Broncos Grew Into Power Without Growing Too Much

The Southern Marin Broncos began the 2010 season as a collection of skinny 11-year-olds, former Mighty Mites and boys who'd never played tackle football before.

They ended the season at Disney World.

In between, it was quite an adventure.

Coach Steve Moreno's Junior PeeWees represented Southern Marin football well this season, capturing the Northern California championship en route to a third-place finish in the American Youth Football Division 2 Nationals in Orlando.

"It is a surprise," Moreno said of a season that concluded with an 18-13 win over the GTOP Sabres of Charlotte, N.C., in the third-place game at the Nationals. "You're never really sure what you've got until you start playing."

That's especially true in youth football, where rosters change drastically from year to year depending upon the players' age and weight. The Junior PeeWee level is for players 10-11 and up to 114 pounds.

"Right away I saw we had a very good blend of returning players, size and speed. We had a lot of key ingredients," observed Moreno, who had coached at the younger Mighty Mite level the year before. "I thought when we started putting things together, we could be pretty good."

A couple of impressive showings against Oak Grove of San Jose, a Division 1 team, changed the coach's perception.

"When we beat them the first time, that's when I said, 'We're pretty good. I don't know how good, but we're pretty good,' '' he noted. "When we beat them again, that's when I said, 'OK, the team that's going to beat us is going to be us, or somebody who's going to be very, very good.' ''

That happened just twice all season, including once in Orlando. Other than that, the team's other 13 games all ended in victories, including a couple against Marin County rivals from Novato and Central Marin.

Moreno said all 32 boys who went to Florida contributed to the cause. In fact, when his league asked him to select seven All-Stars, the coach instead named everyone an All-Star.

"It takes a team to accomplish what we did," Moreno explained. "Our good players were good players, but you have to have 11 players on the field doing what they're supposed to do."

Asked about the prospects of being even better next season, Moreno admitted he honestly doesn't know. After all, he has no idea at what level his son Enzo will be playing.

"As it stands now, he'll be 11 and he's under 94 (pounds)," Moreno said, indicating his son is likely to be a Junior PeeWee again. "Unless God gives him a growth spurt and puts some weight on him.

"You don't know about any of the kids. It all depends upon growth spurts."

No matter the level, doing better than 2010 will be a tall task, that's for sure.