In what has been a strange year all around, the North Fort Myers Pop Warner football program has persevered.

Saturday, the program will put three teams on the field in the second round of regionals at the Cape Jr. football field at Caloosa Middle School in Cape Coral.

The 10U, 12U and 14U teams will play against the best Division 2, age-only (with unlimited weight class) programs on Florida’s East Coast after going three-for-three last weekend against teams in the Tampa area following their Peace River Conference championships.

The Red Knights had never had a season where they had won three conference championships, let alone have three of them get this far in the postseason. The fact that the teams will be so close to home with the crowd on their side should help them.

“It was a great weekend. We traveled very well, which is one of the great things about our program. If one team makes it in, you’re going to have a stadium full of people from North Fort Myers to support them,” said athletic director and 12U head coach Steve Brown.

Last weekend, the 10U team earned a tough 12-0 victory over the East Manatee Mustangs and will play the Palm Beach Rams at noon. Brad North, the 10U head coach, said his team has responded well after an 0-2 start.

“Their undefeated and they’re a big team and they look like a very good team to play against,” North said. “We’re a young team with kids that don’t have a lot of experience. As they have played more and seen more game film, they have gotten better every week.”

After a 25-12 win over the West Chase Colts, the 12U team will face the Weston Warriors at 2 p.m. Brown, whose team also started 0-2, said he expects to have to make a lot of adjustments on both sides of the ball.

“Weston is a team known for its speed. They aren’t a very large team, but they have a lot of athletes across the board and we’ll be chasing them all over the field,” Brown said. “It will take a team effort to keep them in check and use our power running to control the clock.”

The 14U team had the greatest scare, having to come from behind to defeat the Manatee Wildcats 28-26 to remain unbeaten and earn the right to play the Fort Lauderdale Falcons at 4 p.m.

Darren Spires, 14U head coach, said after playing many one-sided games this season, his team was able to overcome adversity and sloppy play and come out on top.

“All year, we breezed through the schedule. Last week, we had our backs to the wall and got behind. It was nice to know we could fight our way back and earn the victory,” Spires said. “Fort Lauderdale is a very good power running team and we have to bring up our game mentally and physically to come out on top.”

Caloosa Middle School is at 610 Del Prado Blvd. For more information, go to www.nfmjfa.com.