Undefeated Pop Warner league champions

Ethan Hoagland

As Sweet Home’s High School Varsity football team struggled to put a win on the board, another team in town couldn’t stop adding W’s to their record. The town’s Pop Warner Rookie Tackle Green team took it all the way to Reser Stadium in Corvallis, where they defeated a team from Alturas, Calif. to claim the champion title.

“They’re feeling like badasses,” Assistant Coach Kyle Tucker said. “Just really proud of our kids and how hard they worked, how they grew.”

The rookie tackle team, led by head coach Shelby Johnston, consisted of kids from kindergarten to second grade. Sweet Home hosts two teams, the green and gold. The green team played 10 games throughout the season, scoring six wins and three ties before claiming victory over the California team. They triumphed over their gold team counterparts in a September match held at Sweet Home High School.

A Pop Warner league match doesn’t play out like a normal game of football. Of course, the quarters are shorter, each played for 10 minutes. The key difference: only one team will have offensive possession in each quarter.

“So you wanna score as many times as you can,” Tucker said. “We really pushed the kids to hustle, hustle back to the line, get set and just be quick. Which is a struggle for some of them because their legs are so little.”

To achieve that discipline and focus, Tucker said the kids worked hard in practice.

“We ran ’em a lot in practice. A lot of conditioning, cardio and stuff. And the kids would tell you at the end of the football game that practice was much harder than the game.”

Though the quarters are shorter, the youngsters got a taste of the hard work required to start and maintain a successful season. Each player also gets a chance to play every position from quarterback to defensive line.

“We started in August, so they had to work during the summer heat, which is not easy,” Tucker continued. “And then once we get into October they’re out there in the mud and rain and the cold, you know, freezing their butts off. So they’re getting a wide range of all the weather and really having to tough it out.”

The dedication to athletics for some of these kids extends beyond football. Following their win at Reser Stadium, the team went out for pizza at Papa’s Pizza, so some of the youngsters could turn around and get ready for their upcoming wrestling season.

Each of the kids on the team got a medal to commemorate their victory at Reser Stadium and their undefeated record. Several of the second graders on the team this year will be able to ascend from Rookie Tackle into Division II next year. If the kids stick with it, there could be some tough competition heading to the high school varsity team in the coming years.

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