Pop Warner National Championship: Jensen Beach wins Pee Wee title

story re-posted from TCPalm.com, by Jon Santucci

ORLANDO — With one of its best players out with a broken leg, the Jensen Beach Falcons turned to quarterback Liam Martin.



Martin responded by throwing for 88 yards and three touchdowns and led the Falcons to a 24-8 win over the Kapolei Titans (Hawaii) in the Pop Warner Super Bowl Pee Wee Division national championship game at ESPN's Wide World of Sports on Friday.

"It was tough at first and then we started hitting them and saw them getting tired in the third and fourth quarter — then we just dominated them," Martin said. "I didn't play that well in the first quarter, but the rest of the game the passes were pretty good and I stepped it up and had a pretty good game.

"It was a little hard not having (injured running back Tyrese Jackson), because he's our speed back. But we had to go to our power game and just pound them and pound them."

Jackson, who scored two goals in the quarterfinal and one in the semifinal, suffered a broken leg against the Capital City Steelers (N.C.) on Tuesday. Falcons players and coaches even had Jackson's No. 5 on their forearm and right hand.

"Our passing game is good," Falcons coach James Cannata said. "Now instead of our lightning rod Tyrese being in there, we had to air it out a little bit.

"I grabbed Liam Martin before the game and I told him that things happen for a reason. I told him, 'If No. 5 was in the game, no one would realize that you're the MVP of this team.' He went out and did it. It was quite a team effort — it's a team and that's what we do. We came together. Tyrese is big part of this team, but it's just a part."

Jensen Beach opened the game with an onside kick, which they recovered and Martin got the Falcons on the board first with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Will Field.

"I felt like we had a better chance to win the Super Bowl once I scored," said Field, who also caught a touchdown pass in the semifinal win. "It was a waggle left. It felt awesome catching a pass against one of the best teams in the nation.

"It was tough in the first half without (Jackson), but in the second half everyone realized that he got us this far and we should bring it home for him."

Kapolei came right back and drove 32-yards in four plays to tie the game at 8 — which was the halftime score.

"They came out and went through our defense like a hot knife through butter," Cannata said. "We just didn't look prepared. It was just execution. For a while it seemed like we had four kids playing football and everybody else seemed intimidated by the stage. But we just tried to calm them down and get back to our game."

Jensen Beach scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter when Anthony Cannata caught a 4-yard pass from Martin on third down.

The Falcons added a final touchdown midway through the fourth quarter when Robbie Piekarski snuck behind the defense and scored on a 37-yard pass.


"Our guys were wide open every time," Cannata said. "(Martin) has got ice water in his veins. ... He threw lightning bolts. It goes unnoticed, but that kid is a stud. A flat-out stud."

Jensen Beach Falcons 24, Kapolei Titans 8

Jensen Beach 8 0 8 8—24
Kapolei 8 0 0 0—8


SPREADING THE WEALTH
With Tyrese Jackson out with a broken leg, the Falcons relied on quarterback Liam Martin to lead them to the national championship. Martin threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers – Will Field, Anthony Cannata and Robbie Piekarski.


On his final touchdown pass, Martin had two receivers open behind the Kapolei secondary, but chose to connect with Piekarski — instead of Cannata.


When asked on the sideline why he threw to Piekarski, Martin responded, "Cannata already caught one."

ROSTER


Anthony Cannata
Justus Carter
AJ Centrone
Ben Chalupa
Nolan Comm
Kyle Derrick
Robbie Elder
Curtis Furgusen
Will Field
Trent Graham
Tyrese Jackson
Owen Kenney
Liam Martin
Mac Merrill
Brian Minella
Jeremiah Offord
Connor Phillips
Robbie Piekarski
Taylor Propis
Dylan Scuderi
Javaris Thompson
Marlin Wakeman
Blake Wiswell