Menlo-Atherton Vikings football teams ranged throughout the Bay Area with great success on Sunday, Sept. 21, winning four of five contests against Pop Warner competitors. Here are the details of Sunday’s games:
• Mitey Mite Golds: Vikings 7 and 8 year olds turned in their best performance of the season in Santa Clara, blanking Salinas 18-0. Marcellus Riley was lauded for “a phenomenal job” at running back and on defense, while quarterback Kai Winterling and running back Tre’sean Bishop contributed top performances on both sides of the ball.
• Mitey Mite Purples: Donald Tate Tussing stormed through tacklers for two touchdowns as the Vikings topped the Daly City Titans 12-6 at Jefferson High School. De’Maurier Jackson and Leamanaia Brown keyed a red-zone stand in the fourth quarter that cinched the game for M-A, which got a dominating blocking effort from Zachary Jimerson in the offensive line.
• PeeWees: Isiah Nash’s 90-yard interception return and Keesean Johnson’s running sparked a 21-8 Vikings victory over the Pacifica Tiger Sharks in Santa Clara. Benjamin Burr-Kirven bolted 60 yards up the middle for an M-A score, and conversion points came from Nash (pass from Royce Brannan) and two Johnson runs. Scrimmage domination was provided by Jonathan Simonian, Christopher Blank, Nicholas Landolfi and Charles Roth.
Junior Midgets: In Daly City, the Vikings blanked the host Titans 22-0 as Khalil (Lil) James scored on a two-yard sweep and passed to ace receiver Jack Heneghan for an eight-yard touchdown. Landon Baty plunged for the first Vikings score, and Dominic Andrighetto added a pair of two-point conversion kicks. Coaching plaudits went to Stephen Chu, Ryan Blocker, Joseph Mahoni, Jason Mouchawar, Campbell Roellig and Taiaiasi Teu.
Midgets: Short-handed but gritty, the Vikings dropped a 23-0 decision in Oakland to the Brentwood Falcons. The thin M-A lineup staged a ferocious defensive effort against the Falcon hordes, but critical errors on offense put the Vikings in a hole throughout the game. Sharp tackling by Jake Britschgi and Joel Santana were M-A highlights.
