Pop Warner teams earn victories

The Huntington Beach Jr. Pee Wee Gold Chargers used a great defensive effort to top the Santa Margarita Gold Eagles, 20-0, in the first round of the Pop Warner playoffs Sunday.

The Gold Chargers entered the Pop Warner playoffs as the No. 6 seed, with an in-season record of 6-1. From the opening kickoff the Charger offense drove the ball against Santa Margarita (4-3) with solid running and blocking. The Eagles, however, were up for the challenge and stopped the Chargers on the Eagles’ 15-yard line. On the Eagles first possession they attempted to run a reverse on third down but Griffin O’Connor read the play perfectly and tackled the running back for a big loss.

Mike Saffell and Shaun Colamonico pounded the left side of the defense and, as the defense keyed on them, Chase Ault dropped back for what looked like a pass but instead ran the ball 50 yards to the one-inch line. Saffell punched it in from there. Austin McFadden sealed the drive with his perfect extra point kick.

On the ensuing kickoff the Chargers recovered the onside kick and began the next drive. With clutch catches from O’Connor and key runs from Nick Warren the Chargers were once again on the move. Early in the second quarter Colamonico broke free for a 25-yard touchdown run. The defense held the Eagles to no yards and they were once again forced to punt. On the next drive, Zack Edsell threw a beautiful pass to Warren for a 30-yard gain. On the next play with the defense guessing, Kyle Drinnon caught the corner route, broke a tackle and sprinted into the end zone.

The Chargers opened up the third quarter with a 40-yard catch and run from Joe Flannery, who was inches away from scoring his first touchdown of the season. While the Chargers turned down the heat in the spirit of sportsmanship, they continued to shut down the Eagles offense.

The Chargers now go to the second round of playoffs against the undefeated Tustin Red Cobras. The game will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Brea Sports Complex.

Another HB Junior Pee Wee team is the top seed in the playoffs. It topped another Santa Margarita team, 20-0, in the first round and advances to play Tustin in the second round at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cypress’ Oak Knoll Park.

 In the Mighty Mite division, the Chargers improved to 7-1 with a 33-6 win over the Stanton Raiders. The Chargers, who have won six in a row, got touchdowns from Orion Garza, Zack Grove, Connor Sanford, Cameron Mase and William Earthman. The defense was led by Nicholas Upstill, Ryan Bala, Tanner Nelson, Stone Sharpe, Clay Anthony, Tristan Friend and Dylan Kerrigan. All 26 players on the Chargers had the opportunity to run the ball.

The Chargers play Saddleback Valley (6-2) this weekend at Edison High.

JUNIOR ALL-AMERICAN FOOTBALL

HB Oilers 34, South Gate Aztecs 6: The Jr. Midget Oilers traveled to South Gate and had a decisive Junior Midget Division victory over the Aztecs, 34-6. The Oilers started fast when running back William Morehand scored after a quick impressive Oilers first drive of the game. Oilers quarterback Nolan Winks followed that with a bootleg keeper run for a touchdown to make it 12-0. Winks then completed a post pattern pass to the speedy Morehand, who beat many Aztec defenders to the end zone for another touchdown.

Fullback Lee Durant bulldozed his way into the end zone for an impressive touchdown run that was sparked by Nick Howard’s flat-back block on an Aztec. Winks then connected on a pass to receiver Howard for the two-point conversion to make the score 26-0. The Oilers finished their impressive scoring when receiver Maurice Barber snatched a streak pass from Winks, out-jumping an Aztec defender en route to a beautiful touchdown. Running back Scotty Phillips plunged in through the middle of the Aztec defense for a two-point conversion to close out the Oilers scoring.

The Oilers had awesome blocking all day by the likes of Grant Vis, Josh Marks, Tristan Wenschlag, Vondre Steele, Trevor Diehl, Andrew Orozco, Gavin Ryan, Kyle Javer and Max Machado. In addition, assisting on the impressive defensive shut-down were Dylan Zeglovitch with two interceptions, Grant Peugh, Zach Lopez, Roger Lemberg, Daniel Armando, Ryan Burke, Justin Geer, Brett McIntosh, and Ennis Khaleq. The Oilers play their next game at the Irvine Chargers at 6 p.m. Saturday.

SOFTBALL

The SoCal Top Team 96 Softball Club traveled to San Jacinto Oct. 10-11 for the United States Specialty Sports Assn. Oktoberfest Tournament. They came away with the 14-and-Under division championship in their first tournament as a team.

Top Team finished the tournament with a 5-1 record, beating well-established organizations like TNL, Minor’s Gold and Renegades. In the championship game, Top Team shutout an explosive Renegades club, 2-0, by holding them to just one hit in seven innings.

So Cal Top Team 96’s athletes are Micaela Vierra, Randi Fehser, Raianne O’Donnell, Kelli Tatum, Breeauna Beason, Olivia Russ, Ayla Montoya, Emilee Atwood, Rachel Cullen, Kerry Doran, Kylie Winthrop and Breanna Payson. The head coach is Jay Russ and assistant coaches are Noah Fehser, Cathy Vierra and Robbie O’Donnell.

Next up, Top Team will play in Palmdale at the TCS Turkey Bash the weekend of Nov. 7-8.

SOCCER

The North Huntington Beach Futbol Club’s girls’ Under-10 Black team took on first-place Cerritos Regional Soccer Club So Cal Infinity 99 in a rematch Sunday between two Coast Soccer League Silver Elite North division rivals, this time in Huntington Beach.

NHB played well and battled hard but came up short to CRSC, losing 2-0. Despite the loss, NHB Black still maintains its hold on fourth place in the division standings.

Down, 1-0, at the half, NHB Coach Dave Kelsey made adjustments to his squad. The results saw a more even offensive match-up with NHB’s Rosa Rios, Lindsay Heckman and Shaelyn Elliott each seeing shots on goal. The battle continued to be very hard-fought with a number of direct free kicks for each team due to penalties. However, NHB was unable to find the back of the net.

The NHB defensive line, anchored by Kayla Herbert with Elliott and Ava Gomez on the flanks, did a superb job of communicating and working as a unit. Despite this, CRSC was able to score another goal.