Dorchester, Everett are Pop Warner winners
PROVIDENCE -- Next stop,
The Dorchester Eagles clinched the program's sixth straight trip to the Pop Warner national championships at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., by outlasting the Brooklyn (Conn.) Pit Bulls, 26-14, at Conley Stadium for the Junior Midget regional title.
The Eagles will be joined next week at Disney World by the Everett Huskies, who blanked New Haven, 28-0, for the New England Pee Wee championship.
Both teams are scheduled to play first-round games at the Disney complex Sunday as they compete for berths in the Division 1 Super Bowls. The national titles will be decided Dec. 9.
The Eagles had hoped to travel south with their Junior Pee Wee brethren. But the Dorchester Junior Pee Wees were unable to solve the Worcester Vikings in a 19-0 loss in the regional championship game.
In the most dramatic finish of the four division title games in Providence, the New Haven Steelers scored on a 38-yard pass with 21 seconds left in regulation to stun the previously undefeated Malden Cyclones, 6-0, for the Midget championship.
Dorchester (13-0) trailed for the first time this season when Brooklyn seized a 7-0 advantage in the first quarter. But the Eagles grabbed a 12-7 edge in the second and never relinquished the lead, keeping alive their dreams of a national championship.
The Eagles reached the Pop Warner Super Bowl with their Midget team last year and advanced to the final game with their Pee Wees in 2002, only to finish as runners-up both times.
The Everett Huskies also will be chasing their first national championship. They fell short in trips to the Pop Warner playoffs at Disney in 1993 and '96.
Perhaps more daunting than the prospect of vying for a national football title, however, is the challenge the Dorchester and Everett teams face in raising the money to fund their trips. Dorchester Eagles president Leslie Goodwin estimated the excursion will cost as much as $75,000, and the teams have less than a week to raise the money.
Donations may be made to the Dorchester Eagles at Members Plus Credit Union, 494 Gallivan Blvd., Dorchester, MA 02122, and the Everett Huskies, c/o Charles Leo, 62 Liberty St., Everett, MA 02149.
BOB HOHLER 
