National Championships - Game 3 vs. Leyden Bears

The Novato Stingers banner flies proudly for Game 3 in Florida

The pictures from this game are now available on the 2009 Novato Stingers Shutterfly site.


Game 3 Summary


The Novato Stingers concluded their 2009 National Championship odyssey on Thursday, December 10th with another game at Austin-Lindall Park in Kissimmee, Florida. Novato arrived under a daunting Florida downpour and was drenched within a few minutes of starting the pre-game warm-up. But players and coaches alike were smiling and joking as if it were a sunny and warm.


When game time arrived, the Stingers were ready to roll and their fans, though few, were already in mid-game form. Novato won the coin-toss and elected to receive the ball first.


The Stingers first drive was strong again, as they methodically drove the field on a short series of runs and short passes. Unfortunately, they came up short with a fumble deep in Bears' territory.


The good news was this was the chance for the Stingers version of the Novato "Black Swarm" to take the field for the final game of the season. Novato's starting "Black" defense has shut down opponents all year, so it's proper that we recognize each of them for their outstanding work all year. The starting eleven are: linemen Hunter Wegner, Daronn McCall, Chris Folsom and Robbie Cassée; linebackers Gene Peugh-Wade, Angelo Lagomarsino and Marc Alvarez; cornerbacks Alec Ball and Danny Dreher; and safeties Henry Dalton and Ben Putman. And on this day they, and their "Gold" counterparts did their jobs well.


The Stingers D held fast on the Bears' first drive, which was still going when play stopped at the end of the first quarter with the score tied 0-0. Coach John Jones admonished the Stingers to step-it-up another notch and they did on the first play of the second-quarter when Cassée made his first interception of the year giving Novato the ball back.


The Stingers started with a Tommy Sanz to Cassée pass for a first down. Putman followed with a couple of strong runs but Novato gave the ball back on downs.


Novato held Leyden on the next drive but gave the ball back after a quick run and a fumble on a half-back option pass that didn't quite work right.


Leyden's next drive ate up the remaining time and the teams went to halftime still locked at 0.


The Bears got the ball first in the second-half and the resulting drive took nearly the entire quarter. The stingy Stingers D held fast, but Coach Jones had to make a tough call toward the end of the quarter to avoid a real problem. Because the Leyden offense had been on the field so long, the Stingers' Gold offense hadn't been in for enough minimum plays. If Leyden had kept the ball into the fourth quarter, all Stingers without the minimum plays would have had to go in on defense until they reached their required numbers. Since the Novato players in this situation were all offensive players, this could have been a real challenge.


Fortunately, by calling all three of the Stingers time-outs in the last two minutes of the third quarter, and with the Novato defense holding fast, the Bears turned the ball over on downs before the end of the quarter.


So, with the Gold offense now getting it's plays, the Stingers finally got a break-away by Marc Alvarez for what looked like a 70-yard touchdown and the lead. But it wasn't meant to be, and the ball came back because of a holding call. The Stingers got off one more running play before the two teams broke before the fourth quarter still knotted at zero.


The Stingers started with a Sanz to Alvarez pass, but came out just short and had to punt the ball back to the bears. But the Stingers held fast, and after a critical third-down sack by Alvarez, Novato got the ball back with good field position. Putman and Alvarez moved the ball on the ground and Cassée caught a pass over the middle to move the Stingers to the Bears 5-yard line. Putman took two more tries up the middle, moving the ball to within two-inches of scoring. With one more herculean lunge, and with the aid of a huge push by the left side of the offensive line, Putman pushed in for the score, giving the Stingers a 6-0 lead after the failed PAT.


After giving the ball back on the kick-off, Novato's defense came up big one last time. Chris Folsom got through for a huge sack and the rest of the sward stopped the Bears cold for a 4-and-out. After one last play it was over, and the Stingers walked away with the win and the satisfaction that comes with being the third-place AYF PeeWee Division II team in the nation.


Final Score: Novato Stingers 6, Leyden Bears 0


Final Ranking: 3rd Place, AYF PeeWee Division II National Championship


Here are a few highlights from the Stingers big win in the consolation/third-place game:

Ben Putman returns the opening kick-off for the Stingers

Robbie Cassée intercepts the ball on the first play of the second quarter

Tommy Sanz throws the ball out to the right...

...and it's caught for a first-down and more by Cassée

The Stingers "Black Swarm" in action

Marc Alvarez breaks one for a touchdown...but it's brought back by a holding call

Alvarez make a key catch to start the scoring drive

Putman gaining critical yards on the scoring drive

Putman pushes it into the end-zone for a touchdown

The stingers celebrate the touchdown!

Chris Folsom comes up huge with a sack in Leyden's final drive

The Stinger "D" stops the Bears on their final play of a stellar season

The Novato Stingers are 3rd in the nation!

Coach Jones shows off the hardware

Your 2009 Novato Stingers are:


Head Coach: John Jones


Assistant Coaches: Jack Jones, Rich Putman, Jose Herrera, Mark Wright, Martin Sanz, Mario Balestrieri, Demaurea Fleming


Players: 5 Danny Dreher, 6 Jordan Polera, 7 Henry Dalton, 8 Gene Peugh-Wade, 9 Angelo Lagomarsino, 10 Ben Putman, 12 Alec Ball, 13 Tommy Sanz, 14 Daronn McCall, 16 Robbie Cassée, 18 Hunter Wegner, 20 Anthony Balestrieri, 21 Marc Alvarez, 24 Paul Kunst, 25 Chris Folsom, 28 Andrew Tapia, 33 Daniel Hopkins, 34 Sean McDevitt, 42 Sam Mina, 43 Brandon Caamal, 44 Joseph Navarro, 47 Moses Johnson, 52 Michael Sumpter-Blakely, 54 Ryan Johnson, 59 Daylan Birlin, 60 William Cestarollo, 65 Andrew Larkin, 66 John Paul Hernandez, 82 John Viezcas and 99 Matthew Simmons


Team Mom: Carrie Cassée

National Championships - Game 2 vs. Southside Cowboys

The pictures from this game are now available on the 2009 Novato Stingers Shutterfly site.

Game 2 Summary

The Novato Stingers continued their National Championship odyssey with a 2 PM game against the Southside Cowboys from Houston at Austin-Tindall Park on a hot, sunny and muggy Tuesday. While the Cowboys won the coin-toss, they deferred to the Stingers who elected to receive the ball first. And the offense did its thing, slowly and methodically driving the ball down the field. Ben Putman was the workhorse, accounting for nine carries in the first drive alone. With fourth-and-goal from just inside the two-yard line the Stingers came up just short and turned it over to the Cowboys.

From there on, it was a defensive struggle for the entire first-half. The Stingers looked like they might score on their second drive, but a strong pass from Tommy Sanz was just out of Robbie Cassée's reach.

The teams went to half-time with a well-earned scoreless tie.

Things look good for the Stingers again as Henry Dalton came up with the opening kick-off and Novato had the first drive of the second-half as well. The first drive came up short as the Stingers fumbled the ball back on a fourth-and-ten+ just inside Cowboy territory.

The Stingers defense held tight throughout the third-quarter too with the two team locked 0-0 going into the final quarter.

The Cowboys broke out with a long run for a touchdown with about nine minutes to play, but the defense stuffed the PAT run to hold the score at 6-0.

Novato looked to score on the ensuing drive, including a clutch pass from Sanz to a diving Paul Kunst on a critical fourth-down play, but came up short at the Cowboy 24.

Again, the defense held tight and had the Cowboys backed up with a fourth-and-long in their own territory and just under two minutes to play. Unfortunately, Southside broke another long run for a touchdown, puting the game away. The defense denied the PAT run again, with Marc Alvarez, Chris Folsom, Cassée and the rest of the defense stuffing the run at the line.

Novato's final drive ran out of time and the Stingers came up short against a very tough team.

Final Score: Novato Stingers 0, Southside Cowboys 12

Next Up: Leyden Bears in the consolation/third-place game on Thursday at 2 PM Eastern Time.

Photos of Game 2 (there are 780 of them!) are now available on the 2009 Novato Stingers Shutterfly site.

National Championships - Game 1 vs. Brooklyn Tomahawks

The pictures from this game are now available on the 2009 Novato Stingers Shutterfly site.


Game 1 Summary


The Novato Stingers started their National Championship odyssey with a very interesting twist indeed. Novato was bracketed against a tough Brooklyn Tomahawks team which came with a 7-2 record after outscoring its opponents 209-6 this year. The two teams started play a little after 2 PM at Austin-Tindall Park in Kissimmee, Florida under overcast skies with balmy temperatures.


Things didn't look good for the Stingers early. After winning the coin-toss and getting the opening kick-off Novato had a short drive with a few first-downs but ended up turning the ball over on an interception. Brooklyn took advantage, driving the field for a quick touchdown and a rushing PAT for a 7-0 lead.


Novato's second drive was promising, with the Stingers knocking on the door before the Tomahawks intercepted another pass to stall the drive.


The two teams continued to slug it out and the first-quarter closed with the Tomahawks up 7-0. And they quickly made it 13-0 on a lightning-fast 64-yeard pass, catch and run by Brooklyn. The only good news was Novato stopped the PAT run short of the end-zone to keep the score from being higher.


Novato came very close to scoring before halftime after a fumble recovery and a strong drive that looked like it would result in points, but the pass in the end-zone was intercepted by a Brooklyn defender on a spectacular rolling catch. In all, the Stingers looked a little flat as Coach Jones prodded the boys to step things up in the second-half.


And pump it up they did! The opening onside kick-off just narrowly escaped out of bounds in front of a diving Ben Putman. But the stingy Stinger defense that we've seen all year returned, and after a short drive they took the ball back with a fumble recovery by Danny Dreher. Novato pushed it down the field on sheer willpower with a series of grinding runs and short passes that culminated in a 7-yard Marc Alvarez touchdown. With the blocked PAT kick the score was whittled down to 13-6 and the Stingers had matched the total scoring against the Tomahawks all year!


But the Stingers weren't done. In the fourth quarter, with time ticking down Novato got the ball back near mid-field for one last try. After a successful tight-end pass by Robbie Cassee and another key connection between quarterback Tommy Sanz and receiver Paul Kunst, Alvarez ripped off another touchdown run, this one for 20 yards to leave the Stingers down a point with less than a minute to play. The team stuck with what had worked all year and entrusted the PAT to Alvarez' leg. Unfortunately, the Tomahawks were able to push through and block the kick leaving Novato a point short at 13-12.


As the clock ran out after a couple of Brooklyn kneel-downs, the Stingers looked to have come up just a bit short in this hard-fought Florida battle.


But wait, there's more...


While the Stingers didn't score more points they were declared the winner by forfeit. Coach Jones quickly explained to the team that Brooklyn didn't have enough players so they had forfeit the game and played with four ineligible players who were above the weight limit.  Essentially, this means that the Stingers almost beat a Jr. Midget team. And scored twice the number of points that team had given up all year in the process.


So what looked like defeat was in essence an excellent warm-up for the Stingers next game - in the winner's bracket against a tough Southside Cowboys team from Houston, Texas on Tuesday, December 8.


Not a bad outcome from a gritty, determined Stingers performance.


Final Score: Novato Stingers - win by forfeit (Game score Stingers 12, Tomahawks 13)


Next Up: Southside Cowboys - Tuesday, December 8 at 2 PM.


Here are some photo highlights from the game:

Coach Putman pumping up the Stingers before entering the field

Ben Putman taking the opening kick-off up the field

Henry Dalton forcefully separating receiver from ball

Robbie Cassee lowers the boom on a defender while yards

Angelo Lagomarsino gaining critical yards in the second-half

Marc Alvarez slips through for Novato's first touchdown

Alvarez again, this time on the way to a 20-yard score