Mitey Mite

Mitey Mite Green had a fantastic outing this past weekend. It was a total team effort in the biggest margin win of the season against North Raleigh White. After taking a hit last weekend against a strong North Raleigh Deuce team, Mitey Mite Green worked hard in practice this past week and came out with an impressive 40-6 victory on the North Raleigh home field.

Daniel Rose started the scoring in the first quarter with an impressive touchdown run. Austin Tingen kicked the extra point and Green was up 8-0. Not to be out done, the defense took the field and secured a safety. Will Matejowsky, Cooper Nowell and Avi van Zanten were all in on the tackle and helped put another 2 points on the scoreboard. The Green offense again took the field. Led by quarterbacks Daniel Rose and Chris Sutton along with the strong legs of Jagger Barfield and Niko Gnann, Apex put another touchdown on the board. The point after kick from Tingen was again good.

The North Raleigh team did manage to score before the half was over but that was all they got for the day. Defensive efforts by Matt Brown, Matthew Gulley and Sam Bunn helped stuff North Raleigh and kept them far away from the end zone for the remainder of the day.

After two more scoring drives, the crowning achievement for Apex was superb blocking from Adam Carter, Peyton Pearson and the remaining offensive line to help set up a touchdown run for Archer Zureich. This was Zureich’s first touchdown of the season and the icing on the cake for an ecstatic Apex crowd! Stay tuned next week when Apex returns to their home field to take on the Wake Forest Storm.

Pee Wee

Apex PW Black Cougars hosted the North Raleigh Bulldogs on Saturday at Lufkin Middle School. It was a beautiful fall afternoon with sunny skies and warm temperatures. PW Black won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half in effort to set the tone of the game with their tough nosed defense.

The North Raleigh offense came out and immediately tried to run the ball up the middle, but they were met by a gang of PW Black tacklers, led by linebackers Jack Gregg and Jarrett “Jarhead” Finch. The Cougar defense stopped the Bulldogs on three straight plays forcing a punt, which was blocked and recovered by Chase Gourley.

PW Black took the field after the blocked punt and immediately scored on the very first play. Ethan Bevalacqua took the handoff and behind the strong offensive line lead by Drew Oliver, Adam Pullen, Joe McDarris, Connor McKinley, scampered 10 yards for the score. After the kick-off, the Apex defense remained strong.

Defensive linemen Alex Falls, Zack Muscarella, Ryan McHargue, Ethan Hughes, Connor McKinley and Nate Antonik played the majority of the first half in the Bulldog backfield disrupting every play they tried to run.

The PW Black offense was able to continue to execute their plays flawlessly which lead to a touchdown run of 40 yards by Spencer Stokes.

Following another defensive stop after their second touchdown, Apex was able to drive down the field and kick a 27 yard field goal by Owen McGeary to close out the first half with the Cougars leading 17-0. The second half started out with the Bulldogs kicking off to the Cougars, who immediately return the kick for the third Apex touchdown of the day and giving PW Black a 23-0 lead.

This large lead put the Bulldogs in a passing mode. But the Apex defensive backfield lead by Aidan Jeffs, Judd Griffin, Dalton Perkins, Michael Frias and Kaden Whitfield Dement, proved to be too strong and shut down the passing attack.

One last ditch effort to move the ball down field through the air proved to be too costly for North Raleigh as Aidan Callahan intercepted the pass and returned it 60 yards for the final score of the day. This final score put the game away and PW Black took home the victory 30-0.

Jr Pee Wee Gold

ASA JPW Gold went back to work Sept. 24 taking on the Cap City Black squad at Carol Middle School. The Cougars have worked hard as a team and the 19-0 win reflected their efforts.

The game was much tougher than the score would indicate. The Cougars possessed a true grit earning two offensive touchdowns behind strong up front blocking by Zach Mullins, Gabe Jensen, Seth Steiman, Cole Scoggins, Jeremy Berkowitz, Liam Murray and Kyle Juris. Center Cole Scoggins was especially challenged but overcame a continuous battle with the hard- nosed defensive guard for Cap City.

With the Cougars getting crunched in the middle, QB Tyler Owens just got the hand off to Kevin Conroy for the games first points. Jason Shammas added points to the offensive effort with a nice cut and TD. Defensively the Cougars proved stingy. Defensive linemen Chris Halker, Geoffrey Forsythe, Justin Thompson, Skylar Pagan, and Will Norman stopped up the middle while linebackers Joey Maya, Jason Shammas and Jackson Marley played patient and effective football. Zane Hill and Kevin Conroy kept Cap City buttoned up from the cornerback spots. Jake Vehslage recovered a nice fumble for a turnover during the game.

The most spectacular highlight was a Seth Steiman interception and run for touchdown. Crashing from the defensive end position Seth picked off the screen pass intended for the running back coming out of the backfield.

This win was a complete team effort as the Cougars progress forward and set their next sights on their next opponent, the Bulldogs this Saturday in North Raleigh.

Apex Pop Warner Football and Cheer is administered by the Apex Sports Authority, a 100% volunteer organization which sponsors local youth lacrosse and wrestling in addition to its Pop Warner activities. For more information please visit http://www.ASACougars.com.