CHAMPS!!
The Holmdel Pee Wees defeated the Manalapan Braves 18-0 on Sunday to win the AYF Jersey Shore Championship. Our hometown boys will now move on to the National Championships in Orlando, Florida.
“I am so proud of how hard these young men worked all week long to prepare for an outstanding Manalapan team”, said coach Jeff Rainess. “ From the second we ran out of the tunnel on to the field, it was clear that they were ready to take this championship back to Holmdel.”
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The hallmark of this championship team all year long has been the unselfishness of the boys. It was a complete team effort that resulted in a dominating performance on Offense, Defense, and Special teams. “Back in July, we weren’t sure if we had enough boys to field a team” said coach John Eknoian. “The team was pieced together with boys who had never played with each other before. It is a credit to the character of these boys that they gelled together as a cohesive unit and became champions. We’ve always said that this team was very similar to the movie ‘Miracle’ – a diverse group that came together to win.”
Following the script of this movie, the boys had lost 34-6 to the defending national champion Braves only a month earlier. “This season was about redemption” noted coach Joe Hernando. We had lost to several teams last year that were on our schedule again this year. It was added motivation to methodically check-off each team on our “Redemption Tour”.
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You can call this a miracle team, a motivated team, a family, but calling them CHAMPIONS will suit them just fine.
JSAYF Pee Wee Champion Holmdel Hornets:
Jai Bakshi ,Michael Bossert, Thiago Braga, James Breschard, Mack Byrne, Joseph D’Acunto, Ryan Day, Scotti Dupont, James Ecklyn, Jeffrey DeCicco, Robert Eknoian ,John Eknoian, Nicholas Fanzini, Dean Gallo, Daniel McCormack, Michael Noble, James Petrillo, Zachary Pierson ,Robert Pitt, Brandon Saghafi, Alex Starr.
Coaches: John Eknoian, Lou Fanzini, Troy Gallo, Joe Hernando, Jeff Rainess, Robert Saghafi. Team mom extraordinaire: Joanne Fanzini
