Daily Recap: Tuesday, December 9, 2003

Pop Warner Super Bowl Underway, First Female Quarterback to gets ready to play.

All 32 Division II football teams were in action today at the Pop Warner Super Bowl at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista , FL. Today's games featured 4 wins from North Carolina teams, with 1 team representing each division of play in Friday's Championship games.

The morning's Pee Wee games featured one of the better games of the day, as the local favorite Palmetto Bay Broncos (FL) fell to the Reno Chiefs (NV), 16-12. Palmetto jumped out to an early 12-0 lead in the first quarter, but a balanced attack from the Chiefs helped them come back and claim a 16-12 victory. The Chiefs move on to face the Freedom Drive Broncos (NC) in the Tomlin Pee Wee Championship Game. The other championship game will feature the East Cleveland Chiefs (OH), who defeated the San Antonio Wolverines (TX) today 32-19, against the Lansdale Canoneers (PA), who knocked off the Koloa Packers (HI), one of two Hawaii teams competing this year.

In the Pee Wee division, three of the four games were over pretty early on, but the feature game saw the Quakertown Panthers (PA) come back to topple the Newington Knights (CT) by a score of 22-16. The scoring was over by halftime, but it ended in dramatic fashion. As the clock ticked down to 10 seconds in the half, the Panthers had the ball in Newington territory. But, an alert Knights secondary picked off a pass and rambled 71 yards for a touchdown. The PAT kick was good and the Panthers went up for good 22-16. Quakertown will meet the PAL South Raiders (NC), who knocked off the Reno Razorbacks 24-0. The Charlotte Warriors (FL) had little trouble against the South Central Cougars (TX), winning by 30 points to set a matchup against the Leyden Bears (IL) on Friday at 11:00 a.m.

The other Palmetto Bay Broncos team got a little redemption for their program as they blanked the NW Detroit Lions (MI) 35-0 in first round Midget Division play. The Warriors scored in each quarter led by a solid running game to move on to the championship game where they will face a very fast Cambrian Valley Longhorns (CA) team. On the other side of the bracket, the Darlington Braves (MA) scored 24 second half points en route to a 26-6 victory over the M.L.K. Texans (TX). They will face one of the best defenses in the championships, the Plaza Rams (NC). The Rams team bus rolled in early this morning, but fatigue was not a factor as they shut down a good Calexico Bulldog's (CA) offense. In the last two games, the Rams have won by a combined score of 12-2, living by their stellar defense.

The Junior Midget Division first round saw the emergence of a few teams who are very familiar with the Pop Warner Super Bowl. The S. Miami Gray Ghosts (FL), rolled past the Parker Panthers (AZ) 36-6. The Gray Ghosts were last year's Division II Pee Wee Warner Champion, and are rostered with many of the same player's as last year's championship players. They will match up against the S. County Indians (MA), who won in dramatic fashion over the Novato Yellow Jackets (CA), 20-19. The Indians were clinging on to a 1 point lead, when the Yellow Jackets marched down close to the Indians goal line. However, after a Yellow Jacket player was tackled short of the endzone, time ran out on the clock before Novato could run another play. The clock showed zero, and the Yellow Jackets were just a few yards short. The other two Jr. Midget teams to advance did so today via the shutout. The Capital City Steelers (NC) scored 4 first half touchdowns in their victory over the M.L.K. Texans (TX) while the Brick Memorial Mustangs (NJ) held off the Hoffman Estates Hawks (IL), 6-0.

What a great day of football we had today, but even more is on the slate for tomorrow. All 32 Division I Football teams will be participating from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. The most attention will be focused on the Jr. Pee Wee games tomorrow morning during the Harvey Colts (IL) first round game against the Southeast Apaches (TX). The Harvey Colts are led by female quarterback and scholar-athlete Jasmine Plummer. Jasmine, who wears number 1, is the first African-American quarterback to lead her team into the Pop Warner Super Bowl as the starting quarterback. While the media frenzy around this amazing young girl has created quite a stir, the Colts are guided by long-time Pop Warner coach Jim Stovall, who also saw Antwaan Randle El and Barry Gardner begin their careers in the Harvey Pop Warner program.