Youth Scene: Super Seahawks
LOS ANGELES — The Carson Colts are a youth football program that’s used to appearing in the Orange County Junior All-American Super Bowl.
The Newport-Mesa Seahawks, not so much.
Prior to Saturday night, it had been eight years since a Newport-Mesa team had appeared in the big game. That year’s Pee Wee Seahawks lost to, you guessed it, Carson in the Super Bowl.
The last time the Seahawks actually won the Super Bowl, in 2003, it was some kid named Matt Barkley who led the charge at quarterback.
But none of that really mattered to the 2014 Pee Wee Division Seahawks. This was a special group of 11-and 12-year-olds.
They capped an undefeated season in convincing style Saturday, dominating the second half for a 30-6 win in the Pee Wee Super Bowl at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Quarterback General Booty threw two touchdown passes, one to Robert “Rocket” Rahimi and one to John Humphreys. He completed 11 of 14 passes for 147 yards, also scoring on a five-yard touchdown run.
Running back Davyon Lesure finished with 106 yards on 10 carries and provided the back-breaker for Carson, scoring on a 55-yard run up the middle with 5:44 left in the game. The run gave the Seahawks the 30-6 lead after Jake Caldwell’s conversion kick.
Booty, Rahimi, Lesure and Anthony Davidson were players who came over with Coach Abram Booty this year from the Irvine Chargers program.
“I don’t think people knew what to expect from us,” Abram Booty said. “To tell you the truth, we didn’t know what to expect coming over. Half the team had never played tackle football before. But they gelled together as brothers, and that always makes a huge difference.”
Booty gave credit to the Seahawks offensive line, consisting of Caldwell at center, plus Tyler Narayan, Jaden Genova, Cole Rener and Michael Vaughn-Gallegos. Narayan was also a terror on defense, recording a quarterback sack and at least two tackles for a loss.
The line helped Newport-Mesa, the Orange County Junior All-American NFL league champion, finish 11-0 this season.
Rahimi earned the Seahawks’ Super Bowl MVP award, as selected by Carson Coach Marvin Pollard. He caught a 30-yard touchdown pass in the first half and also had seven carries for 19 yards.
“We played the same [Carson] team in the conference championship [last year with Irvine Chargers] and they just beat us toward the end,” Rahimi said. “They’re a good team, good program.”
Carson (9-2) was the AFL league champion this year. The Colts scored their only points Saturday late in the first half, when quarterback Douglas Brumfield found Noah Avinger on a 29-yard touchdown pass.
But Newport-Mesa, which had an 8-6 halftime lead, owned the second half. The Seahawks opened the half on a nine-play drive, capped when General Booty found Humphreys on a seven-yard touchdown pass over the middle to convert a fourth-and-five.
Humphreys, who had seven catches for 95 yards and the touchdown, is the younger brother of Ben Humphreys, a receiver/linebacker who starred at Mater Dei and is headed for Duke. He also had a fourth-quarter interception in Saturday’s game.
“The last time the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl [in 2006], [Ben] was in it,” John Humphreys said. “I’ve just been joking with him, like, ‘We’re going to win it, you lost it.’ But you know, he’s a great teacher to me. He teaches me a lot, always trying to get me better.”
The Seahawks started piling on in the second half. A short kickoff was recovered by Rahimi, and Newport-Mesa quickly struck again. This time, General Booty did it himself, running behind center Caldwell up the middle for the five-yard score and a 22-6 advantage after Caldwell’s conversion kick.
Adam Molloy had 10 carries for 37 yards for the Seahawks, who also received contributions from T.J. Blue, Brendan Duffy, Ethan Garbers, Mason Gecowets, Charlie Levis and Jack McKenna.
Abram Booty, who played receiver at LSU, also made sure to give credit to his coaching staff, which included assistants Henry Davidson, David McKenna, Bradley Humphreys and Johnny Booty, as well as team manager Carole Gecowets.
“At this level, a staff like we’ve assembled is very rare,” Abram Booty said. “Our assistant coaches did a heck of a job preparing these boys for this ballgame.
“When you improve yourself like that over the course of a season, with character and integrity and self-discipline, you end up accomplishing some special things on the football field. We’re proud of these kids because whether we won this game or not, we know that these kids are better young men now than when we started the season. We’re proud of them for that.”
Of course, winning the Super Bowl was special as well. Smiles ruled the night as the players accepted their trophies following the game.
“We’ve worked all season really hard, and all that work we put in paid off,” Humphreys said. “It’s pretty special. We made history.”
