Three of Hollister Pop Warner Youth Football teams held their
opponents scoreless, registering two wins in the process as the
regular season got under way at Andy Hardin Field Saturday.
Three of Hollister Pop Warner Youth Football teams held their opponents scoreless, registering two wins in the process as the regular season got under way at Andy Hardin Field Saturday.
Pee Wees –
Vikings 26, Daly City 0
The Vikings dominated the Daly City Titans in everconceivable way, recovering four fumbles, intercepting a pass, and moving the ball well all day long.
On Daly City’s first possession, they were forced to punt. Evan McFadden hit the punt returner hard, forcing a fumble that Zachary Headley recovered. On Daly City’s next possession, they were also forced to punt. This time, Michael Murphy rushed the punter and forced a fumble, recovering the ball himself.
On the next play, Evan McFadden carried the ball eleven yards for Hollister’s first score. Murphy added a 2-point kick conversion to make it 8-0 Hollister. Before the first quarter ended, the Titans had fumbled again, and this time, it was Taylor Green pouncing on the ball.
A few plays later, Viking quarterback Trevor Fabing called his own number and bootlegged 20 yards into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.
Daly City still could not hold onto the ball, and Ryan Shorey pounced on yet another fumble, setting up a 20-yard run by Isaiah Hernandez to put Hollister up 20-0.
The Vikings managed an insurance touchdown in the second half on a spectacular punt return in which McFadden returned the ball 18 yards, then lateraled it to teammate Brandon Pina, who broke four tackles in running the last 23 yards into the end zone for Hollister.
Jr. Pee Wees – Vikings 28, Daly City Titans 0
It was hard to tell the difference between the Pee Wee and Jr. Pee Wee games as the JPW’s were victorious in the same fashion.
Jon Huaracha, Tyler Pina, Isaak Ramos and Conner Stevens were key contributors to a swarming defense which kept Daly City moving backwards all game.
Adrian Soto set up Hollister’s first score, running 20 yards to the one-yard line, then carried the ball in himself two plays later.
Mark Neal started the second TD drive with several good runs, but the touchdown was scored on a flawlessly executed flea-flicker play.
Quarterback Joshua Greenwood pitched it back to Adrian Soto, then caught a pass from Soto for the 16-yard score. Greenwood added a conversion point by passing to Jared Lantis in the end zone.
Just before halftime, Hollister scored again on a short punt return. Backfield tackles by Pina, Andre Cornell and Tyler Decker had pushed the Titans almost to their end zone. The short punt was returned 21 yards by Cornell for another Viking score as the half ended.
The Vikings started where they left off in the second half. After the defense recovered a fumble, Nathan Castro and Justin Raine ripped off runs of 17-yards each, setting up a 12-yard TD dash by Cornell. Greenwood completed another pass for the conversion, this time to Roman Reyes, and the Vikings led 26-0.
The Vikings scored two points when Huaracha, Ramos and Pina pounced on the Titan quarterback in the end zone for a safety, the final tally in the Vikings 28-0 romp.
Junior Midget Vikings 0,
Daly City Titans 0
The Junior Midget Vikings registered Hollister’s third consecutive shutout of the day, but this time there was a difference. Daly City’s defense proved to be the Vikings match, and returned the favor as the game ended in a scoreless tie.
Austin Schmidt began the game with a 40-yard punt return for the Vikings, but the play was called back by a penalty, a bellwether for the futility both teams would experience in their struggle to move the ball in this game.
Defensive heroes abounded for Hollister, as Brandon Gomes, Bobby Dennehy, Michael Brigantino, Devin Quintana and Robby Sanchez all had big games.
Quintana recovered the Titans only fumble. Ryan Wiltse and Jonathan Rudolfs made, perhaps, the biggest defensive play by sacking the Daly City punter for a 23-yard loss.
In the fourth quarter, Daly City threatened to score several times, but the Vikings turned them away in dramatic fashion. With a few minutes left, Herman Valderrama broke up a pass play to end one Titan drive, but the Titans were knocking on the door again with little time remaining on the clock. With one minute left, the Titans had third down and goal on the Vikings five. David De Mateo and Ryan Whiteside keyed on the quarterback, and threw him for losses two plays in a row to preserve the tie.
Midget – Daly City 19, Hollister Cowboys 0
The Cowboys defense played quite well, in fact only once all day was Daly City able to mount a sustained drive, which did not even result in a score.
The Cowboys George Luna and Anthony Flores made themselves fixtures in the Daly City backfield all day long, and Flores proved to have a nose for the ball, recovering three fumbles. He also starred on special teams, returning one punt 25 yards, and recording a touchdown-saving tackle on a Daly City punt return. Nathan Hopkins and David De la Cruz shut down the Titans passing attack, and each broke up passes in the end zone to stop Daly City drives. Abel Jacquez picked off one Titan aerial.
The Mitey Mite Vikings also hosted Daly City and played quite well. Trevor Tresch made the game’s first big play for Hollister, returning a short kick fifteen yards to set his team up in great field position, and he also made the last one, with a saving tackle at the end of the game to stop a Daly City drive. In between, Taylor Dukes, Mark Ponte, Eddie Munoz and Marcus Sabatte each recovered fumbles, and also made big tackles all day long. Esteban Villanueva and Evan Roascio were also defensive standouts for the Vikings.
The Vikings play at home again this Saturday. Their opponent will be Cambrian Valley, with games starting at 11 a.m.
