They are youth football’s equivalent of youth baseball’s Park View Blue Bombers, Eastlake Golden Boys and Sweetwater Valley Sluggers all rolled into one, though without the hype.
The Eastlake Panthers Junior Pee Wee (10U) American Youth Football team is departing Friday to compete in the AYF national championship tournament in Kissimmee, Fla.
The AYF national championships are the largest youth football and cheer championships in the world with 150 teams competing for a national title. The event runs Dec. 5 to 12.
Playing for a national championship is nothing new for the Panthers Junior Pee Wee team’s veteran coaching staff. The core group of the Panthers’ coaches has already won five San Diego AYF Q-Bowl championships and two national championship titles – one in 2008 with the Panthers JPW team and another in 2011 with the San Diego AYF eighth grade all-star team.
But there appears room for more.
The Panthers are 11-0 this season (13-0 including two scrimmages) and the team’s defense has yet to be scored on whether in preseason, regular season and now in post-season.
“The whole season,” Panthers head coach Clark Moses noted with a bit of astonishment and obvious pride. “That’s pretty remarkable for 10-year-old kids.”
The Panthers defense, coached by defensive coordinator Larry Edwards, is led by the starting linebackers Ezriel “Puka” Noa, Anthony Lopez, Luke Schwenke and Noah Concepcion.
The team’s offense is led by Trey Edwards, Isaiah Lane and Adren Parker (son of former Charger Eric Parker). The Panthers quarterback is Dominik Nankill, younger brother of Sweetwater Valley’s Nate Nankill of 2015 Little League World Series fame.
Teams can qualify for the AYF national championships through nine regional championship events: Desert Pacific, Mountain Northwest, Midwest, Southwest, Big East, Atlantic, New England, Central Midwest and Southeast.
The Panthers, who are members of the Desert Pacific region, received an automatic bid to participate at this year’s nationals and did thus not have to play a regional qualifying game in its division.
The Panthers finished regular season play 8-0 to earn the No. 2 seed for the division playoffs behind top-seeded Los Toros, which finished regular season play 7-1.
Both teams tore through their respective half of the playoff bracket to reach the Q-Bowl championship game Nov. 14 at Balboa Stadium. The Panthers defeated Los Toros, 20-0, in the final after sweeping aside Steele Canyon, 34-0, in the quarterfinals and the Inland Empire Ducks, 14-0, in the semifinals.
While the Panthers have been there and done that, it’s always exciting to do it again, especially if it’s winning national championships.
Moses said one of the team’s strengths is its veteran coaching staff.
“Our staff has coached together for about 10 years with some of that being with the league since it started,” Moses explained. “I believe that we have one of the best coaching staffs.”
The Panthers brain trust includes Edwards, Max Schwenke, Bob Hughes, Ike Owens, Derwin Williams and Parker, a former NFL receiver. Eastlake High School senior Myles Wright played on the school’s varsity team and then came to volunteer coach with the Panthers after his own practice was finished.
Schwenke is the team’s strength and conditioning coach and focuses on discipline. Edwards carries that same philosophy of discipline over to the defense to produce what Moses describes as a group of “extremely fast and focused” young athletes.
“Overall, our team may have been one of the smallest teams in our division but that never seemed to cross the players’ minds,” Moses explained. “Coach Max preaches to the players after each and every practice that if we practice hard, we will play hard and that has become our motto as a team.”
Legacy alive and well
The Panthers’ 2008 national championship team has left a definite imprint on the local football scene. Fifteen former Panthers will be playing for top-seeded Mater Dei Catholic (11-1) in Friday’s San Diego Section Division IV championship game at Southwestern College, plus a few more for the Crusaders’ opponent, the third-seeded Bishop’s Knights.
These Panthers alumni played on the program’s first three Q-Bowl championships teams.
C.J. Verdell, a favorite to win the Silver Pigskin award next season, spearheads the Crusaders’ Panthers alumni while Justin Woodley and Dominic Haley are former Panthers alumni on the Knights.
There are more. Keenan Ellis is another former Panther who will suit up for the top-seeded Bonita Vista Barons in Saturday’s Division III title contest.
In their earlier youth football days, St. Augustine’s Elijah Preston and Jordan Brooks played in the Jr. Pee Wee Division with the Panthers before moving to another organization. Second-seeded St. Augustine (10-2) will battle top-seeded Helix (10-1) in Saturday’s top tier Open Division championship game.
Besides the team’s top-notch coaching staff, Moses also credits the team’s support net for its on-field success.
“I have to mention that we have the best group of parents who are very supportive,” Moses explained. “That is the key when it comes to putting together a successful team.”
Moses said the Panthers’ 10U national championship bracket will include 10 teams and will be filled with eight teams that received regional bids and two teams that will have a first-round bye.
“We will not know until Saturday evening what the bracket will look like,” he said.
The late unveiling should make things exciting for all the teams involved as they will not be able to prepare for a specific opponent. The focus for everyone will be the same — trying to win games and advance in the bracket while also enjoying the experience of a lifetime.
Extra points
The San Diego AYF organization will also send 12U and 14U all-star teams to Florida this weekend. The Otay Ranch Broncos have three players listed on the 12U roster: Cristian Sanchez-Virgen, Aiden Arguilla and Diego Piche. Eastlake has four players listed on the 14U roster: Darius Advento-Delosreyes, Clarence Freeman IV, Malcolm Brown and Evelyon Noa.
Four South County youth football teams were represented in this year’s San Diego AYF Q-Bowl championship games. The Mitey Mite (9U) Division featured an all-South County match-up as the Bonita Buccaneers topped the Otay Ranch Broncos Blue, 48-8, while Otay Ranch Blue recorded a runner-up finish to Los Toros by a score of 24-0 in the Pee Wee (11U) Division final.
Bonita blasted the Wolverines, 36-0, in the Mitey Mite Division semifinals while Otay Ranch Blue buried Los Toros, 40-14, to reach the division championship game.
Otay Ranch White and Otay Ranch Blue met in the Pee Wee Division semifinals, with the second-seeded Broncos Blue team claiming a 36-20 win to advance to the division championship game.
Bonita lost to Los Toros, 16-14, in the Junior Midget Division semifinals.
Eastlake lost to Murrieta, 18-12, in the Midget Division semifinals.
Eastlake Panthers
Junior Pee Wee (10U) Roster
Adren Parker
Alan Padilla
Amir Farha
Anthony Lopez
Anthony Rodriguez
Armando Hernandez
Benjamin Kern
Braden Schulze
Brandon Holmes
Brandon Rinehart
Cayden Ohrmund
Christian Hughes
Christopher Delosreyes
Daniel Lopez
Devin Cabrera
Dominic Nankil
Dylan Flores
Ezriel Noa
Isaiah Lane
Joshua Glanz
Keli’i Pietila-Wiggs
Kian Martin
Luis Pomar
Luke Schwenke
Nathaniel Campbell
Nayhum Lao
Noah Anthony Concepcion
Tommie Verdell
Tre Edwards
Trevor Gobeil
Tyler Bourke
Xavier McKenna
Panthers advance to national championship game
The Eastlake Panthers opened the tournament with a 12-0 win over New Britian, Conn., in their opening game at the AYF nationals in Florida on Sunday. The Panthers advanced to the quarterfinals agianst the Dunbar Rattlers on Monday and won 45-7 to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals against the Charles County Spartans. The Panthers defeated the Spartans — last year’s 9U national chamoions — 20-6 to advance to Friday’s national championship game.
Reportedly, the Spartans had gone undefeated the past three years before the Pathers defeated them in Wednesday’s semifinals.
New Britain also was undefeated on the season before the Panthers sacked them for a loss in the tournament’s play-in round.
