'Mini'-Night Football in Incline Village

Two NorthTahoe Rams Pop Warner teams prepare for 2008 seasons

When it comes to pairing football and Incline Village, sometimes the two don’t mix.

But one year ago, the North Tahoe Rams Mighty Mites Pop Warner team shocked the local world, in a sense, by finishing the season 8-2, a season in which coach Dennis Perry called one of the best ever for North Tahoe Pop Warner, a team he called the best he ever had coached.

Most of those children have moved up a level to the Junior Pee Wee League, thus meaning bigger and more mature teams from bigger cities await this year.

But Perry still feels his team is ready to make another name for itself in 2008.

“Well, there’s two divisions in Junior Pee Wee, and the luck of the draw put us in the tougher division,” Perry said jokingly. “One of the teams we play was undefeated last year, and another was 8-1. It’s going to be a tough one, but so was last year. We beat a lot of good teams last year.

“I think we have the talent to be pretty competitive this year. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people, again, this year.”

The Junior Pee Wee version of the North Tahoe Rams has been practicing since Aug. 4, in anticipation of the season’s first game, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 5, at the Incline High School football field.

Although a certain time has not been set, it will be played in the evening. The team is composed of children from Incline Village, Kings Beach and Tahoe City.

Some of the players returning from the Mighty Mites team of 2007 include Tommy “Touchdown” Thompson at tailback; Jack Clouthier at quarterback; Blake Perry at fullback; and linemen Riley Curtin and Jacob Buhler.

Coach Perry also pointed to Alex Zissis, Jack Dessette and Cole Steinberg, a trio new additions to the Junior Pee Wee team who could contribute a lot this season.

However, similar to past seasons, while the team might represent a lot of talent, it doesn’t represent a lot of people. Currently there are 18 players on the team.

“Some cities, like Carson or Reno or Sparks, have more than one team, and they’ve got teams with 30 or 25 kids,” Perry said. “Obviously, with 18 kids, we’re only going to have one team. We always could use more players. I’d like to get about 22. That would be nice.”

While practice already has begun, Perry said the team still is accepting interested children. For information on how to sign up, parents can call Perry at (775) 240-0862 or e-mail him at dclperry@sbcglobal.net.

Per Pop Warner rules, in order for kids to qualify for Junior Pee Wee, they must be ages 8, 9 or 10 years old and must weigh between 60 and 105 pounds. Or, they can be 11 years old, as long as they weigh between 60 and 85 pounds.

Prior to the opening game of the year on Sept. 5, the Rams will take part in the Pop Warner Jamboree this weekend in Sparks. There, all Pop Warner teams that participate in the Sagebrush League attend to be weighed and registered for the season.

At the Jamboree, Perry said the Rams will play three, 20-minute scrimmages, against teams from Truckee, Fallon and Sparks.

Junior Midgets prepare for 2008 season

Similar to the Junior Pee Wee North Tahoe Rams, the Junior Midget North Tahoe Rams, an older team composed of players from Incline, Kings Beach and Tahoe City, also is looking for late additions to join the 2008 roster.

Coach Guy Thurman said the team currently has 16 players, the minimum number of kids in which a team is allowed to perform. Thurman said he wants to see that number increase.

“We really need some players; the problem is, some kids take vacations on the weekend, and that hurts us,” he said. “Last year, we had to forfeit a game. We don’t want to forfeit any games this year.”

Interested kids from the North Shore should contact Thurman at (775) 722-4205 if they want to play for the Junior Midget Rams. Kids must be ages 10, 11 or 12 and weigh between 85 and 135 pounds to qualify as a Junior Midget. Kids also can be 13 years old and weigh between 85 and 115 pounds to participate as a Junior Midget.

The Junior Midget Rams also play their first game on Sept. 5 at the high school, likewise in a night game. Both Rams teams play on the same day at home, the coaches said. Both coaches said a finalized schedule currently is in the works.

The teams play seven regular season games, then two guaranteed playoff games, Thurman said.

“Then you go from there; if you lose, you’re done,” he said.

Thurman pointed to Mike Wegener (flanker), Hunter Williams (fullback), Christian Biscotti (quarterback) and Joey Thurman (tailback) as some of the Junior Midgets he expects to have big seasons in 2008.

For information about both teams, visit northtahoepopwarner.com.