A resurgent Morgan Hill Raiders Pop Warner youth football
program will be sending two division championship teams to the
Pacific Northwest Regional Championships this weekend.
A resurgent Morgan Hill Raiders Pop Warner youth football program will be sending two division championship teams to the Pacific Northwest Regional Championships this weekend.
Both the Raider Midgets and the Raider Junior Pee Wees won their first Peninsula Pop Warner division titles in years last weekend to advance to the regional championships on Saturday.
The Raider Midgets (for players aged 13-15) will play the Nevada state champion Truckee Wolverines for the regional title on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Pinole High in Pinole.
On Sunday, the Midgets (9-0-1 overall) whipped the Bayside Broncos of Belmont 35-0 in the Division III championship game at Fremont High in Sunnyvale to claim their first division title in 21 years.
Morgan Hill was led by running back Tim Cafferty, who scored two touchdowns behind the blocking of offensive linemen Mike Villalobos, Manuel Sadler, Koedy Brant, Charlie Findiesen and Chris Swanson.
According to coach Jimmy Soto, the offensive line set the tone for the game by dominating the line of scrimmage and opening huge holes.
“Our offensive line has done it for us all year long,” Soto said.
Quarterback Kevin Saing and fullback Philip Baccareli both added TDs for MH, and kicker Nick Bowden booted a 40-yard field goal.
On defense, defensive end Kyle Hennings had a pair of sacks for the Raider Midgets.
Also on Saturday, the Raider Junior Pee Wees (for players aged 8-10) will take on the Oregon state champion Medford Tigers for the regional title at 8 a.m. at John Swett High in Crockett near Vallejo.
The Pee Wees (9-1-1 overall) earned the trip to the regional finals by downing the previously undefeated Coastside Pirates of Half Moon Bay 12-0 in a downpour last Saturday. It was the team’s first division title in 15 years.
Against Coastside, Morgan Hill scored its first TD with two minutes to go before halftime on a 48-yard run by running back Christian McCrimon. Defensive end Aaron Wallace set up the score by recovering a Pirates fumble before McCrimon’s scoring run.
The Raider Pee Wees added a second-half TD on outside linebacker Julio Aguayo’s 17-yard interc-eption return for a score.
“It was basically a defensive game because it was raining so hard,” coach Rich Martinez said.
Leading the Pee Wee defense was middle linebacker Richie Martinez, who had a team-high 13 tackles and a fumble recovery.
In addition, two Hollister Pop Warner teams also qualified for the Regional Championships after winning their league titles on Sunday in Sunnyvale.
The Viking Pee Wees and the Viking Junior Pee Wees both advanced to the regionals in Fairfield this weekend. Last weekend, the Pee Wees beat Los Gatos 14-6, while the Junior Pee Wees downed West Bay 12-8 in the league title games.
