FOOTBALL: Browns Junior Midgets fall one win shy of championship

One win shy of the Peninsula Pop Warner title, the Gilroy Browns Junior  Midgets lost 28-12 to the Berkeley Bears on Sunday in San Jose. 

Berkeley scored first to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Browns moved the ball down to the 1-yard line where quarterback Freddy Mireles punched it in to make the score 7-6. 

With the defense stopping the Bears on their next series, the Browns again traveled down field using runs by Henry Gallegos, Juan Villarreal and Kevin Onyejekwe. Facing a  third down and short, the Browns went to the air with a pass from Mireles to tight end Anthony Lopez for a first and goal inside the 5-yard line. The offensive line Augustine Gomez, Quinan Muniz, Brendan Lerma, Jesse Molini and Joseph Avendano open up a hole up the middle for a quarterback sneak by Mireles to put the Browns up 12-7 going in a half. 

Berkeley received the opening kick off and moved the ball down the field to hit pay dirt and making the score 14-12.

The Bears answered with two unanswered scored to go up 21-12. But the never-give-up Browns’ offense wasn’t ready to call it quits. Mixing up run plays between the tandem attack of Onyejekwe, Gallegos and Villarreal, the Browns mounted a drive. Looking for a big scoring play, Mireles threw the ball down the middle to Charles Good in what looked to be a great pass. But a he Berkeley safety turned it into an interception. 

In the fourth quarter both teams’ defenses tightened play. However, on a broken play at midfield Berkeley capitalized and went ahead 28-12.

The Browns finish the regular season at 10-2 and Peninsula runner-up. They now face the runner-up from Reno, the Sparks Steelers, Saturday at 3 p.m. at Gilroy High School.