Naples Hurricanes 13U win Pop Warner Super Bowl

As the clock hit triple zeroes, it was time for the celebration to begin for the Naples Hurricanes 13U football team. They won the Pop Warner Super Bowl and can be called national champions.

“Just looking at all the faces,” head coach Jerry Craft recalled. “Looking at the smiles and knowing that everything they put in the last four years and this past whole year, it paid off in the end.”

“We put Gatorade on the coaches,” Liam Neary said. “It was just extremely fun. Wish I could be there right now.”

The Hurricanes captured the title after beating the West Haven Seahawks 39-12. This team has come close to winning it in year’s past, but fell short. However, this year’s team was different.

“Our coach told us at the start of practice, every practice, that he knew it was us versus us,” Neary said. “The only team that could beat us was us.”

Now, the Canes are back in Southwest Florida with medals around their necks, rings on their fingers and a trophy in hand. This marks the first time the Hurricanes have won it all in the program’s 31 year history.

Jowklen Navarro said, “my first trophy. My first medal. My first ring from football. It’s a lot.”

“I go and volunteer there every year,” Craft said. “And I see these teams and stuff and I know Southwest Florida we get to regionals but we don’t make it to nationals. So for us to go up there get in it and winning it was huge. It’s a big shoutout to our part of the state.”

“We don’t realize how much this means right now 30 years,” Neary said. “But when we grow older, we’ll wish we can go back to this moment.”