Cousins play in national bowl game

2010-01-25

Two local youths had the experience of a lifetime when they traveled to South Carolina to play in the National Youth All American Bowl game earlier this month.

Cousins William and Adrain Olvera play for the Palm Springs/Cathedral City Warriors and were selected to try out for the bowl game by coaches at a recent camp.

Both made the squad — William as quarterback and Adrain as center — and played a prominent role in the West team's 14-0 victory over the East.

"I had a great experience there, meeting new people from around the world and playing in the bowl, and I think I did really well in it," William, 13, said.

On one of the first plays from scrimmage, William rolled out to make a pass, but was unable to find any open receivers, so he opted to run.

While he did manage to evade a couple of would-be tacklers, he finally was brought down and when the dust had settled, he discovered he had broken his wrist.

Determined not to let that stop him, he returned to the game two drives later.

"I ended up throwing about a 40-yard touchdown and handed the ball off to one of my running backs and he scored another 40-yard touchdown," he said. "and after that, I ran it in for a 2-point conversion."

The seventh-grader said the experience was the greatest of his life, including the long drive to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

"It was really big, I traveled a long way, but the experience was good - it was great to see all the states," William said.