Sierra Vista seventh grade boys capture Winter Bowl football championship

Members of the Sierra Vista seventh grade team celebrate winning the title in their division Saturday. (Photo courtesy Sierra Vista football team, For OC Sports Zone)

The Sierra Vista Middle School seventh grade boys flag football team from Irvine won the Winter Bowl Championship for its division Saturday night.

The Winter Bowl is an annual flag football tournament sponsored by the Irvine Public Schools Foundation at the Great Park that gives students from the Irvine and Tustin Unified school districts a chance to compete in flag football for their respective schools. 

Sierra Vista opened play with a 41-6 victory over Vista Verde then advanced to the semi-final game with a 44-6 victory over Rancho San Joaquin. 

The semifinal matchup pitted the Chargers against defending 3-time Winter Bowl Champions, Orchard Hills. A strong defensive effort vs. a solid Orchard Hills offense allowed the Chargers to prevail 25-8. 

On the other side of the bracket Lakeside Middle School defeated Venado Middle School 19-13 to advance to the finals. 

The championship game proved to be a very entertaining match-up. 

After a back and forth start with both side trading touchdown drives, Lakeside intercepted a pass with seconds to go in the second quarter to even the score to 20-20 at halftime.

Sierra Vista’s defense again answered the call in the second half and held Lakeside to a lone late score. The offense paced the way on two impressive scoring drives. The final whistle blew to a 35-28 Sierra Vista victory.    

The players on the l team were: Jack Brucker, Colin Carlson, Jack Gilbert, Riley Gilbert, Paul Grossman, Joseph Harper,  Dylan Khang, Davide Morales, Eddie Petrushin and Diogo Vieira.