By Patrick Z. McGavin- Photos by Gary Larsen
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CHICAGO—The worst thing that comes out of losing are the self-doubts and questioning of talent or motivation.
The Jr Celtics 12U team went through the whole range of emotions—frustration, anger, confusion—about the conditions of their recent two-game slide.
Everything was in play.
“We did not want to lose three in a row,” two-way standout Maddox Sperry said. “We had to work harder in practice, watch film, and do whatever we could. We wanted to go as hard as we could.”
Focus was the imperative.
“It was an effort thing,” running back Dylan Fox said. “We played teams we should have beat. Even last week, we had breakdowns, and didn’t put in the effort we needed.”
The rededication of focus, training and preparation paid off spectacularly.
Kelly Slucki ran for two touchdowns and Sperry and Fox also scored for the decisive 34-0 victory over the Plainfield Saints in a Pop Warner League game at Marist High School on Sunday, October 15.
The Jr Celtics proved hungry from the opening kickoff, where they forced and recovered a fumble. Their initial drive stalled. The creativity on offense and the aggressive play on defense proved telling.
The team was ready to play.
On the second possession, Sperry ripped off a 17-yard run that keyed a five-play, 41-yard scoring drive at the end of the first quarter.
Slucki punched home the opening score with a nine-yard burst up the middle. Sperry added the conversion run for the 7-0 lead.
“I thought I was going to get hit, but then I did a little juke, and I went into the end zone and celebrated with my teammates,” Slucki said.
If the slashing running game of Sperry and Dylan Fox contrasted well with the interior forays of Slucki, the defensive play was equally inspired and sharp.
Sperry, Slucki, Dylan Fox, Tyler Fox, Andrew Feith, Jaxon Chalupa, Victor LaPointe and Henry Rettberg played beautifully in concert, informed by each other’s actions and moves and flowing freely and energetically to the ball.
Cordae White was the true difference-maker. The athletic linebacker is a fearsome presence. His ability to rush the quarter and make plays in space symbolized the dominant performance.
He had seven tackles, including consecutive stops that forced a turnover on downs during the Saints’ second possession.
“I’m glad our defense did well today,” White said. “I had some tackles, and some hard hits and our offense was also doing well. I think we put in a more complete effort today, which is something we didn’t really do the last couple of games.”
The Saints hovered around the Jr Celtics throughout the first half, doing just enough to frustrate their offense and stay within the one-score margin.
The Jr Celtics found their groove in the final four and a half minutes of the second quarter, turning a relatively tight game on the scoreboard into a rout.
The athletic and breakaway speed of Sperry and Dylan Fox are the most unpredictable actions of the Jr Celtics. The two have a way of changing—suddenly—the outcome of any game.
Both are a momentum switch, able to turn it on, and break the other team’s will.
After a seven-yard loss and false start penalty appeared to push the Jr Celtics backward, Sperry turned on the jets for the most impressive run of the day.
Taking the deep handoff, he burst through the middle and cut left down the open channel for a breathtaking 65-yard touchdown run. His conversion run pushed the lead to 14-0.
“It was designed to go to the 3 hole on the inside, but I saw an opening on the outside and I just took it,” he said.
“I just ran as hard as I could to the end zone.”
It was the sign of things to come.
“We had some really good blocking on the offensive line, and our running backs ran hard and fast,” Sperry said. “We did a lot of great things in this game.”
Dylan Fox turned the game into a rout with some superb play of his own to close out the half. His tackle for a two-yard loss on third down forced a punt.
Put into the backfield as a bulldozing, change of pace runner, White showed his effectiveness as a hard-charging runner. Athletic and unusually fast for his size, he simply ran over the Saints’ defender.
He ran back-to-back sequences for 16 yards apiece, the second carry propelling him into the end zone for the 20-0 lead with 45.9 seconds remaining.
“I scored a touchdown our first game of the season, so I have been in this situation before,” he said.
Not satisfied, Tyler Fox finished the half with authority by intercepting a Saints’ pass that he returned to the 14-yard line.
“I just saw the ball go up, and I just told myself I’ve got that,” Tyler Fox said.
Two plays later, Dylan Fox broke free for a nine-yard touchdown run.
The three touchdowns in a 4:24 second burst put the Jr Celtics up 27-0 at halftime.
Two runs by Dylan Fox and a 21-yard pass play from Kalan McCarron to Tyler Fox set up the only touchdown of the second half, Slucki’s second touchdown run.
His two-yard blast sealed the game.
Now the Jr Celtics await their playoff fortune, and hope they have a chance to extend the season.
“Everybody knew what they were supposed to do, and they were happy,” Dylan Fox said. Hopefully we’re in the playoffs. We wanted to leave our mark here and have them remember our names.
“No matter what happens, we showed a lot of improvement. You could just see from day one who is a completely different player.”
The Jr Celtics 12U team featured excellent contributions from a number of players in the 34-0 victory. The other featured players were Jeremiah Turman, Jayden Hollins, Patrick Conroy, Christopher Gravitt, Tegan Walsh, Quinton Hoffman, Robert Gena, Michael Fryza, Christian Flores, Lincoln Lopez and Anthony Aldworth.