The Northeast Pensacola Wildcats are sending six teams to the NWFYSA Final Four this weekend after four of the five teams that played in the first round advanced with victories. Two other teams had first-round byes and were automatically placed in the Final Four.
The Wildcats still have teams alive in the 6U, 7U, 8U, 9U, 11U and 14U age groups after the 10U suffered a tough loss to Ensley in the first round of the playoffs.
Game times for Saturday’s games are as follows:
6U – NEP vs. Bellview at 11 a.m. at Milton
7U – NEP vs. Pace at 10:30 a.m. at Magee Field
8U – NEP vs. Pensacola at 12 p.m. at Magee Field
9U – NEP vs. Milton at 8:30 a.m. at Legion Field
11U – NEP vs. Bellview at 1:30 p.m. at Bellview
14U – NEP vs. Milton at 4 p.m. at Milton
6U rolls to a win over Salvation Army
The 6U Wildcats, under the direction of coach Bobby Behr, advanced to the semifinals with a 30-0 win over Salvation Army on Saturday at Brent.
The Wildcats improved to 9-0 on the year with the victory and will now move on to play Bellview on Saturday at Milton. Game time is set for 11 a.m.
The Wildcats were led by Carson Behr and Dylan Thompkins in the win over Salvation Army, one of the highlights being a nice touchdown pass from Behr to Thompkins to put the game away.
8U explodes for 30-0 win over Milton
The 8U Wildcats picked up right where they left off in the regular season, showcasing an abundance of talent and depth in rolling to a 30-0 win over the Milton Panthers at Magee Field.
The Wildcats got a touchdown pass from Trae Townsend to Kaden Ware in the first half, and Camden “Bone” Siefert had a long interception return for a touchdown as the Wildcats built a 28-0 halftime lead.
The Wildcats will now take on the Pensacola Tigers in the semifinals at Magee Field. Kickoff is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start.
10U falls to Ensley in tough one
The 10U Wildcats drew a rematch with the Ensley Chiefs in the first round of the playoffs, and the game was nearly a mirror image of the first one.
Plagued by turnovers, the Wildcats suffered an 18-0 loss to the Chiefs, who got a long touchdown run by Anthony Gee to set the tone early in the contest.
The 10U Wildcats finished the regular season with a 5-4 record.
11U Wildcats roll to 30-0 victory over Perdido
The 11U Wildcats got off to a quick start, scoring on their first play from scrimmage and never looked back in taking a 30-0 win over Perdido at Pine Forest High School.
The Wildcats got touchdown runs from Nigel Nelson, CJ Nettles and Kobe Howard, while Raigen Motley capped things off with a TD pass to Josh Spears.
Ricky Bucco put the finishing touches on the victory with a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to invoke the 30-point mercy rule.
14U Wildcats defense shines in 16-6 win over Tigers
The Junior Wildcats drew arguably the toughest matchup of the 14U division, getting the fifth seed in the bracket. The Wildcats were pitted against No. 4 Pensacola Tigers.
Early on, it was a defensive slugfest, but the Wildcats struck first in the contest when Jaylen Lewis took a toss around the left side, made a couple of defenders miss and was off to the races for an 80-yard touchdown run and an 8-0 Wildcats lead after the PAT by Duke McClinton.
NEP got the two-touchdown advantage early in the third quarter, taking their opening possession down the field and capping it off with a short touchdown run by Shamane Walker.
McClinton added the PAT to give the Wildcats a 16-0 lead.
Pensacola came right back, though, and kept themselves in the game with a long touchdown run, but the NEP defense continually came up with big plays down the stretch to maintain their 10-point advantage.
Collin Betties converted a third down attempt with a long run to get into the Pensacola red zone, then coach Brian Byrd had the troops kneel the ball to run out the remaining time.
NEP will now get a rematch against the only team to defeat them this year, the Milton Panthers. Milton, the No. 1 seed in 14U, advanced to the semifinals with an easy 30-0 win over Navarre.
The game will be played at 4 p.m. at Milton.