Youth Scene:

The Huntington Beach Pop Warner Jr. Pee Wee Chargers defeated the Canyon Hills Predators, 34-14, Sunday in the semifinals of the playoffs. The Chargers fell behind early, 14-6, but stormed back, led by quarterback C.J. McCord throwing touchdowns to Michael Bala, Danny Cassaro, Isaiah Christon and Mitchell King. Travis Burleson also punched one in on the ground.

In the second half, the Chargers’ ferocious defense held Canyon scoreless. A key late interception by Johnny Siebel sealed the deal for the Chargers, who now advance to the Orange Bowl on Saturday to face the undefeated Cypress Centurions at Laguna Hills High at 11:30 a.m.

Huntington Beach Jr. All-American Football

Jr. Midget Division

HB Oilers 16, Norwalk Saints 14: The Jr. Midget Huntington Beach Oilers closed out their regular season with a victory against the Norwalk Saints, who had knocked the Oilers out of the playoffs last season. The Oilers started the scoring when quarterback Nolan Winks connected with William Morehand on a short touchdown pass. The Oilers converted the two-point conversion when Winks completed a pass to wide receiver Trevor Diehl, who made a diving catch, closing out the score at halftime, 8-0.

The Oilers scored in the third quarter on an impressive running sweep by the speedy Morehand. Winks then connected on another two-point pass, this time to wide receiver Maurice Barber to run the score to 16-0. Little did anyone know at the time but the two-point conversion to Barber would be the most important points scored in the game. The Saints scored on a 40-yard fumble recovery in the third quarter and then on a pass play in the last couple minutes of the game. The tough Oilers defense was able to stop one of the Saints extra point conversions to secure the 16-14 victory.

The Oilers defense was extremely tough all day stopping the Saints impressive running game. Oiler defenders were defensive ends Tristan Wenschlag and Winks, defensive linemen Ryan Burke, Justin Geer, and Grant Vis, linebackers: Morehand, Josh Marks and Nick Howard and defensive backs Diehl, Barber, and Dylan Zeglovitch. The Oilers open their playoffs at Mission Viejo High at 2 p.m. Saturday.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Gold Coast X-treme 3, Canyon FC Brasilia 1: With the fall season winding down, the Gold Coast X-treme Elite GU-12 clinched first place in Bronze Omega Division last weekend with a 3-1 victory over Canyon FC Brasilia.

All three goals came from forward Jade Kratovil, who posted her first hat trick of the fall season.

Two of the goals were assisted on cutting passes credited to midfielder Sarah Steinhaus.

Forward Rachel Flory provided the other assist on a seam pass.

The Elite were able to keep Brasilia off their game with the strength of the midfield line comprised of Valentina Acosta, Brooke Escala, Jenna Low, Jocelyn Ceccarelli, Makena Walker, Sarah Djafri and Steinhaus, who continually frustrated their opponents from making any progress up the field. The defense, led by Kiana Dinsmore, Sami Oliver, Sabrina Wahab, Natalie Peters and Morgan Felix, kept Brasilia from making many quality shots and scoring opportunities on net.

The win for Elite is also credited to goalie Sumer Rahe, whose communication and composure helped the defense stay focused and alert during the entire match.

With three games remaining in the regular season, the Elite solidified their placement for a Silver promotion next year by eliminating the rest of the GU-12 Bronze Omega Division with 28 points and a record in the standings of 9-1-1.

Next weekend the Elite will travel to play OSC United Warriors at 10:35 a.m. at Santiago Charter School in Orange.