Chargers surge into semis

The Huntington Beach Pop Warner Junior Pee Wee Green Chargers are anything but green on the football field.

In fact, they’re a game away from playing in the Orange Bowl, the Super Bowl for Orange County Pop Warner Football.

Huntington Beach’s latest victim was Tustin Gold, whom the Green Chargers beat, 29-0, Sunday in their second-round playoff game.

The top-seeded Chargers dominated play on both sides of the ball, Coach John Siebel said. The Chargers were led by scores from C.J. McCord, Michael Bala and Isaiah Christon, along with a ferocious defense.

Huntington Beach (9-0) plays the Canyon Hills Predators (9-0) in the semifinals Sunday in Brea for the right to advance to the Orange Bowl.

The Junior Pee Wee Green Chargers are the last Huntington Beach team alive in the Pop Warner playoffs at any level.

 Huntington Beach Pop Warner Green Mighty Mite Chargers 26, Saddleback Valley Blue Bears 0: The Chargers (8-1) played their best game of the season, holding the Blue Bears (6-2) to no first downs the entire game. Connor Sanford, Nicholas Upstill, William Earthman and Cameron Mase scored touchdowns for the Chargers.

The offensive line was led by Ryan Simmons, Shane Hammer, Ryan Bala, Tristan Friend and Levi Collard. A.J. Gatto and Orion Garza did a good job opening holes from the fullback position. Zack Grove, Alex Rostomian, Nathan Navia, Tanner Nelson and Andre Birkner led the defense to its fourth shutout of the year. The Chargers improved to 8-1.

 Huntington Beach Pop Warner Junior Midget Green Chargers 16, Yorba Linda Chiefs 0: This was the Green Chargers’ last game of the season, due to an unfortunate three losses that occurred at the beginning of the season. Two of the three games were last-second losses but the Chargers were resilient, wanting to end the season right with a win under their belt.

Tyler Warren took charge in the second quarter and carried the ball 12 yards into the end zone, putting the Chargers up, 8-0. The Chargers knew walking into the game that they were the stronger team, so the coaching staff set up some new plays to get more of the team involved.

At the start of the third quarter, off a punt return, Allen Vogelsang ran the ball back 62 yards to add another eight points to the scoreboard, putting the Chargers up, 16-0. The Chiefs played a hard game but their run game and passing game were shut down by the defense of the Chargers.

“We had a great season,” Chargers assistant coach Mike Escobedo said. “It’s unfortunate we didn’t get to make the playoffs this season, but we played hard all season. We walked into this game with a special offense to allow the linemen to run with the ball this game.”

— Tamer Omran

GIRLS’ SOCCER

North Huntington Beach Futbol Club NHB Girls’ Under 10 Black 1, LAFC Chelsea 0: NHB Black came out hungry for victory, having experienced a tough loss to the first-place team less than a week ago. In the sixth minute of the opening half, NHB’s Shaelyn Elliott took a shot a couple of meters beyond the center line. The ball ended up rebounding to the left side of the LAFC penalty area. NHB’s Madi Macias found the ball and scored, resulting in an early lead for NHB.

The first half saw a number of opportunities. NHB dominated the half, doubling the LAFC shots on goal. NHBA players taking shots included Maricarmen Reyes, Elliott, Michael Guptill, Daniela Moran and Kayla Herbert. However, the keeper play of the LAFC goalie snuffed out those chances. On the other side of the pitch, the dual goalie play of Kyleigh Tran and Carly Flores kept LAFC’s shots from turning into goals.

NHB’s Ava Gomez made a key second-half defensive stop to help NHB earn the win and three points, giving them a total of 16 in the standings. NHB was able to close the gap to two points separating them from the two second-place teams in the Coast Soccer League Silver Elite North division – LAFC Chelsea and the Eagles.