Mitey Mites Division
After receiving a last minute bump from the Live Oak football field, the Morgan Hill Pop Warner Raiders and the five teams they hosted had to move to South Valley Middle School in Gilroy.
Against the Cambrian Valley Longhorns, the young football players had the chance to hit for real.
The Morgan Hill Mitey Mites won the toss and elected to receive as the Longhorns defended the South goal line. The Raiders took possession on the kick off at their 40, and two plays later found themselves with a first-and-goal at the one-yard line.
On the first play, the offensive line of Tony Silva, Dominic Maciel, Issiah Espinoza and Steven Villarreal pushed forward allowing Deric Taylor to explode through for a 14-yard gain. On the next play, quarterback Dominic Bejarano faked into the line and pitched to Tyler Lerma on a sweep to the right.
The flanker made the corner miss and was off for a 47-yard run to the Longhorns one-yard lind.
But the Raiders coughed up the ball on a fumble, which became a continuing theme throughout out the morning. The wet conditions on the playing surface contributed to the five fumbles on the day.
Once again the defense picked up the slack. After the turn over, the Longhorns had two long runs to get them out of the shadows of their own goal post.
Frankie Palmer and Tyler Lerma made tackles on the next two plays. On third-and-four, Matthew Dariano stopped a sweep at the line of scrimmage for no gain.
On a fourth-and-four, Andrew Knight and Bejarano shut the door on the Longhorns, and the Raiders got the ball back on downs.
The offense used the sweep to Lerma for a long gain into the red zone. Knight and Tyler Hill lead blocked for Taylor, who reached the two-yard line.
But a holding call brought the nice inside trap play back. Pushed back outside the 10-yard line, the Raiders used the old quarterback naked bootleg. Bejarano fooled the defense but was angled out at the one-foot line, and the Raiders were denied again.
Stellar defense by Hunter Sutton and Dariano forced the Longhorns to punt. Another Raiders fumble gave them the ball back. The defense held again with swarming play of Johnny Ruiz and forced another punt. The Raiders were forced to punt on their next possession.
Palmer made a great head-on-stick play on the punt that got oohs and ahhs from the sideline.
A questionable face mask penalty set up the Longhorns, but the half expired before they could capitalize on the good field position.
Special teams standout Lorenzo Aguayo made the hard hit tackle on the second half kick off. Aguayo also fielded a kick off late in the game. When the Raiders got their chance in the second half, they wasted no time in cashing in.
Second half quarterback Jerry Jacob made his first regular season debut. Deric Taylor took a hand off from Jacobs and scored on a trap play that covered nearly 50 yards.
Late in the half, Jacobs also ran the successful bootleg for a nice gain. The game ended with both teams scurrying to complete their mandatory minimum play requirements as the official score board clock was not operating for most of the contest.
Junior Pee Wee Division
Morgan Hill Black
The Morgan Hill Junior Pee Wee Black team defeated the Cambrian Valley Longhorn 19-0 Sunday
Julius Travis scored all three touchdowns for Morgan Hill. Christian McCrimon’s 38-yard punt return set up the first score – a two-yard scamper. Travis also ran the ball in on the play.
Travis recorded the second score on a 12-yard run after a 45-yard drive.
The Raiders marched down the field, going 90 yards on the final drive. Zachary Vaiana found Travis, who made a nice run after the catch, for a 60-yard touchdown. Vaiana also completed a 12-yard pass to Derek Hoekstra in the game.
The Morgan Hill defense had a good day led by Julio Aguayo (5 stops), Dereck Hoekstra (3 stops), Zachary Vaiana (3 stops), Michael Della Maggiore (3 stops), Richie Martinez (2 stops) and Ben Torricer (3 stops and an interception).
Morgan Hill Silver
The Morgan Hill Junior Pee Wee Silver team battled to a 0-0 tie in Los Gatos despite marching down the field and getting to the the three-yard line in the third quarter.
The Morgan Hill defense came up big, not allowing Los Gatos to get past the Morgan Hill 35-yard line.
Tailback Ricky Clift had 75 yards rushing on eight carries. The other tail back and quarterback Brian Celestino had 55 yards on six caries. Fullback Ryan Riggins had 16 yards on four caries. Fullback Darryn Dias had 15 yards on three caries. Quarterback Rhett Ramirez gained 22 yards on four caries. Dylan Glines had one three-yard carry.
The leading tackler on defense was Ramirez with seven tackles and a knocked down a pass. Cornerback Celestino had five tackles, knocked down one and intercepted a pass. Free safety Alec Mainland made four tackles, knocked down a pair of passes and came up with an interception.
Jonathan Molina had three tackles and a sack. Outside linebackers Brett Jackson and Jacob Martin had three tackles each.
Patrick Hanne, Ryan Claire and Danny Galli also had three tackles apiece. Glines, at defensive back, had two tackles.
Pee Wee Division
The Morgan Hill Pee Wee Raiders defeated the Cambrian Valley Longhorns 21-6 in the weekend jamboree.
Neither team scored in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Brandon Gustin made a long pass to James Hamblin to setup Jon Stenshoel’s touchdown run. Also in the second quarter, Jeff Roberts had a nice run.
Jack Bourgeois hulled in a long catch. And Michael Singleton ran it in for the touchdown and also converted the point after.
Defesively, Hamblin came up with the Raiders only interception. Bourgeois took a nice handoff and ran for 40 yards, the longest run of the game.
Cody Coleman had a handoff to Jordan Maciel for a good run just short of the first down, just short of a first down.
On another play, Hamblin gained 15 yards on a sweep reverse from from Roberts. Singleton ran in for a 25-yard touchdown and also ran the extra point. Cambrian scored its only touchdown in the fourth quarter after an interception.
Jr. Midget Division
Cambrian Valley shutout Morgan Hill 33-0.
The Morgan Hill squad, which features 13 rookies, used the game as a chance to see what it needs to improve on. The defense was led by the strong tackling of Billy Van Aken. Tony Travis, who had had a couple sacks, had a good running game.
Michael Dariano carried the ball well. Eric Levell, in his first time at quarterback, had a good performance.
The offensive line of Tim Cavanugh, Tim DeCarlo and center Joel Rueda consistantly muscled up.
Midget Division
The Morgan Hill Midgets lost 28-8 to Cambrien Valley.
Because of the unavailability of the football field, the Pop Warner teams will play next week again at South Valley Middle School.
