The Fleming Island Dreadnaughts Pop Warner football 10-Unders and 11-Unders team stayed unbeaten for the season with regional playoff wins on Saturday at Fleming Island High School. The 10s won a tough 26-18 game against visiting Palatka in a game that saw the Dreadnaughts give up the most scores in their entire season while the 11s scored a 32-0 win over Oceanway. Both teams advance to region finals with a shot to compete in the Pop Warner National Championship tournament in Orlando on November 23.
For the 10s, led by quarterback Ace De Leon and running backs David Davis, Jackson Trude, and Laneal Hopkins, the offense got a 45-yard scoring run from Davis to break the game with De Leon powering in in the fourth quarter to seal the game. Elias Melo caught a key two-point conversion pass in the second half.
On defense, the Dreadnaughts got strong inside power from defensive linemen Everett Segreto, who forced an errant pass that got intercepted, and Tristan Deger who corraled the Palatka backfield for a handful of tackles for losses.
Noah Rockwell had one acrobatic pass breakup on a Palatka pass to keep the Panthers out of scoring position. The Panther's scores came from a 60-yard touchdown pass and a 75-yard sweep play.
The Dreadnaughts 12-Unders lost in their playoff game.
The Dreadnaughts 11-Unders were scheduled to play a Gulfport, Mississippi team next week at Oceanway while the 10-Unders were not set in their next game.