December 10, 2004

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Palo Alto Pop Warner team in national finals

by Keith Peters

Despite producing arguably its biggest victory of the season, members of the Palo Alto Knights' Jr. Pee Wee football team held off on the celebration Wednesday at the Super Bowl National Championships in Orlando, Fla.

"They're pretty focused," head coach Mike Piha said of his team. "They didn't really celebrate. They're here to win a national championship."

If three's a charm, the Knights could be bringing home that first national title this weekend. Teams from Palo Alto appeared in the national finals in 1999 and 2002, coming up short both times.

On Saturday, Palo Alto (12-1-1) will play the Norfolk (Va.) Saints, 25-8 winners over the Columbus (Ohio) Hurricanes in the other Warner Division semifinal this week.

The Knights advanced with a huge 32-6 upset victory over the defending national champion Southeast Apaches (11-1) of San Antonio, Texas.

"It's an amazing group," Piha said of his team. "We have 16 kids who never played football before this season."

Whatever lack of experience Palo Alto had certainly didn't show in its semifinal triumph, the Apaches' first setback in two years. Despite finishing only four in their own conference this season, the Knights got things rolling in the postseason and have put the city on the Pop Warner map once again.

"Palo Alto is a household name back here," said Piha, who has brought a team to the national championship playoffs in four of the past six years.

Palo Alto competed last season, but fell in its opener by a lopsided 30-0 margin. The Knights have made amends for that loss, and now are poised for a possible national crown after knocking off the Apaches.

"We were just on," said Piha. "It was one of the best performances I've ever seen from our teams. Everybody's pretty excited. This team is just crazy. They just keep getting better every game."

Palo Alto grabbed a quick lead when it recovered an onsides kick on the opening kickoff. Jamari Beverly then took a handoff and raced 35 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

After stopping the Apaches on their first series, the Knights scored again four plays later when quarterback Jordan Piha connected with Kevin Kannappan on a 36-yard pass play for a 12-0 lead.

The teams played to a stalemate in the second quarter before the Apaches put together a scoring drive that closed the deficit to 12-6 after Palo Alto's Isaiah Gayles blocked the extra-point attempt.

It stayed that way until the fourth quarter when Palo Alto, facing a fourth-and-15 situation, pulled out a halfback option on a reverse with Beverly throwing 37 yards to a wide-open Austin Braff for a touchdown. Braff kicked a two-point conversion for a 20-6 lead.

The Apaches began to drive again, until Palo Alto's Jackie Evans stripped the ball from an Apaches' running back and Beverly recovered the fumble.

Palo Alto eventually capitalized on that big defensive play with Braff making it 26-6 on a one-yard scoring plunge and Beverly capped the scoring by intercepting a pass and returning it 62 yards for a touchdown.

Piha singled out defensive standouts Brian Koehane, Casey Jackson, Mosa Likio, Matt Maher, Evans, Piha, Kannappan, Beverly, Gayles and Braff.

Other team members include Brandon Choroski, Gerry De La Paz, Alex Fagan, Jeffery Francis, Daniel Francois, Isaac Gayles, Atiba Jacks, Matt Manning, Markel Moore, Morris Mouton, Marcus Moreno-Ramos, Ativ Patel, Lukas Peterson, Zach Spain, Tyler Valenti, David Williams and Jaxon Welsh.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.