By Karrington Kincaid, The Seattle Medium
In a “Big Boy” matchup of undefeated teams, the Benson Bruins 14U team squared off against the Parkland Raiders 13U squad for early-season bragging rights and potential playoff positioning.
Benson Bruins 14U Coach Corey Croom had a ton of confidence in his squad going into this game, especially the camaraderie that his team has.
“[This team has] been together a long time, very well-coached, aggressive, and they have good size,” said Croom. “We [the coaches] know that they can get the job done, we’re jelling really nice, and I think we’re going to shock a lot of people today.”
Parkland Raiders 14U Head Coach Mika Taviuni also had a lot of excitement and faith in his team ahead of the matchup.
“We’re as confident as we can be as this will be our second full game. I’ve got a lot of faith in my boys and my coaching staff. They’re a talented team, but I’ll take my boys over anybody,” said Taviuni.
Parkland started the game off strong, as the Raiders’ Robert Dean II returned the opening kickoff 27 yards to the 50-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, the Bruins’ defense stopped Parkland’s Lonzell Sayson for a two-yard loss, which fired up the Bruins’ sideline and the crowd. However, the excitement would be short-lived as a couple of plays later, Parkland quarterback Jadis Lefono connected with receiver Trent Davis on a 48-yard touchdown pass to give the Raiders a 6-0 lead after a missed point-after attempt.
A muffed kick on the ensuing kickoff set up Benson with great field position at Parkland’s 40-yard line. But Parkland’s defense made it hard for the Bruins to do anything, as they got into the backfield and created numerous tackles for losses. On a 4th down play, Bruins quarterback Jayden Stewart was picked off by Parkland’s Sosaia Sekona, as the momentum of the game swung in Parkland’s favor. Lefono continued to stay on fire as he did his best Houdini impression on a 29-yard connection to Sekona, which led to a 37-yard touchdown run by Lefono on a quarterback draw to put his team up 14-0 after a made PAT to end the 1st quarter.
As the second quarter began, Parkland’s defense, led by Kitiona Tupua, put non-stop pressure on Stewart and the Benson offense, eventually forcing a turnover on downs. The turnover set the stage for Parkland running back Anthony Archer to ignite the Raiders’ offense with an 18-yard carry right through the middle of Benson’s defense. Later in the drive, Lefono connected with Sekona on a 29-yard reception to Benson’s 13-yard line, which set up a 13-yard touchdown run by Archer on 4th down to give the Raiders a 22-0 lead.
On the ensuing offensive drive for Benson, Stewart got the Bruins crowd to their feet after connecting with wide receiver John Kier IV on a 45-yard pass to get the Bruins deep into Parkland territory. However, a couple of plays later, Stewart was strip-sacked by Parkland defensive tackle Kitiona Tupua, which was recovered by his teammate Makaio Villarin, who returned the fumble 72 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 30-0 lead.
Benson continued to show fight on the ensuing possession as Stewart connected with Gaberille Jack for 27 yards. Stewart followed up with consecutive completions to John Kier IV to get his team down to Parkland’s 10-yard line with 13 seconds left in the half and no timeouts. Stewart scrambled up the middle to the 1-yard line but ultimately came up short as time expired with Parkland leading 30-0 at the half.
Despite the deficit, the Bruins came out firing in the second half as Stewart connected with Selby Fualaau on a 55-yard touchdown pass to cut the Raiders’ lead to 30-6.
However, Parkland responded as running back Romiece Taviuni muscled his way to the Benson 6-yard line on a 44-yard run. Parkland finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown by fullback Eurijah Maifea to make the score 36-6.
The Bruins continued to fight as the 3rd quarter ended and the 4th quarter began. Stewart connected with E’Maurie Brazier for 42 yards to give the Bruins a first down at the Parkland 15-yard line. Stewart followed up by throwing a dart to Jamari Jones to get the Bruins to the Raiders’ 1-yard line, which led to a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Stewart to bring the score to 36-12 in favor of the Raiders.
The Bruins’ defense continued to fight hard as they pressured Parkland backup quarterback Elijah Gafa-Shields. On 4th down, Gafa-Shields threw an interception to E’Maurie Brazier, who returned the ball 45 yards to the Parkland 15-yard line, which led to a 15-yard touchdown pass from Stewart to Brazier to bring the score closer at 36-19 after a successful conversion.
After the Bruins scored, Parkland brought Lefono back in to close out the game. However, Lefono threw an interception to Brazier for his second interception of the game. Stewart quickly connected with wide receiver John Kier IV on a 26-yard pass play with 2 minutes left in the game. On a crucial 4th down play, Stewart connected with Gaberille Jack for 43 yards to get to the Parkland 30. The final play of the game resulted in an incomplete pass intended for receiver John Kier IV, as the game ended 36-19 in favor of the Parkland Raiders.
Parkland Raiders Head Coach Mika Taviuni was pleased with his team’s win overall but dissatisfied with the defensive effort towards the end.
“I’m feeling good, but we’ve got a lot to clean up as a team,” said Taviuni after the game. “This is why I stress the importance of our second string focusing in on practice. We still won the game today, it was a little bit too close for comfort for me, but we’ll take the W.”
