Game-ending field goal ices Jr. Midgets
Special to the Free Lance
The conventional wisdom in football is that offense wins games but defense wins championships. That time-tested wisdom proved itself throughout the Peninsula Pop Warner championship games this weekend, including the two involving Hollister teams.
The Junior Pee Wees, who only allowed three scores all year, registered their third consecutive postseason shutout to win a league championship and a shot at a national title.
The Junior Midgets, who scored far more points than any other Division II team this year, finally met a team that could shut down their offense, and were defeated despite giving up only nine points to a team whose offense was second only to their own.
Junior Pee Wees:
Hollister 8,
Menlo-Atherton 0
In a rematch of their Week 5 contest, the undefeated Junior Pee Wees made it eleven wins in a row, with nine of those being shutouts.
As has happened so often this year, the Vikings defense bent, but never broke, allowing some yardage, but never allowing their opponent to score.
The Vikings set the tone for the game when Menlo-Atherton took the opening kickoff, as they allowed M-A several first downs, but Angel Pasillas and Cody Cameron made a critical stop on fourth down to take the ball back at the Hollister 26.
Knowing that Menlo-Atherton was also tough against the run, the Vikings decided to strike through the air first, and the play worked to perfection as quarterback Pasillas hit Chris Cook for a 26-yard gain. Cook took a power sweep for 12 more yards, but a big sack stopped that drive, and Menlo took over on their own 30.
Two good runs later, M-A was on the Hollister 30, but the defense put up a wall, and when Menlo tried to sweep around it on fourth down, safety Mikey Koroluk made the tackle short of a first down.
Again the Vikings decided to throw over the Menlo defense, and this time it was Cameron catching a strike from Pasillas and racing 40 yards downfield deep into M-A territory. Moments later, Koroluk found Cody Freitas in the end zone on a halfback option play to put six points on the board. Koroluk also added a two-point conversion kick to give the Vikings all the points that they would need to win.
Menlo got a big return on the ensuing kickoff, setting up shop on the Hollister 41. Several good runs brought them to the Vikings 11, and it looked as if they would finally break Hollister’s scoreless streak. But the Vikings did what they have done all year long when their back was against the wall, forcing a turnover as Koroluk intercepted a pass, which he ran back for 40 yards to end the first half.
With points on the board, and the passing game established, Hollister tried to run, but found Menlo unwilling to give any ground.
A great Menlo punt return gave them a short field for their first drive of the second half, but tackles by Cook and Cameron gave Hollister the ball back on their 31.
Once again the M-A defense forced the Vikings three and out, and again Menlo returned the punt to start in Hollister territory. Now Menlo tried to pass as well, but Tyler Fhurong got between the ball and the receiver, breaking up the play.
On fourth down, Menlo tried the double-reverse, but Junior Munguia pursued the play aggressively, tackling the M-A ballcarrier for a huge loss.
On Hollister’s next series, quarterback Fhurong ran for the Vikings first first down in the second half, but Menlo forced them to punt again four plays later.
With a tiring Hollister defense on the field for most of the second half, Menlo began a slow steady drive from their own 22 yard line, using up much of the quarter with short consistent bursts from their running backs, finally reaching the Hollister 21. But the Vikings found just enough strength to stop them one more time as a big tackle by Cook on third down forced a fourth-and-8.
Menlo decided to pass and the quarterback was forced out of the pocket by two Hollister defenders. He found an open receiver, but Fhurong once again jumped in front of the target to break up the play, preserving the Vikings league championship as well as their sixth consecutive shutout.
Junior Midgets: Sunnyvale 9, Hollister 6
It was clearly the battle of the league’s two best teams as Hollister brought their irresistible, top-ranked offense against Sunnyvale’s immovable, top-ranked defense, which had only allowed two teams to score on it all year long.
The Vikings felt confident though, because their defense had also matched Sunnyvale’s tenacity, especially in the playoffs where no opponent had scored on either team.
Furthermore, this team had been in many big games before and had won almost all of them. Most of the players on this year’s Junior Midget team came up from last year’s Pee Wees, who won the league and the Pacific Northwest Region and were national runner-ups.
Conversely, it had been four years since Sunnyvale last sent a team to a league championship game. From the opening kickoff, it was evident that the game would be a tight defensive struggle, and that the punters would see a lot of work.
Hollister’s defense was the first to put the clamps on, forcing the Micros three-and-out as Jonathan Huaracha made a big tackle on a third-down play.
When the Vikings got the ball, Julius Travis burst around end for a 20-yard gain, and Hollister fans erupted as they anticipated another offensive explosion from their team. But a big loss stalled that drive and forced a Viking punt.
Sunnyvale went three-and-out thanks to a sack by Travis, and Hollister began a long drive downfield. But Sunnyvale put up a wall on the 11-yard line and prevented a Vikings score.
After the teams traded punts several more times, Hollister fumbled a punt on their own 40 with 1:34 remaining in the half. It shouldn’t have mattered, because the Micros had little time to capitalize, but a deep ball from the Sunnyvale quarterback found its way into the arms of an open receiver, and suddenly the Microrockets had a 6-0 lead.
Hollister’s defense redoubled its efforts in the second half as Tyler Pina played like a man on fire, and Mark Neal, playing left linebacker in the place of injured Adrian Soto, shut down the Micros strong side running attack with several tackles.
Ryan DiSalvo and Conner Stevens found their way into the Microrockets backfield to wreak havoc on running plays and supply constant pressure on passing downs. Finally Stevens blocked a Sunnyvale punt, giving Hollister the break that it needed.
With a short field to work with, quarterback Tyler Decker fired a strike to wide receiver Isaac Navarette, which he hauled in at the 20.
Neal swept around the left side for a 12-yard pickup, and Nathan Castro burst into the end zone on the next play, tying the score at six apiece with twelve minutes to play.
Both defenses dug in their heels, hoping to prevent a big play that would defeat them. Neither team could gain much ground until Sunnyvale took the ball with four minutes remaining, and drove straight ahead with a consistent, pounding inside running attack against Hollister’s tiring defense. The Micros got inside the 10 with a minute remaining, but a big hit by Jared Lantis forced a fourth-and-goal on the 10.
Rather than throw into the teeth of the Viking defense, the Sunnyvale coach sent in his kicker to attempt a 27-yard field goal with 14n seconds remaining.
Head coach Larry Murphy called a Hollister time out, hoping to ice the kicker. When play finally resumed, the Micros iced Hollister’s national championship dreams as Tyler Bond’s field goal split the uprights to give Sunnyvale a 9-6 victory.
For the Junior Midget Vikings, it was a heartbreaking defeat as they had hoped to get back into the national tournament this year and had every reason to believe that they would do so based on their year-long performance. But coach Murphy and his team can take pride in the fact that they were consistent winners for the past four seasons, winning more games and league championships than Hollister has ever had from one group of players.
This was essentially the same team that won a Junior Pee Wee league championship in 2003, lost only twice playing a tough Division I schedule as Pee Wees in 2004, won league and regional titles in 2005, finishing second in the nation, and went undefeated in league play in 2006. No other team has been as dominant in Pop Warner play over that length of time.
Some of these players may have a season or two of Pop Warner ball ahead of them yet while others will head to the high school next year. No matter when they arrive, the Balers can be assured of having a steady influx of well-trained players over the next several years who have gotten used to competing at a championship level, and will settle for nothing less.
Up Next
For the Junior Pee Wees, a new journey begins as they will now play the best teams from all over the Western United States. A win this Saturday over the Alaska champs would earn them a berth in the regional championship game on November 26th. A win in that game would send the Junior Pee Wees to Florida to compete for a national title, following in the footsteps of their older brothers.
The start time for this Saturday’s game is tentatively set for 1pm at Townsend Field in Santa Clara. For updated information, and ways to support the team, log on to Hollister Pop Warner’s website at www.eteamz.com/ HollisterPopWarner.
