Seahawks remain perfect

With only two games left in the regular season, the Newport-Mesa Seahawks Pee Wee White football team continues to be unbeaten.

The Seahawks offense appeared off to a fast start against Downey. Quarterback Chase Garbers connected on a long touchdown pass to tight end Nick Bauer, only to find out that there was the first of many penalties in the game. The Seahawks were unfazed, as they went to their running game. Tailback Anthony Battista went to work behind the hard blocks of lineman Conner Brazeel, Will Karambelas, Berkeley Bingham, Jake Jones and center Danny Rodgers. Battista had several long runs, with two ending in touchdowns. The third score for the day was by all-purpose wingback Adam Freeman, who after running the ball for a couple key first downs, caught a pass in the flat and raced into the end zone. Tight end Kobe Benter added to the total yardage with a great comeback catch, that eventually led to six points.

On defense, the Seahawks kept the Downey runners from making any great progress. Linebackers Blake Kormos and Jack Genova kept plugging the holes in the middle, and cornerbacks Carson Poivre and Stephen Menzia kept the speedy Downey runners from getting outside. Safety Rich Vanis was all over the field, and used his speed to save a touchdown by catching a ballcarrier and knocking him out of bounds. Excellent play on the line by Will Gehl and Mitch Haly rounded out the Seahawk effort.

On special teams, Carson Poivre added two points by kicking a conversion after the first touchdown. Sutton Barbato stripped the ball on a kickoff and recovered the fumble, setting his team up to march for another score.

Football

The Newport-Mesa Seahawks Clinic team (ages 9-10) steamrolled to another victory, 28-0, over the Norwalk Saints.

Scoring was shared with runs by Micah Kelley, Colin Gregg and Spencer Hook (two). A fourth touchdown came on an aerial strike from Hook to Justin Shollin in the end zone.

Hugo Aviles Jr. continued his steady play with strong kickoffs, pass receptions and quick hits on defense. Jake Farber was also active running pass patterns.

The dominating defensive play was led by Luke Fisher, Parker Ruiz, Talal Benahmed, Brian Bailey and Logan Rockwell. Parker Susolik, Nick Meisenheimer and Sachin Gokhale continued their prowess on defense as well with several hard tackles.

The Seahawks battle Corona Saturday at Sage Hill School for first place.

AYSO Region 97

Girls’ Under 5

Tinkerbells vs. Purple Butterflies

Bailey Ogletree took it down the field for an assist. Kylie Trigo scored several goals.

Boys’ Under 6

Green Dragons vs. Hornets

Blake Girvin, Lukas Marini and Josh Nimmrichter all showed off their terrific defense skills by keeping the ball away from the Dragons’ goal.

During the second half, Murphy Malouf had a breakaway taking the ball more than half way down the field and dribbling all the way to the goal.

Just into the third quarter, Ryan Strickland made an awesome steal from a Hornets’ player and scored the Green Dragon’s first goal. Cooper Hempstead, Henry Bartz and Riley Smith all showed off their outstanding ability to keep after the ball and take it away from the Hornets.

Girls’ Under 6

Purple Puppies vs. American Girls

The Puppies played with purpose. Ruby Carillo, Anna Reed, Kathryn Norminton and twins Ava and Olivia White kept the soccer ball near the American Girls’ goal all game.

Protecting the Puppy goal (their doghouse) with tremendous defensive plays were Sydney Perrin, Heather Klarin, Erin Bath and London San Luis.

Boys’ Under 7

Gladiators

The Gladiators continued their stellar season against the Red Dragons. Stewart Hartel scored the first goal on a breakaway run. The second quarter was dominated by the Gladiators as goals were scored by Jack Del Signore and Ryan Smith. Nicholas Pierce had three close shots on goal. Gladiator goalies Noah Foigelman and Riley Reese held the Red Dragons scoreless.

Boys’ Under 8

Toxic Bombers vs. Green Dragons

Conrad Vrbas scored four goals for the Green Dragons. Thomas Bouda made the first goal.

Jake Nellesen, Ashton Fegel and Owen Eckweiler produced assists.

Collin Trimble, Jackson Swain and Matthew Rodriguez played strong defense. Goalie Luis Torrez added to the strong defense.

Raiders vs. Tornadoes

Tornadoes Coach Brian Darrow and Raiders Coach John Koulouris expected a well-played soccer game as both teams entered having held opponents scoreless this season. The Tornadoes came out on top, scoring a goal in the final minute.

Jacob Lehman and Troy Kennedy played well in goal for the Raiders.

Elijah Ovalle and Dane Voorhees were strong on defense for the Raiders, helping forwards Wil Haid, Chris Bibona and Emmanuel Koulouris to take shot after shot, only to be denied by the superb Tornado goalies.

Koulouris put in a powerful left footed strike from outside the box to give the Raiders the lead with the first goal of the game. Levy Darrow also scored for the Tornadoes, while Jack Harty headed in a goal for the Raiders. Zach McMillan and Ritchie Rimlinger played well on defense for the Raiders.

Girls’ Under 8

Dominators vs. Piranhas

Ella Hopkins and Hailey Simon scored goals for the Dominators. Mackenzie Simon, Emily Fleener, Camryn More and Madeline Hopkins all contributed greatly at goalie, with some outstanding stops. Making defensive plays and stopping scoring attempts were Katie Shannon, Fiona Batstone and Gia Negrete.

Boys’ Under 10

Electric Eels

Marlon Chavarria’s goal in the first quarter was assisted by Gage Greenberg. Sam Christensen’s goal in the third quarter was assisted by Nicholaas Baljeu.

Max Drakeford, Will DeBassio and Will Brock played well on defense, as did goalie John “Jack” Christensen, who made two difficult saves.

Girls’ Under 10

Tangerine Screams

The Tangerine Scream had two victories to move to the top of the division. In their first game against Team Wertheimer there was great passing and team play amongst all the girls which put twins Ali and Blair Cunningham in perfect scoring position on many occasions. Together the Cunningham duo netted all four goals with assists from Sophia Thomas and Ali Woodward. Flawless passing on both offence and defense by Claire Jeffs and JoJo Flanagan helped set up the goal scoring plays. Strong goaltending from Leila and Sophia Zahedi as well as Nicole Sharp and Kaia Pronger helped seal the victory.

Thomas, Leila and Sophia Zahedi also helped the Tangerines against the Midnight Strikers with great passing. Kaia Pronger, Ali Cunningham and Blair Cunningham scored. Flanagan and Jeffs held the Strikers back.

Dr. Peppers

The Peppers peppered the goal early as Ashley Mungia scored one of her two goals on a one-on-one situation. Later in the half, Kate Hess got her first goal of the season on a textbook follow through off a rebound from a tough Lighting Bolt goalie. The Lightning Bolts put a barrage of shots toward the Dr. Pepper box to produce a 2-1 score at the half. The second half opened with a Dr. Pepper goal by Avery Allemann, her first this season. The Lighting Bolts answered quickly with a goal. The solid play continued with Allison Crandell, Ella Donald and Hope Alhart creating a great defensive wall. Up front it was all speed and hustle by strikers Lexy Seidner and Sterling Solomon. They were supported by great halfback play from Leilany Ayala and Kylie Keirstead who both had breakout games in their supporting roles to help produce a 4-2 win for Dr. Peppers.

Boys’ Under 12

Stingers 1, Galaxy 2

The Stingers’ Niko Kerr latched on to a perfectly timed pass from Sohrob Goodarzy and scored early on. Eric Chavarria, Goodarzy and Jackson Wind came very close to doubling the score line in the first half. Jimmy Bizzel, Trenton Bashaw and Tucker Lowell continued their strong partnership in the back and kept the Galaxy at bay. David Zachry provided excellent cover in goal. Jacob Morgan, Quinn Moanhan and Anthony Varela kept the Stingers in the game.

Girls’ Under 12

The Wedge

The Wedge under coach Steve Cislaw, came from behind to tie, 5-5. Claire Johnson and Marissa Cislaw continue to be the MVP’s on offense with fancy footwork and amazing goals. Alyssa Sukow, Jordan Golden, Jade Dix, Callie Govaars and Chloe Schilling were great on defense. Priscilla Ocampo, Maddie Ciano, Aly Millar and Ariana Schilling assisted nicely on offense.

— All results, reader submitted