Ervin Roberson is often asked if his Pop Warner football team, the Mo’ Better Jaguars, is associated with filmmaker Spike Lee, who directed the 1990 Denzel Washington film &uot;Mo Better Blues.&uot;

He just laughs. &uot;Everyone think we’re sponsored by him because of our name,&uot; says Roberson, the team’s executive director. &uot;But we’re not, at least not yet.&uot;

This past weekend, Hampton Roads Pop Warner teams got a taste of Roberson and his Brooklyn team; the Jaguars visited John Yeates Middle School to square off with teams from Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, and, of course, Suffolk’s Bennetts Creek Warriors.

&uot;We heard that Virginia was a hot spot for football,&uot; Roberson explains. &uot;The competition’s always been great down here. We like to travel and we like to play the best teams, so we decided to come here. It’s good to get some practice in against somebody else.&uot;

All day Saturday, the four Jaguar teams, ranging from Junior Pee-Wee to Midget, scrimmaged local teams. During the first half of each &uot;game,&uot; each team ran sets of 10 plays, while the second half was played as a regulation game.

The Junior Pee-Wee Jaguars got things started by squaring off with the youngest Bennett’s Creek players. Justin Ore ran the quarterbacking position, while Danny McQueen took care of the tackling.

&uot;They were alright, but they couldn’t hold us!&uot; said Ore, 10. &uot;I think Suffolk’s good, but this city is really hot!&uot; He was right; temperatures reached the hundreds several times on Saturday.

&uot;Bennett’s Creek had a lot of good running backs,&uot; said McQueen, 10. &uot;I had to swing them around to get them down.&uot;

Kandice Bogatz, a quarterback and running back on the Pee-Wee team, is the only female Jaguar. But she enjoys being the only one. &uot;It’s fun to be the only girl, because I don’t have anyone to compete against,&uot; says Bogatz, in her second year of &uot;Jaguar-ism.&uot;

&uot;The boys always look shocked when they find out that I’m a girl, and it just makes me determined.&uot;

The Jaguars are used to traveling; last weekend, they hit the fields of Danbury, Conn., and visited Washing-ton, D.C. before that. &uot;(Traveling) is fun, because you get to explore different places,&uot; says running back Terrence Briggs. &uot;I like spending the night in hotels, because you get to relax with your teammates.&uot;

Matthew Ruffin hopes that his team takes at least one more trip. &uot;I think we’ll be going to Florida in Dec-ember,&uot; says the 12-year-old. The Pop Warner national championships are held in Orlando every December. Last season, the Midget Jaguars took the national title, defeating the Capital City Steelers (Raleigh, N.C.) 38-0 in the finals.

&uot;We have really great teamwork and coaches,&uot; says Ruffin.

His favorite play is One Right 18 Option. &uot;That’s the one where I get to run the ball,&uot; he grins. &uot;I don’t really pay attention to the people that are trying to tackle me – I’m too busy running.&uot;