East Bay, Oak Grove prevail in title contests against Hollister
teams
SAN JOSE
After a long and exciting run, the Hollister Pee Wee and Junior Midget teams finally lost on Saturday, ending the teams’ hopes to play for a national championship.
Nevertheless, it was a tremendous accomplishment, as it was the first time that Hollister has ever sent two teams to the league championship at the Division I level.
Both teams still have one more game left as there is a traditional runner-up bowl game between the league’s runner-up and the Golden Gate runner-up to determine the third best team in the Northern California region.
Junior Midget
Oak Grove Renegades 34, Hollister Vikings 18
In the league championship game on Saturday, which pitted No. 3 Hollister versus top-seeded Oak Grove, the Vikings came up short in the second half and fell to the Renegades, 34-18.
“It was a tough game. We played well, but we couldn’t contain their speed, and in the second half they just pounded us,” head coach Eddie Tobia said. “We had a great season, and to even make it to the league championship game in Division I is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our players and coaches. We certainly went a lot farther than most people thought we would.”
“We knew from the scrimmage that Oak Grove South was going to be tough,” offensive coordinator Rick Dukes added. “They’ve got some athletes, and they’re really fast. Our guys hadn’t seen speed like that in any of our previous games.”
The game started off well for the Vikings, which began on their own 48-yard line and dazzled the crowd with a double pass for 46 yards on the second play of the game. Quarterback Austin Wahl took the snap and threw the ball back to wingback Angel Pasillas, who then threw the ball downfield to tight end Damon Perez.
“I told the guys that play would work,” Dukes said. “I would have called it on the first play, but we were on a hash. Once we were in the center of the field, we could do it. It’s nice to know something is there and then see your guys execute it so well.”
The double pass play put the ball on the 2-yard line. After two attempts to run the ball in with no success, Wahl went to the right on a rollout pass and opted to run the ball across the goal line for a touchdown. The point-after attempt was blocked, and the Vikings led 6-0.
Oak Grove and Hollister both exchanged punts, and then Oak Grove began a long drive from their own 30-yard line. It ended deep in Viking territory when Pasillas intercepted a pass and Hollister took over on their own 36-yard line.
On fourth-and-five, the Vikings again did a trick play with a fake punt that resulted in a 39-yard pass play from Wahl to fullback Zack Hicks. Wahl then hit Perez on a 10-yard pass to put the ball on the Oak Grove 10-yard line. After two rushing plays for small gains and one broken play, Hollister attempted a field goal. The kick went off the left upright, keeping the score at 6-0.
The Viking defense thwarted Oak Grove’s offense again, and the Vikings began their second scoring drive on the Oak Grove 40-yard line. The crucial moment in the drive came on a fourth-and-two play, when on an option run, Wahl broke several tackles as he skirted the left sideline for 30 yards. Fullback Damien Botelho scored on the next play with a two-yard run up the middle to put the Vikings ahead 12-0. The point-after attempt was unsuccessful as it hit the left upright.
Oak Grove responded with a drive of its own, scoring on a 35-yard run with 1:08 left in the first half. Their point-after attempt was good, putting the score at 12-8.
“It was an exciting first half,” coach Derek Speights said. “It was fun to watch the guys do what they know how to do. We really clicked. But I have to give credit to Oak Grove for not giving up and coming out blazing.”
In the second half, it was all Oak Grove. They scored on every possession save the last one with just a minute left in the game.
“They didn’t do anything special,” defensive coordinator Mike Hicks said. “We knew what they were going to do, and they did it. They just were too fast and we couldn’t keep up.”
The Vikings did have one scoring drive in the second half. Hollister recovered the onside kick by Oak Grove on its own 49-yard line. Wahl completed three straight passes to Hicks, Pasillas, and another to Hicks, putting the pass on the 13-yard line. Wahl then could find no one open in the end zone and elected to run it in himself for the touchdown. However, the point-after attempt went wide right, leaving the Vikings down 10 with just four minutes to play.
“We kicked well all season long,” said assistant coach Radar Canes, who was quite a formidable kicker back in his playing days. “We hardly ever missed, and our kickers helped us win games. And then to miss all of our kicks tonight of all nights … and we have two kickers, and they both missed. It’s like our kickers’ legs were jinxed!”
The Vikings had only 66 rushing yards in the game, but racked up their most passing yardage all season with 151 yards in the air.
“For many of these kids, it’s their last Pop Warner (game) ever,” Tobia said. “There were a lot of tears after the game, but I told them to hold their heads up high. We’re proud of them, and the community is proud of them. We took a bunch of individuals and made them into a team, and not just any team but a team that knows what it takes to win. That’s something to be very proud of.”
“I’ve coached football for over 20 years,” Dukes said, “and it’s always exciting to play in the playoffs. This is a special group of young men and I had a lot of fun working with them this season. They improved so much over the course of the season, and they did it only practicing six hours a week, which is much less than you do in high school. I’m very proud of them and hope they keep playing next year, either here or in high school.”
“It’s a tough way to lose, but that’s the nature of sports,” commented coach Lionel Munguia. “At least we’ll have one more chance to end the season with a victory.”
The Vikings will play in a consolation bowl game next Saturday against Vacaville to determine third and fourth place in the region.
Pee Wee
East Bay Wolfpack 18, Hollister Vikings 0
It was the championship game match-up that was expected all year.
The Hollister Viking Pee Wees, playing their first season in Division I but returning a number of players from last season’s Division II Junior Pee Wee national championship team, versus East Bay East, which hadn’t lost all season – including a victory over Hollister earlier in the year.
Hollister battled valiantly all game, but eventually lost 18-0.
No team had gotten close to East Bay all year, but the Vikings – 8-1 on the season – didn’t back down at Woodside High School on Saturday. Hollister went three-and-out on its first possession but got the ball back when Josh George recovered a fumble on East Bay’s first play from scrimmage.
The two teams traded punts before quarterback Tyler Fhurong hit Andrew Breen on a five-yard pass play. On third down, a Fhurong keeper set up fourth-and-short, a yard that Dylan Yamasaki gained to keep the drive alive as the first quarter ended with no score.
East Bay’s defense tightened however, as they got the ball back on an interception. Hollister’s Kenny Lee, Philip Castro, Jordan Goldstein, Brandon Olivares, Tyler Biersdorff, Cody Freitas and Chris Cook all had tackles on the ensuring drive, but East Bay scored on a short run to take a 6-0 lead with just over five minutes left in the half.
The Vikings marched the ball downfield after the kickoff, with Yamasaki gaining 21 yards on three consecutive carries. A 15-yard run from Cook was followed by three short gains and a penalty, which set up fourth-and-long. Fhurong completed a pass to Freitas that came up short of the first down, and East Bay got the ball back on downs with under a minute left in the half.
Freitas, Goldstein, Enrique Rodriguez and George all had tackles to stall East Bay’s drive as the half ended with a 6-0 score.
East Bay came out strong in the second half, breaking off a 67-yard touchdown run on its first play. Freitas blocked the extra point attempt to put the score at 12-0.
Hollister punted on its first drive of the half then played more tough defense as tackles from Freitas and Goldstein set up fourth-and-13. The Vikings’ rush forced the East Bay punter to scramble and Goldstein stopped him for a turnover on downs. Any hope for momentum was quickly dashed, however, when a fumbled snap was recovered by East Bay, which scored its final touchdown on a 43-yard reverse play.
The Vikings kept battling in the final quarter, but only had one possession in the final 10 minutes. Hollister’s season may not be over, however, as the Vikings received an invitation to play in a bowl game this coming weekend.
Those interested in attending this weekend’s invitational games should check the Hollister Web site for final details.
The Hollister Vikings also want to remind the community that early registration is still open to all players and cheerleaders for the 2009 season, but it ends this Friday, Nov. 21. Those who are interested may download the form from their Web site, and mail it into the organization. The Hollister Pop Warner Web site is: http://www.eteamz.com/HollisterPopWarner/
