Locals to play for SoCal crown

SAN CLEMENTE — They have already proven they’re the best Junior Pee Wee team in the Orange Empire Conference. On Saturday, the Huntington Beach Pop Warner Green Chargers can also prove they’re the best Junior Pee Wee team in all of Southern California.

They earned the chance by topping Torrey Pines, 28-8, in a Pop Warner Wescon Region semifinal last Saturday afternoon at San Clemente High.

Undefeated Huntington Beach (12-0) has its final game of the season at 10 a.m. Saturday at Chaffey College of Rancho Cucamonga. The opponent will be the Fontana Falcons.

“The kids played a phenomenal game,” Coach John Siebel said after the semifinal win. “[Torrey Pines had] one play, and other than that, they played as close to a perfect game as we could have asked for on defense. We had been preaching all week, ‘Do your job,’ and for the most part they did. We knew that our defense was going to win this thing for us, and sure enough they did. If we can hold a team that good to one score, with our offense, we know that we’re going to take advantage of a lot of people.”

Huntington Beach scored first, as Keith “C.J.” McCord found the end zone on a 28-yard keeper. After Travis Burleson’s conversion kick, it was 8-0. But Torrey Pines responded with that one play, a 44-yard touchdown run by Bennett McCaskill to tie the score at halftime.

From there, Torrey Pines (9-1-1) failed to get much of anything going. Huntington Beach added to its lead in the third quarter on a three-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell King, and a one-yard touchdown run by McCord in the fourth put the Chargers up two scores.

Sean Strom capped the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run. Isaiah Christon was also a dangerous receiver all game long for Huntington Beach, with eight catches for 96 yards.

“This is a real special group of kids, and their effort has been rewarded,” Siebel said. “Half of these kids had weight to lose in the beginning of the year, and they dedicated themselves to the team. Everyone’s given me 100% all year, and the fruits of that labor resulted in this. I’m real proud of all of them, and we’re not done yet.”

Christon, who also made a key defensive stop in the second half to cause a Torrey Pines turnover on downs, said he’s excited about the way the team has done.

“Our whole team did really good this game,” Christon said. “We really brought it in the second half I’m really excited. I think we have a great shot [against Fontana].”

Center Bryan Kelley agreed.

“We played hard,” he said. “This was probably one of the best games we’ve played the whole season, our whole [offensive] line.”