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North Midgets to play for Peace River title

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North Fort Myers Midget Ben Pogue looks to throw while under pressure during a Peace River Conference playoff game against Charlotte in North Port on Saturday. CHUCK?BALLARO

The North Fort Myers Pop Warner football program experienced both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat Saturday during the first round of the Peace River playoffs in Larry Thoenissen Field in North Port.

The Midgets overcame a sluggish first half and pulled away late against Charlotte for a date in the championship game Saturday at the community park, while the Junior Pee-Wees saw a thrilling victory suddenly turn into a surprise defeat at the hands of Riverdale.

In the Midget game, the Red Knights and Charlotte locked up in a head-to-head battle, with neither team coming close to the end zone for more than a half before seizing control in the second half for a 22-0 win.

“When you have two good teams, the adrenaline flows and it’s tough to score. In the second half it’s usually the team that’s better conditioned and the better team usually prevails,” North Midget coach Ronald Kelly said.

Late in the third quarter, North finally got going as Blake McPherson got open after a Charlotte defender slipped and caught a 64-yard TD pass from Ben Pogue to make the score 6-0.

It was all North from there as a Chris Lucas interception led to a 12-yard touchdown run from Dylan Ulmer to up the lead to 14-0 after Dawson Graves converted the two-point kick.

Hunter Kobylanski and Cameron Taylor later recovered fumbles, and McPherson returned a punt 52 yards to the house to make the final score 22-0.

“We had a great practice all week and we did get out slow. I couldn’t believe it,” McPherson said. “When I caught that pass it changed the whole game for us.”

North will play Fort Myers Saturday for the championship. The Firecats handed North its only defeat in the regular season.

“The Firecats are almost an All-Star team and we have to go in there and play Knights football,” Kelly said.

Meanwhile, the Junior Pee-Wees locked up in a see-saw battle with Riverdale that saw the Red Knights seemingly win the game on a Willie Brown touchdown run with 48 seconds left to give North a 12-7 lead.

But Riverdale quarterback Tyrell Cherry found Octavian Davis behind the coverage, who raced in with the winning score with 20 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 14-12 victory.

“We had perfect position, and he just stopped because he thought he could jump the route and he misjudged it as a 10-year old will do,” North Pee-Wee coach Chris Reeves said. “It was an excellent throw and a great catch.”

Trailing 7-6, North took the ball late in the fourth quarter, with Isaac Church making a long pass reception to key the drive that got North the lead.

“We’ve been practicing the long plays the past four weeks and we only pull them out when we need them,” Reeves said. “It got us inside the 15-yard line and we used the power game again.”

North took the lead on the opening drive, with Brown breaking some tackles and pulling away for a 60-yard touchdown run to make the score 6-0.

It stayed that way until the fourth quarter, when Barry White scored on a seven-yard run following a punt return deep into North territory to give the Wildcats a 7-6 lead, setting up the crazy finish.

“Our defense showed up big today. We were pinned down much of the game, but they manned up and contained their speed,” Reeves said. “I think we just got caught up in the emotion and may have celebrated little early.”