Jr. Pee Wees Stay perfect
With only two games left in the regular season, Morgan Hill’s Jr. Pee Wee Raiders looked to keep their perfect season alive as they hosted the Pacifica Tiger Sharks Saturday at Britton Field.
The Sharks tried to take a bite out of the Raiders’ 6-0 season, but failed as the Raiders handed down a 26-6 beating.
The top-seeded Raiders produced 275 yards offensively in the contest, with 128 yards coming from an effective aerial assault. Meanwhile, the stingy defense only allowed 63 yards for the Sharks – most of which came in the fourth while running a prevent defense.
Coming out with a balanced offense paid big dividends as Anthony Villarreal struck three times with touchdown passes, Danny Saporito was the first recipient on a 20-yard reception, and after, Derrick Taylor’s 65-yard catch and run put the Raiders on top 20-0. Dominic Bejarano capped the scoring with a 28-yarder as he got past the safety at the 10-yard line. Conor Havstad took a reverse for 35 yards and had a nice punt return for 20 yards. D. Taylor, who ran 23 yards on just three touches, also went off tackle for the only running score from 15 yards out for the day’s first points. Victor Del Rio added another 17 yards on ground with four carries. Nathaniel Batad ran 26 yards on five touches to finish a well-rounded performance for the talented Raider offense.
The new twist on the day was the kicking game, with the playoffs looming, a kick after touchdown is worth two points, so the staff implemented it for the first time this year. Franky Palmer nailed his second try and looks good for the playoffs.
Once again, the defense dominated the big front of Pacifica, allowing just 63 total yards while shutting down the passing game completely. Alex Della Maggoire batted down a deep pass and Matt Dariano swatted away another in key pass in a third down situation. Leading tacklers were Tyler Lerma with eight solo and three assists. Mitch “Scrappy doo” Crowley had six tackles and a sack, while Franky Palmer and Clayton Howard each had five tackles and two assists.
The final score was a convincing win by the local silver and black 26-0.
Mitey Mites Shutout Pacifica Tiger Sharks
Not to be out-done, the Morgan Hill Mitey Mite Raiders team sent the Pacifica Tiger Sharks swimming home as well, with a 30 – 0 victory.
Consistent tackling by Anthony Fortuna, Zachary Goller, Edward Ronco and Austin Holderfield kept the Sharks contained for most of the game, forcing a turnover on downs with almost every possession.
Brandon Duran had his best game of the season and put the Raiders up by 12. He tipped the ball when the quarterback attempted a pass, caught it and hauled it into the promised land for defensive Raider touchdown.
The Raiders scored again in the second quarter, after several great runs up the middle by Christian Nunez put the Raiders in scoring position. With a great block by Taylor Turnipseed, Kyle Qaudros took the ball in another for another six points.
Trevor Breadon opened the second half with a Tiger Shark interception and ran it back for over 50 yards to give the Raiders a comfortable 24-0 lead.
Morgan Hill defense kept the pressure on Pacifica in the second half of the game, with outstanding effort from both Jesse Osuna and Daniel Angulo and disruptive play often behind the line of scrimmage. The always formidable Justin Ide was all over the field and forced the turnover on downs, with a key tackle for no gain on successive fourth down attempts.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Tiger Sharks put together a good drive, but pressure from Eduardo Hernandez and an ankle tackle from Brandon Purcell put the Sharks at fourth and four when Austin Viana broke through the line to tackle for a loss and tanked the Sharks’ scoring opportunity.
The consistent Raiders’ offense, with great blocking from William Long, Andrew Mesa and John Ziyada, would score again late the in fourth quarter on a quarterback keeper for 19 yards.
When the tide had ebbed, it was the Raiders in blowout 30 – 0.
