Sports

South OC Pop Warner Team Ranked No. 2 in Nation

The Santa Margarita Pee Wee Red Titans missed the Pop Warner Superbowl in a 33-22 loss to a Philadelphia team.

The Santa Margarita Pee Wee Red Titans are ranked second in the nation after the Pop Warner National Championships in Orlando, Fla. last week.

The Red Titans shut out the Detroit Falcons in their first game 22-0, but didn't make it past the Blackhawks A.C. from north Philadelphia. The Red Titans lost by 11 points in a 33-22 Blackhawks victory.

The Philadelphia team went on to win the championship Saturday.

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"The boys did great," said coach Mark Graves. "Everybody played really well. They just had a little more than we did that day. (The Blackhawks) only had six points scored on them all year."

The Red Titans, themselves, finished their regular season with a 12-0 record. Their national ranking takes into account 2,300 teams in their division throughout the country.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The team, made up of 11- and 12-year-olds from throughout south and central Orange County, leaves Friday to face off against the best youth football teams in the country. John Engelerdt of San Clemente, the father of Red Titans player Nathan Bowman, said the team would practice Saturday in Florida and play their first game Sunday. 

The next game will be Dec. 7. If the team advances, they'll play the final game Dec. 11, which will be televised on ESPN 360.

Red Titans coaches Tony Akers and Graves hand-picked Bowman, along with fellow athletes Tylon Freeman, 12, who won the state track championships in the 100-meter dash; Joey Tosti, a national shot put champion; DeAndre Pierce, the son of NFL player Antonio Pierce, who has played with the Redskins and Giants; and almost 20 other young players from within the league and from other local leagues.

"There is not one coach with a kid on the team," Akers said. "I'm sure you've heard of it; it's called 'daddy ball.' There is no daddy ball on this team. Everyone is in their positions because they belong there."

During a practice leading up to the championships, Antonio Pierce came to give the team a pep talk and fire them up for the challenge in Orlando.

"With all my titles and championships, I never had a Pop Warner title," he told the team as they knelt on the practice field at Tesoro High School. "It may be a small thing, but it's something I don't have.

"Have fun and enjoy yourselves," Antonio Pierce continued. "Who knows when you're going to go to Orlando again? Have fun and – excuse me parents – bust somebody in their damn mouth."


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