KELSEYVILLE — In his first season as head coach of the Westshore pee wee youth football team, Sid Percaccio and his Cardinals certainly had plenty to celebrate Saturday after beating the Middletown Colts 32-6 in the championship game of the Mendo-Lake Empire Youth Football League at Kelseyville High School.
Westshore (11-1) avenged its only loss of the season, a 20-19 setback to Middletown back in late September, in the championship rematch.
“We were a lot more prepared for them this time,” Percaccio said. “Our kids really got better as the year went along and we added some things for this game that we didn’t have the last time we played them.”
It also helps when key players step up in a big game, which was the case on Saturday for the Cardinals, who allowed a grand total of 32 points all season, 26 of those to Middletown.
Quarterback Nathen Heath connected with Cayden Knoles on a touchdown pass in the first quarter to give Westshore a 6-0 lead. It was Knoles’ first reception of the year. Middletown answered right back with a touchdown to even things at 6-all, and that’s where the score stayed until late in the second quarter when Dillon Egan scored on a 10-yard run to put the Cardinals ahead to stay at 12-6.
Receiving the kickoff to open the second half, Westshore moved quickly down the field thanks to a long run by John Pasalo Jr. Not long after that Paxton Villanueva scored on a 18-yard run while Pasalo Jr. added the conversion run to make it 19-6.
Westshore put the game away with two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the first on a Pasalo Jr. 22-yard run. Heath’s 60-yard interception return with 5:52 remaining put the finishing touches on the Cardinals’ victory as Pasalo Jr. added the conversion run.
Middletown (11-1) wasn’t able to move the ball much after its touchdown in the first half.
“We pretty much shut down Middletown’s offense after that,” Percaccio said.
Westshore had the ball at the Middletown 1-yard-line in the final seconds but elected to take a knee to run out the clock.
The Cardinals opened the season with 18 players but were down to 16 by week three and to 14 for the championship game Saturday.
“We were fortunate not to lose players to COVID,” Percaccio said.
Westshore shut out its first four opponents before losing 20-19 to Middletown at Lakeport. The Cardinals bounced back with four more shutouts before closing the regular season with a 20-6 win over Northshore. In the opening round of the playoffs, the Cardinals registered their ninth shutout with a 8-0 victory over Lower Lake.
Prior to becoming head coach this season, Percaccio served one year as an assistant coach on the pee wee team in 2019. There was no 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His coaching staff this season consisted of assistants Kyle Heath, Larry Heath and Brenden Egan.
“When we started the season our goal was to have fun and win a few games,” Percaccio said. “I don’t know what came over these kids but they really came around.”
