MINOR LEAGUE FOOTBALL: VIKINGS CALL WATSONVILLE HOME
By ERIC ANDERSON
OF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN
It was almost as if a time machine visited Geiser Field at Watsonville High.
A good number of former Wildcatz stars were among the members of the fledgling Monterey Bay Vikings minor-league football team that is calling Watsonville home and played its inaugural scrimmage Saturday night. And one of them, Shawn Benjamin, who still holds the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League record for points in a season, scored two touchdowns in the second half as the Vikings overcame an early deficit to defeat the Stockton Trojans 18-6.
“It brought back some memories,” said safety Efrain Lomeli, who starred with Benjamin on the 2002-03 Watsonville High squads. “It was kind of weird. I never thought I¹d step back onto that field, but there I was. It felt good, though.”
The Vikings will play in the Northern California Football League, which boasts the Nos. 1, 2 and 6 teams in the nation. Although the team is new,
many of the players are familiar with minor league football. A good number played with the Soquel-based Tri-County Gladiators of the now-defunct California State Amateur Football League, and while the Gladiators are still in existence, many players were unhappy with the Gladiators¹ administration, Vikings principal owner and general manager Chuck Messimer said. Messimer said while he runs the team as a business, his goal isn¹t to make money.
“I started it because I love the game of football and the guys that I know were fed up with the organizations offered here in Santa Cruz County.”
Team captain David Adams ‹ an outside linebacker and fullback who is also a part-owner and handles promotion for the team ‹ said he and Messimer spoke over the phone several months about starting a team in the Monterey Bay, and had a handful of cities to choose from. “We both agreed to start the team in Watsonville because Watsonville has never had a minor league football team before,” Adams said. “We thought if we presented ourselves correctly we would get full support from the community.”
Saturday night¹s scrimmage, watched by a crowd that the Vikings reported at “400-plus,” did not feature special teams play, but all aspects
of play will be included when the Vikings host the San Jose Vikings of the Pacific Coast Football League in a scrimmage on March 13. Part of the
proceeds from that game will benefit relief efforts for the Haiti earthquake.
Messimer said Saturday night¹s scrimmage gave the Vikings a chance to work out the kinks both in the atmosphere of the game ‹ including lighting, music, announcing, security ‹ and on the field. “The good thing about a scrimmage is it really gives you a chance to evaluate,” he said.
When the regular season starts March 27, one thing that will certainly change is the Vikings¹ look. On Saturday night, the Vikings wore their
powder-blue helmets, but were using rental jerseys that were black with maroon lettering. The Vikings¹ permanent jerseys will match the helmets,
Messimer said. Although the team is new, Messimer said he believes the team will be competitive this year, noting that he was encouraged that, while it was just a scrimmage, the Vikings defeated Stockton, which won the state title two years ago. Eventually, he said, the goal is to bring a championship to Watsonville, the city from which the most players of the 54-player squad hail. There are also players from Salinas, Marina, Seaside and Santa Cruz, as well as a group of former San Lorenzo Valley High players, Messimer said.
Adams said the players come from two groups. One group ‹ consisting of players ages 18-24 ‹ is trying to catch the eyes of scouts, while the other group ‹ some of whom are over 30 ‹ is simply enjoying a second chance to play football. A few players from the NCFL have signed pro contracts, Adams said.
Lomeli counts himself among the first group. He said he¹s playing to improve his game and stay in good shape. “I know there¹s a lot of guys who can still play and still want to play,” he said.
Although sometimes called semi-pro football, the players aren¹t paid, and they also have to provide their own equipment and pay for their uniforms. Adams said minor league squads developed out of annual high school alumni games, as participants decided they wanted to play more than once a year and different communities formed their own teams.
Adams, who runs the production company 831 Entertainment, said he was pleased with the crowd at the opening scrimmage, and added that the team hopes to build from this point forward. “We¹ve created a buzz already,” he said. “Now my focus is getting people in the stands and getting our name floating throughout the town and the community.”
