Philadelphia Youth Football Team Wins Pop Warner Championship For Second Straight Year
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia has won its second Super Bowl in a row. Not the Eagles, of course, but the Northwest Raiders. The Pop Warner football team returned from Disney World Sunday morning with the trophy in tow.
Behind 19-0 to the Old Town Gators of Maryland in the first quarter, it didn't look good for the Raiders.
"I was a little nervous because we were down," said running back Ash Edwards. "I always felt we were going to win the game because we were a better team than them."
Edwards and his teammates remembered what they'd been working toward since August.
"We kept our heads up," Edwards said, "fixed mistakes, and pulled through."
"When you set a goal, you do everything in your power to do it," said head coach Duane Watson. "To come back to win 34-19 is an incredible feat."
And something Watson said could happen only through unselfish play.
"We had a blocked punt for a touchdown, we had return kicks, interceptions, we did it all," he said. "Everybody stepped up to the plate. It wasn't just one person."
As a 19-year veteran Philadelphia Police officer, Watson sees benefits of Pop Warner football on the streets.
"Pop Warner's about academics. It's not just go out and play football -- you have to maintain grades," he said. "They have to have study habits. It strengthens the program. It strengthens the community, because now you've got kids not just playing a sport. The education part is in there. The mentoring part is in there."
But it sure is nice to win though.
"It's always nice to win," said the coach.
