The Staten Island Hurricanes beat the South East Valley Bulldogs at their own game Wednesday, grinding out a 6-0 win in the semifinals of the AFY Jr. Midget National Championships in Orlando.

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The Canes fed the Dogs a steady diet of counters and sweeps as the two teams slugged it out on the ground. Staten Island rushed for 142 yards and threw just six passes. Their only completion of the game came with 56 seconds left on fourth down, denying the Bulldogs a shot at a late-game rally.

“We hurt ourselves,” SEV coach Rob Riethman said. “We thought they'd make mistakes, but we made the mistakes.”

SEV was penalized four times for 30 yards and fumbled once. The Dogs also had an interception and were held to 70 rushing yards.

Hurricanes' running back Nasir Rogers gained 92 yards by himself, punishing the Bulldogs with his incredible speed.

“How about how fast he hit the hole?” Riethman said. “He was insane.”

Despite the Hurricanes' successful rushing attack, the Dogs had their chances.

Hunter Olson recovered a fumble on the Hurricanes' first play from scrimmage, but the Bulldogs had a net of zero yards, hurt by a holding and false-start penalties. Nate Grado recovered another fumble on the first play of the second quarter, but the Dogs stopped their own drive with holding and delay-of-game penalties.

They wasted a 29-yard kickoff return by Gabriel Lopez after the Hurricanes' score in the third, gaining a net of zero yards again in five plays. A holding penalty on the next possession halted a five-play drive, then after an interception by Dalton Thorpe midway through the fourth quarter, they gained just 13 net yards on their final two possessions.

“This is a true neighborhood football team,” Riethman said. “We have diversity, some disadvantaged kids and kids whose parents are doctors. I didn't even use all my (player) waivers. Every kid on this team lives in our neighborhood.

“It is a very special team.”

The Bulldogs now play for third place on Friday.