Pop Warner team wins title Pop Warner team wins title (December 18, 2002)

** Youth football coaches include former NFL players Roger Craig and Greg Baty.

By Jim Gallagher

Special to the Almanac

Long before Little League baseball inundated America's playgrounds, small boys in certain parts of the country were running, passing, blocking and tackling in organized football leagues.

One such enterprise in Philadelphia, called the Junior Football Conference, invited Glenn Scobey (Pop) Warner, a Stanford coaching icon during Prohibition days, to a players' clinic in 1933. So enthralled were the attendees by Warner's presentation, the Junior Football Conference became the Pop Warner Conference. Within five years, membership had expanded from 16 teams to 157.

It took about 65 years for the Pop Warner movement to reach Menlo Park, and there was relatively little notice when a businessman named Mark Bloomfield circulated fliers in 1999 seeking players for a local team.

Bloomfield, who since has moved to North Carolina, found a willing volunteer in another Menlo Park resident, Bob Williams. Both had young sons who wanted to play football, and the Menlo-Atherton Vikings became the newest member of the Peninsula Pop Warner Little Scholars Conference, with 4,500 participants between Pacifica and Hollister.

"We had 35 players that first year for two teams," said Williams, who today serves as president of the Vikings board of directors. "We had Mighty Mites and Pee Wees. This year, we had 102 players on four teams, including Junior Pee Wees and Junior Midgets. We also had 12 cheerleaders. All are between the ages of 7 and 13."

Conference champs

Most impressively, one of those teams -- the Vikings Pee Wees, made up of players age 9 through 11, and averaging around 100 pounds -- recently captured the conference championship.

It was the first time a Menlo Park team had reached postseason play. The Vikings joined teams from Ashland, Oregon; California's Redwood Empire; and Reno/Tahoe as the elite four in Pacific Northwest Region Division III.

On Saturday, November 23, in a regional championship game, the Vikings dropped a 28-20 decision in Santa Clara to the South Marin Braves of the Redwood Empire. Nevertheless, Menlo Park's 9-win, 3-loss record as a newcomer in the fiercely competitive Pop Warner program is considered something of a phenomenon.

The Vikings cast a decidedly low profile as practice began last summer in a community where the youth sports emphasis tilts heavily toward soccer, Little League baseball, swimming, and girls softball. However, this Pop Warner coaching staff was something more than the usual handful of Saturday morning volunteers.

NFL coaches

The head coach was Greg Baty, all-conference tight end at Stanford who played nine years in the National Football League, the last five with the Miami Dolphins. Running backs coach was Roger Craig, who won three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers. Two members of the 2000 Stanford Rose Bowl team, Chris Johnson and Eddie Patterson, coached the defense.

Baty and Craig are coaching parents, the usual arrangement in youth sports. Ten-year-old Turner Baty played quarterback and tight end; Alex Craig, 11, was a high-scoring halfback. The coaching staff included other Menlo Park parents such as Steve Andrighetto, John O'Hare and Nan Speir. NFL stars Steve Bono, an ex-49er and Kansas City quarterback, and Garin Veris, a Stanford and New England Patriots defensive end, were special instructors.

Their NFL backgrounds notwithstanding, Baty and Craig found Pop Warner coaching a decided challenge.

"We had to learn about the capabilities of kids that age," Baty said. "Substitution patterns, Pop Warner rules ... it was fairly intimidating. We decided to focus on fundamentals, teaching the kids the right way to play, so they wouldn't get hurt, and they'd develop a love for the game. Our first scrimmage, we only had four plays."

Apparently, the system worked. The team improved each week, and injuries were limited to the inevitable bumps and bruises.

"We had more off-field injuries than anything else," said board president Williams. "One kid fell off a roof. You can't coach against that."

For the Vikings, the season highlight occurred during the final minute of the conference championship game against the Daly City Titans. Down 7-0, Vikings quarterback Ryan Sakowski hit receiver Sam Jenkins on a 40-yard pass and run. With 19 seconds left, Sakowski found gangly Johnny McDowell for a 10-yard touchdown. Kicker Michael Bruni split the uprights for a two-point conversion (Pop Warner special rules), and the Vikings were 8 to 7 winners.

The Vikings are looking for even greater accomplishments in 2003. Williams anticipates a continued upswing in participation, as more youngsters and their parents discover the unique appeal of Pop Warner.

"First, there's safety," he said. "We have sound instruction, proper gear, and a great new field at Menlo-Atherton High School. Second, Pop Warner emphasizes academic achievement. There are minimum academic standards, and scholar-athletes get special recognition. Finally, an undersized kid who may be overwhelmed in basketball or baseball can compete on equal terms with our 'older/lighter' provision."

More Viking information is available on the team Web site, www.mapopwarner.com, or by calling 562-1950.

Pop Warner roster

Anthony Andrighetto, FB/CD, St. Raymond's; Chris Barrett, NG, La Entrada; Ryan Sakowski, QB/S, St. Raymond; Ted Williams, FB/DE, Santa Rosa; Turner Baty, QB/TE, La Entrada; Andrew Gordon, QB/TE, St. Raymond; Adrian Calderon, WR/TE, Mt. Carmel; Frankie O'Hare, TB/LB, Hillview; Alex Craig, TB/LB, Corte Madera; Jon Bostic, TB, Nixon, Palo Alto; Alex Peck, RG/ FB, Hillview; Sean Thomas, TE, Belle Haven; Richard Hong, C/DT, Encinal; Franz Honig, C, St. Raymond; John Larios, LT, Duveneck; Giovanni Boneso, LG, Woodland; Danny Flores, RT, Willow Oaks; Stephen Szczurko, LT, Hillview; Kevin Phiengsai, RG/DT, Parkmont, Fremont; Will Bauer, LG/DT, Hillview; Michael Bruni, WR/LB, St. Raymond; Sam Jenkins, WR/CB, Hillview; Johnny McDowell, WR/DE, St. Raymond; Ty Cobb, RT/MLB, Hillview.

Jim Gallagher, deputy general manager of the San Mateo County Transit District, is a former writer/editor for Peninsula Newspapers Inc.