Saints Play In National Championships
By Jack Danilewicz
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Elaborate half-time speeches weren’t part of Ewa Beach Saints’ head Jr. Pee Wee coach Shawn Richardson’s repertoire this fall. If anything, it was the kids who provided the extra motivation in times of need, said Richardson, whose team trailed at the break on more than one occasion.
“The coaches were more worried than the kids in the locker room,” he mused. “They’d look at us and say,‘We got this.We’ll win it in the second half.’ Then they went out and got it done.”
The Saints are in Florida this week to play in the Pop Warner Jr. Pee Wee (9-11 years) National Championships. They were to meet Michigan City of Indiana on Saturday in hopes of advancing to a semifinal matchup next Tuesday versus a team from either North Carolina or California. Should they win both of those games, they’ll play in the finals Saturday against a team from either Connecticut, Texas or Florida.
The trip to the Sunshine State is an appropriate ending point for what has been an extraordinary season for the Saints. Ewa Beach entered the weekend with an 11-1 record, defeating Kahaluu-Heeia 12-6 on Nov. 21 in two overtimes to win the Oahu title before shutting out Lihue 24-0 a week later to win the West Region title and earn a berth at this week’s festivities in Florida.
“These kids really worked hard - they never gave up and always believed in themselves,” Richards said.
The team’s ability to finish games makes their success all the more noteworthy. They trailed Hawaii Kai 8-0 in their first-round playoff game after conceding a touchdown to the Dolphins on the opening kickoff. Ewa Beach would come back to win 24-14.
In the Oahu title game with Kahaluu - the team that handed Ewa Beach its only loss of the season back in October - the Saints were down 6-0 at the break before coming back in the second half to tie the game, eventually winning in two overtimes.
Richardson attributed its ability to play well in the all-important fourth quarter to its conditioning.
“These kids came into our first practice in the best shape of any team I’ve coached,” he said. “You never know, but when we first got them together, we thought we’d have a talented team. As a staff, we believe in conditioning, and they took to it really well.”
Defensively, the Saints were stout, drawing praise from opposing coaches.
“We were probably one of the smallest teams, but we were in the hardest-hitting category,“said Richardson, whose coaching staff includes Dennis Richardson, Clifford Respicio, Kimo Gancial, Todd Takahama, Les Mookini, Jeff Antonio and business manager Mona Lariosa.
It won’t be all football though. Part of the tradition of the Pop Warner nationals is a trip to Disney World with the park closed to the general public so the young football players can enjoy it all to themselves.
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