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November 15, 2005
Section: features
Edition: BRADENTON
Page: 32E
STRONG OFFENSE, SUFFOCATING 'D' LEAD WILDCATS
Scott Lockwood, Special to The Herald
When preseason workouts began for the Manatee Wildcats Junior PeeWee football
team, head coach Charlie Tomeo knew he had a special group of players.
Three months later and two games away from a berth in the Pop Warner National
Championship Game, that feeling became a reality.
"They scared me in the preseason, and I told them that," Tomeo said about his
team's potential. "I told them I was a little scared of this team because this could be
the best team that I've coached in my whole career."
The Wildcats, featuring players who range from ages 8-10, responded by going
undefeated, steamrolling opponents with their powerful offense and a suffocating
defense that has given up very few points this season.
"I have basically six quarterbacks, and I just don't know who to play," Tomeo said.
"They all could start on any other team, but on this team, everybody has sort of
picked up a position, and they've lived with it."
One of the stars of the Wildcats' offense is running back Cord Sandberg, a triple
threat who can run, throw and catch. In the Wildcats' 35-6 playoff victory over the
Keystone Wildcats, he had 240 yards of offense and three touchdowns.
"From the beginning of the year, I've just been playing one game at a time,"
Sandberg said. "And now we've ended up here. I didn't expect to come this far."
While Sandberg may be a big part of the Wildcats' offense, he certainly isn't the
only reason the team has been as successful on that side of the ball. Starting
quarterback Ryan Cobb has been another leader, and others, such as brothers
Tyler and Trevor Beeman, have been instrumental in the team's success.
"It's great because we are winning all of our games, and everybody is having fun
playing," Tyler Beeman said.
"I think the season has been pretty good, and just learning all the plays and a lot of
other new stuff," Cobb added. "I think the playoffs are cool, and so far, we're doing
good."
The Wildcats feature one of the stingiest defenses for their age group in the
Greater Tampa Bay Pop Warner Conference. Defensive coordinator Nick Pagnotta
has installed a "46" defense, which is the same defense the 1985 Chicago Bears,
widely considered one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, used en route to a
Super Bowl victory.
"From the time the season started, it's been a thousand times improvement,"
Pagnotta said. "We've got our little athletes out here, but we've also got some
first-year kids that when the season started, they didn't know where to line up or
how to get into a stance. You look around and see the progression with these kids,
and it's awesome to see."
The defense is anchored by middle linebacker Blake Keller, Mike Keeley and
several other experienced players. For two years, that group had been on teams
that had lost in conference championship games.
"They knew they were good enough to win," Pagnotta said. "We just put this
defense in, and they've sort of led the younger guys to that goal, and through the
season, we've realized how special this team really is."
Defensively, the Wildcats had not given up a touchdown until the conference
championship game. Although they still held a 20-6 lead over their opponent, the
defensive players came off the field in tears.
"They just wanted to keep a shutout for the whole season," Pagnotta said. "That's
the type of effort that they put in all year.
This Wildcats have advanced deeper into the playoffs than any other team in the
organization's 20-year history. The fact they play in such a tough conference
makes it all that much sweeter for Tomeo and his charges.
"I try to keep things in perspective," Tomeo said. "If we lose in the playoffs, we can
say we had a great run, so we can't get ourselves all worked up that if something
were to happen and we lost the game. It's not going to change my life any, and it
won't change their lives any. . . . We'd just have to come back next year and play
again."
That scenario doesn't seem likely for a team as hot as the Wildcats. All season,
they've been "following the yellow brick road" on their way to their championship
goals.
"We always talk about being on the yellow brick road and getting to Oz," Tomeo
said about trying to guide his team to the championship game. "If we won this thing,
it'd be a big feather in the cap to the community, the kids, the parents, the
organization and even to our conference."
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