With a more-than-convincing 39-7 win over the Bisbee Miners Saturday, the Santa Cruz County Storm Pee Wee football team not only finished its season undefeated (8-0), but also staked its claim as the Southeastern Arizona Youth Football League champions.

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“That score is a reflection of what you did for three months, three days a week and Saturdays,” Storm head coach Dan Rodriguez told his team after the game. “You earned it on the field. You did what we asked and it paid off.”

It was a typical win, though, for a Storm team that averaged 36 points of offense and 8 points on defense in 2009, aside from giving up 28 points to Benson earlier in the season.

It was also a typical game for fullback and linebacker Sean Fanning, who scored from both sides of the ball Saturday�”first on a 15-yard run on SCC’s first drive of the game, and then on an 8-yard interception return in the second quarter.

“I had lots of good blocks from my teammates, and I think that’s how I got (the touchdowns),” Fanning said. “It felt great. It was all about teamwork. We have great coaches, and I wish I could be with them every year.”

Before Fanning’s second score, though, teammate Kevin Jimenez returned a punt into the end zone with 3:27 left in the first quarter. Quarterback Asaf Crespo and tight end Alan Ortega hooked up for the extra point.

Fanning’s defensive TD wouldn’t be the last of the day for the SCC, though. After the Storm blocked a Miners punt and Freddy McCarty scooted into the end zone from 14 yards out, Ralphie Padilla took an interception 45 yards to the house with 38 seconds left in the half. An extra point kick would send the Storm into halftime with a 33-0 lead.

When the two teams returned to the field for the third frame, Crespo and Ortega would team up again�”this time on a 30-yard pass and catch with 6:26 on the clock.

That’s when Bisbee was given the ball on offense at the 50 yard line for the remainder of the game because of the 36-point mercy rule.

It was the third time this season that the Storm put its opponent in that position.

That position, however, did allow the Miners their only touchdown of the day�”on a 5-yard plunge by Gabriel Ruiz, who also ran in the extra point with 5:47 left in regulation.

It would be the only score the Storm’s defense would give up.

“It’s just a solid team. We have a lot of depth on our lines, so we are able to shuffle people in and out,” Rodriguez said when asked what the key to his team’s success was. “Plus, I haven’t even seen a high school team tackle like these guys.”

And, when ‘these guys’ do get to high school, “I kid with (Nogales High School Athletic Director) Tim Colgate that in four or five years if (NHS is) not in state playoffs consistently, it’s not the kids anymore,” Rodriguez said. “You saw this year, the freshman class here at the high school, they’re the first generation of Storm players, and they’re what, 7-1? In three years, these guys will be freshman, and there’s no reason for them not to” win at that level.

Earlier in the day, the Storm’s flag team also finished an undefeated season and secured a league title with a 13-6 win over Bisbee.

The Mighty Might team, on the other hand, lost 13-6 and ended its season 3-5.