On a warm Tuesday morning, both the Hollister Vikings and the
Orange Park Cyclones had their hearts set on advancing to Friday’s
championship game at the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
Kitina Martin – Special to the free lance
Orlando, Fla
On a warm Tuesday morning, both the Hollister Vikings and the Orange Park Cyclones had their hearts set on advancing to Friday’s championship game at the Pop Warner Super Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
However, only one team would get the chance in a lifetime and it happened to be the team from a small town just south of San Jose.
The Viking Junior Pee Wees triumphed in their opening game Tuesday, defeating the Cyclones 14-6 at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
Hollister will advance to Friday’s national championship game at 9 a.m., against the Fairfield Giants of Connecticut, who defeated their opening-round opponent, the Belmont Red Raiders of North Carolina, 25-6.
Just one year removed from their opening-game loss in the Pop Warner Super Bowl, the Vikings Tuesday had butterflies in their stomachs, as they did not want to relive last year’s experience again.
On their second possession of the game, Vikings quarterback Tyler Fhurong handed the ball off to Chris Cook, who ran 42 yards for the end zone and put Hollister up 6-0.
But the game proved to be a defensive battle, with Hollister going four-and-out several times and Orange Park doing the same.
In fact in the second quarter, Hollister had some big defensive plays. The Cyclones were driving toward Viking territory, but Austin Cascio had a big tackle to bring up third-and-eight for the Cyclones. On the very next play, Andrew Huaracha stopped the ball carrier from reaching the line of scrimmage to bring up fourth-and-eight, as well as a Cyclone punt.
Cody Freitas was back to receive the ensuing punt and Hollister’s offense took the field on their own 45-yard line. Isaias Perez and Isaiah Caudillo ran the ball for Hollister, gaining some tough yardage, but the Vikings had to punt the ball once again. Now punting, Fhurong kicked a 25-yard punt to bring the Viking defense on the field.
With Cook, Freitas, Dustin Borba, Joshua George and Matthew Rabago on defense, the Cyclones were not able to advance the ball. But with less than two minutes to go in the first half, on a flea-flicker toss, the Cyclones were able to get past the Hollister defense and tied the game 6-6.
The back-and-forth third quarter was a defensive battle as well, and neither team was able to break the 6-6 tie. The fourth quarter, though, was Hollister’s last chance to put points on the board, but the offense would have to wait.
Freitas punted 50 yards and Cook nailed the ball carrier on the Cyclones’ 25-yard line, leaving the Orange Park 75 yards for the end zone. Kenny Lee had a big tackle to bring up second-and-eight, Phillip Castro and Freitas teamed up for a stop to bring up third-and-five, and Enrique Rodriguez tackled the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage to bring up fourth-and-eight, forcing the Cyclones to punt the ball.
After a bad punt, the Hollister offense took over on the Cyclones’ 39-yard line. Fhurong completed two consecutive passes to George that equaled two first downs for Hollister, and the Viking offense appeared to be wearing down the Cyclones’ defense.
With 2:14 to go in the game, Fhurong, dodging in and out and leaping over defenders, was able to run for the end zone to put Hollister on top 12-6. The quarterback Fhurong then split the uprights to put the Vikings up 14-6, and sent a bleacher-filled Hollister crowd into a frenzy.
The Cyclones took the field one last time, but after two completed passes for first downs, Cook intercepted the next pass to seal the fate of the Cyclones.
The Hollister Vikings have been gracing the Pop Warner Super Bowl with their presence since 2000, when the Pee Wee football team won the national championship.
Since 2000, Hollister has sent both cheer and football teams to Florida, including the national runner-up Pee Wee football team in 2005, and the third-place Junior Pee Wees in 2006. The Pee Wee Cheer team placed fifth in 2006 and both the Junior Pee Wee and Pee Wee Cheer teams are competing in Orlando this year as well.
