FINAL: Goulds Rams (FL) 30, Oak Grove Roughriders (CA) 8

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Rams Slam Riders!

The Gould Rams (Miami) served notice on the rest of the field in the opening round of the 2004 Pop Warner Midget National championships today with a convincing 30-8 victory over perennial Pacific Northwest powerhouse Oak Grove from San Jose, CA .

"'Speed' is the name of our game," said Head Coach Joe Temps. "Some of our linemen can run just as fast as our backs and receivers, and that can make a lot of difference in these games. "Speed on both sides of the line helped the Rams to charge-off to an early 6-0 lead."

Fans are still buzzing about Gould's second score , which came at 4:08 to go in the first quarter. On third and five from their own 30 yard line, the Rams quarterback faked to his tailback inside , then boot- legged right and tossed a strike back to the tailback in the flat who headed for the sidelines, turned on the jets, and roared 70 yeards for the touchdown. The kick for two points made the score Rams 14-Rough Riders 0.

The Riders ground game chewed up yardage in the second quarter, only to see drives stalled by the bend-but-don't break Rams defense. With only one second left in the first half, Gould talied again on a nifty fly-pattern pass to their wide receiver in the right corner of the Riders end zone to make the score 22-0 at the half.

That score held through the third quarter as Oak Grove's tough runners appeared ready to lead a comeback . But the Rams added another score in the fourth quarter and held off the tough Rough Riders for a final score of 30-8.

"We've played this way all season," said Coach Temps. "We were a little sluggish at times today on defense. But, we've beaten the best-of-the-best in our region, including Cape Coral 8-0. We hope to put that all together this week at Disney. If we play our game, we're going to be tough to beat.

The Gould Rams now move on to play last year's defending Midget National Champions Dale City (VA) in one of Wednesday's semi-final games, scheduled for 3:00 PM at Disney Wide World of Sports. Meanwhile, Oak Grove goes on to play the tough Dorchester Eagles (MA) in the 1:00 PM consolation game, also at Disney Wide World of Sports. Come on out and enjoy some great Pop Warner action!