Canyon Country, CA — The Mighty Mite Warriors found a way to advance to (3-1) with a win against a disciplined well coached team in the El Rio Spartans in double overtime. The game went according to El Rio’s game plan. It was slow, they kept our offense off the field, and the refs let them take 2 minutes per play. We turned the ball over twice and it felt like our offense never had a chance to get going. Dylan played a solid game at QB - he and Hayden had zero bad snaps which can’t be overlooked at this level. Dylan went 2/3 passing and threw a pretty good ball. Levi broke a long one in the second quarter on a well blocked run over right tackle. Our defense, led today by Josh (who had 15 tackles, 3 of which were for loss, and 2 force fumbles) as well as Roman (who had 8 tackles, 3 of which were for loss, and 2 forced fumbles). Roman shut down everything up the middle and Josh flew sideline to sideline. The Warriors played their brand of team tackling defense and showed good pursuit shutting down cutback lanes. Whenever a running got through the front 8 Jaden was there to shut him down. This was Jaden’s (the Hammer) breakout game at safety. After we all looked up the overtime rules we learned that we each would get an untimed drive from the 10 year line. If it was stilled tied we’d get one more series (which we needed to) and if it was a tie after that then it would be a tie. The Warriors started on defense where Jonathan set the edge after jumping in to fill in for an injured Cam. Hayden made the tackle. The next play Josh timed a blitz perfectly to sack the QB and strip the ball, which was recovered by Jace. The Warriors took over on offense and the troubles continued. A 4 and out led to OT #2. The final series of the game kicked off with the Warriors looking at 1st and goal from the 10 yard line. Jace took the first carry and gained 4 yard by himself. Levi took the ball up the middle behind Johnny and got hit along with a face mask penalty. The next play the Warriors scored what would be the game winning touchdown with Dylan F running the Warrior Smash QB keep right. The Defense was the star of the game. The last series going up 6 points and with four downs to win it, the Warriors stepped up. On first down Roman blitzed up the middle for a big sack. On second down Roman filled up the middle for zero gain. On third down Josh had a big qb pressure that led to an incomplete pass and on 4th and 11 a sweep around the left was completely shut down. The ball carrier reverses field and Josh chased him down from several yards away. Warriors win. Proud of this team. While the offense struggled, the defense stepped up. The mark of a good team is one the finds a way to win in tough games. On to the Ventura Packers! - Coach Mike Fruchtman