castro, Nik Thomas, Jonathan Ramos, Elias Mullen, Caden Bolding, Markie Martinez, Matthew Trimble, Andrew Casarez, Ethan Mendoza, Andrew Davila and Isaiah Saldana all stepped onto the field and played their hearts out ending their season on a positive note. The Hollister Vikings are proud of their smallest football players and look forward to next season.
Mitey Mites
Hollister 6, Delta Bay 6
On Saturday, the Hollister Mighty Mites ended their final regular season in a tie with the Delta Bay Buccaneers 6-6.
The Buccaneers proved to be worthy opponents against the Vikings as they too came into the game with a record of 6-0-1. As the game began, it was evident that both teams were looking for a final win in regular season play.
The Vikings came out strong against Delta Bay, as the defense, led by Aaron Tobia, held tight for much of the first quarter. Tristan Wahl, Daniel Hopkins, Kyle Cameron and Nick Trimble all contributed to a solid defense. With just seconds left in the first quarter, however, the Buccaneers completed a drive into the end zone and put themselves ahead of the Vikings 6-0.
As Hollister headed into the second quarter, the offense began to move the ball well. Carries by Danny Perez and Trimble, as well as effective blocking by Sam Olguin, Keegan Mottau, Dawson Garcia and Cobi Armstrong, created positive gains in Hollister’s favor. The Delta Bay defense, however, was unrelenting, leaving Hollister scoreless going into the half.
Upon returning from halftime, both teams came back with renewed energy. Tobia made several good carries, including a 25-yard run. With support from linemen Dyllan Greig, Colby Noble, Jonathan Mendoza and Jay Martinez, it seemed that Hollister would score but they were once again denied by the Buccaneer defense. The Viking defense too was holding their ground, as Zack Mata, Nathan Fhurong and Tobia all came up big in holding back the advancing Buccaneers.
As the Vikings entered into the final quarter of the game, the energy was focused on making that elusive first touchdown. Once again, Hollister made positive gains with carries by Justin Sanders, Hopkins and Tobia. On a fourth down, Dominic Barrios carried the ball toward the end zone, but again the Vikings came up short by mere feet. Repeatedly, the Vikings pushed towards their end zone only to be held back by Delta Bay. With less than two minutes of play remaining, Hollister finally got the opening they were looking for. Tobia broke through the Buccaneer defense and put Hollister on the board. While the Buccaneers made a final attempt at scoring, defensive plays by Clay Schwall, Danny Perez and Sanders shut the Bucs down leaving the score tied 6-6.
Junior Pee Wees
Hollister 28, Delta Bay 0
Unbeatable? Perhaps.
Driven? Evidently.
Motivated? They appear to be.
Undefeated? Definitely.
All of these words describe the Vikings as they take the field week after week, leaving opponents in their path of well-played and well-executed football.
The Junior Pee Wees also faced their opponents to the northeast, the Buccaneers, but the Bucs appeared to be no match for the Vikings. To start the game, Cody Freitas ran the ball 50 yards on the kickoff to give Hollister excellent field position. On a pass from Tyler Fhurong, Freitas scored the first touchdown of the game, putting the Vikings on top 6-0.
The Buccaneers then tried to put something together on offense, but with Hollister having a No. 1 rated defense, the Bucs were not able to put an offensive drive together. On the Bucs’ first offensive play of the game, Joshua George sacked the Bucs’ quarterback. The Vikings got the ball back, and Chris “Cookie” Cook ran the ball 22 yards for the end zone to put the Vikings up 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Vikings offense had the ball the majority of the game thanks to the defensive efforts of Russell Enz, Cook, Ezzie Lovato and Jonathan Sanchez. Nine seconds into the second quarter, Austin Cascio ran the ball seven yards for the end zone, putting Hollister up 19-0.
Kyle George, Joshua George and Bryan Noble all ran the ball for positive yardage. Matthew Rabago, Brady Robles, Evan Weatherly, Saige Freitas and Donavan Mahler were all part of the Vikings against the Bucs. With 2:50 left to go in the first half, Fhurong, on a reverse, ran 24 yards for Hollister’s fourth touchdown of the game, putting the Vikings on top of the Bucs 25-0 to end the half.
The Vikings came out strong in the second half as well, but should the fans have expected anything different? Marc Martindelcampo tackled the Bucs’ ball carrier in the backfield to force a turnover on downs. The Bucs could not rattle Jose Bustillos, Enrique Rodriguez, Manuel Zuniga, James Sanchez, Joseph Horn and Marcus Flores.
,The third quarter was scoreless, but in the fourth quarter, Cook ran the ball for 30 yards, setting up a 20-yard field goal attempt. Fhurong split the uprights to give the Vikings a 28-0 victory over the Delta Bay Buccaneers.
The Vikings secured a playoff berth, and are a 1-seed in their division. As it sits right now, the Vikings are scheduled to play No. 8 Cambrian Valley at Branham High School this Saturday at 9 a.m.
