Yellow Jackets drop first game, then crush Arizona
Novato Advance, December 17 2003 – pageB1 By Richard Vinson

The Novato Yellow Jackets, a Pop Warner Junior Midget football team, closed out a thrilling week at the Pop Warner “Super Bowl” National Championships by capturing the 3rd place  trophy Friday, on a 36-6 win over the Parker Panthers from Arizona.

Things started on a sour note when the Yellow Jackets lost their opener, a 20-19 heart breaker, to the South County Indians from Massachusetts.  In this first game, Novato’s valiant comeback attempt came up just a single point and 1 yard too short in their Division II National Semi-final game.  Despite the loss, the Yellow Jackets still captured some lifelong memories of a thrilling football game.

Novato struck first midway through the first quarter when the Yellow Jackets’ Matt Pollock picked-off an Indians pass and sprinted untouched 53 yard to the endzone.

The PAT conversion failed and Jake Davis kickoff pinned the Indians deep in their own territory.  However, the Indians boldly called a long pass play that went for an 86-yard touchdown.

Novato’s Eric Taylor blocked the PAT and the score remained 6-6 until early in the third quarter when the Indians converted a short swing pass into a 54-yard touchdown and then added a successful PAT kick to make the score 14-6.

On their next possession, the Indians widened their lead with a 32-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down play.  After a blocked PAT attempt, the score was 20-6.

On the Yellow Jackets’ subsequent possession, the passing arm of quarterback Taylor Cress heated up as he completed a 25-yard strike to a diving Polvere, a 9-yarder to Logan Edwards , and a 35- yard bomb that Davis leaped to grab away from defenders and taking to the Indians 6 yard line.  Edwards then scored from 5 yards out and converted the PAT, cutting the score to 20-13.

Early in the fourth quarter, Novato got the ball back near midfield when Taylor dove on an Indian’s fumble.

Two plays later, polvere gathered in a Cress swing pass and rumbled 53 yard for a touchdown.

An Edwards run for the point after seemed to have tied the game but a late flag signaled a holding call that nullified the score and forced a 13-yard point after attempt that failed.

Now trailing 20-19, Novato’s defense rose to the occasion by forcing a punt, getting the ball back on their own 46 yard line with just two minutes left in the game.  A 10-yard pass from Cress to Polvere moved the ball inside Indians territory.

Cress launched a long bomb into the outstretched arms of Davis as he flew down the left sideline, giving Novato a first down at the Indians’ 12 yard line with less than 2 minute remaining in regulation.

Edwards, always the Novato workhorse, then took the ball down to the 2 yard line with three straight carries.

Faced with fourth down and 1 yard to go on the 2 yard line, the Yellow Jackets relied on Edwards again to pick up the first down, and with the Indians now stacking the middle of their defensive line, it took all of the effort he could muster to power the ball down to the 1 yard line for a first and goal.  Novato then promptly took their last timeout as coach Michael Wood went over their red zone strategy.

With just 28 seconds remaining, Edwards took another handoff but could make no headway against the tightening Indians defense.

With the clock running, Novato hurried to the line ran another Edwards dive play but there was nowhere to go and only 10 seconds remaining as he was tackled short of the goal line.

Novato desperately hustled to get another play off but were unable to do so as time ran out.

In their second contest, playing in the warm  sunshine at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, the Novato defensive unit found their backs to the wall early against the Parker Panthers but rose to meet the challenge.  Tyler Lelis and Jacob Davis both grabbed interceptions, thwarting the Panthers’ early scoring threats.

The Yellow Jackets then mounted an 85-yard drive, which was capped off  by Kevin Bowman’s 1-yard touchdown plunge, with Michael Polvere’s point after kick, giving Novato an 8-0 lead as the first quarter ended.

In the second quarter, Novato quickly struck again when Taylor Cress bootlegged right and found Polvere’s outstretched arms in the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown pass.

Polvere’s successful point-after kick gave the Yellow Jackets a 16-0 lead.

Parker then returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, however, cutting the margin to 16-6.  Novato then extended its lead to 22-6 when Logan Edwards took a handoff over left tackle, cut back sharply to the right, dodged Panther defenders and scampered 43 yard for a touchdown.

In the third quarter, it was Edwards again carrying the ball into the endzone – this time from 10 yards out.  Polvere converted the two point kick giving the Yellow Jackets a comfortable 30-6 lead.  Coach Michael Wood began to substitute freely, with every lineup combination moving the ball effectively.

Novato’s defense was also superb, thwarting the Panthers’ only second half scoring threat when Jeremy Vinson forced a fumble and Polvere recovered.

Joseph Simmons then put the cherry on the 10-2 dream season for the Yellow Jackets with a 1-yard dive into the endzone in the game’s closing minutes.