The Carson City Pop Warner Midget football lost a hotly contested championship game to the Reno Wolf Pack 16-0 last Saturday.
The Wolf Pack now advance to the Pacific Northwest Regional playoffs to be held in Reno Thanksgiving weekend.
"I thought the teams were very evenly matched," Senator Coach Mark Rutledge said. "Our kids gave it every thing they had, they were awesome, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards for us this year."
During the regular season, the Wolf Pack and Senators were known as offensive powerhouses, leading the league in scoring. Things were different during the championship game when both defenses played tough, tenacious ball. The potent Senator and Wolf Pack offenses were held scoreless during the first, third, and fourth quarters.
The Wolf Pack scored their first of two touchdowns midway through the second quarter on a broken play.
"They ran a quarterback sweep on third and long and our kids stuffed it," Carson defensive coordinator Ed Smith said. "Unfortunately, their quarterback, who was a great athlete, broke a tackle, cut it back across the field and scored." The second touchdown occurred late in the second quarter after a controversial pass interference call.
Carson also had its chances to score. "We were inside their 10 yard line three times, but we couldn't put it in," Rutledge said.
The Senators will play their season finale in the Pacific Northwest Regional Invitational game against one of the Northern California league champions on Saturday, Nov. 27 at Hug High School at 1 p.m.
