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By Joe McConnell
The Everett Crimson Tide Pop Warner football 11-year-old Gold team owned the state and region last year when they were U-10s. Their success earned them a trip to Orlando, Fla. to compete for the national championship.
Fast forward to 2024, they kept on winning in the 11-year-old division. They won all seven of their regular season games, before beating Billerica and Chelmsford to secure the Northeastern Massachusetts Pop Warner (NMPW) state title for the second straight year. Things were looking pretty good going into last Sunday’s New England championship game at Worcester’s Foley Stadium on the Commerce Bank Field. But the New Haven Steelers had other ideas.
Everett’s Golden boys scored the first touchdown of the game on a 30-yard halfback option pass from Ediell Diaz to Amari Sembitto, two of the six captains on the team that also included Tyson Fiore, Patrick Walsh, Jerai Boisrond-Rogers and Josiah Val.
But then, the Steelers went on to score the next 37 points to win the regional championship going away, 37-6.
It was still very much a game at halftime, with the NMPW champs trailing by just six, 12-6. The Steelers had the ball first in the second half, and they didn’t waste anytime to score their third touchdown of the game.
However, it got even worse for the Gold team, when Diaz left the game with a knee injury early on in the third quarter. But ultimately, New Haven was the superior team on this day.
Sembitto, however, did pick off a pass in the fourth quarter to thwart a New Haven scoring threat, providing an Everett second half highlight to remember.
“New Haven was a little bit more physical than us on both the offensive and defensive lines, and they also had great running backs,” said Everett Gold coach Mel Fiore. “They were the better team on Sunday.”
The Everett 11-year-old Gold team has done a lot of winning the last couple of years. What’s the secret to their success? Fiore says it comes down to their “dedication” to the sport, while adding, “they are like a family. They do everything together.”
Quarterback Patrick Walsh and tight end Brennis McGrath will be back to lead the 11-year-old Gold team next year, hoping to maintain the winning tradition for the third year in a row with a whole bunch of new teammates.
Fiore, who’s also the vice-president of the league, was not alone in the on-the-field decision-making process. Kendall Winter, Joe D’Onofrio, Nick Olson, Angelo Carbone and Steve Golden were his assistant coaches. Stephanie Fiore was the Team Mom. And his state championship team was made up of Ediell Diaz, Tallin Allen, Jerai Boisrond-Rogers, Christian DeMaina, Tyson Fiore, Symon Golden, Julian Gomez, Kevin Huezo-Canales, Noah Lyons-Sanz, Mason Marble, Brennis McGrath, James McLaughlin, Manny Najera, Andy Pena, Bryce Pierre, Mardoche Seide, Rubin Seide, Keiven Soto, Amari Sembitto, Josiah Val, Kaysen Victor, Patrick Walsh and Noah Yarde.
While the Gold team won’t be going to Florida this year, the Everett Pop Warner A-team cheerleaders will be there to represent the local community in their quest to win the national championship next month.
