By Ed Muniz- Photos by Kathy Jones
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p836824051 **
The Mokena Jr. Celtics took to the Gridiron for some home cooking the weekend of September 9 and 10.
On the docket was an eight-game schedule over two days for all the Jr. Celtic teams, ranging from 6U to 13U.
Nestled among a picturesque backdrop of trees and shade, Mokena Main Park would be the host site all weekend.
The Jr. Celtics welcomed teams from Elmhurst, Elgin, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Tri-City.
Opening the schedule were the 6U Jr. Celtics. Their Saturday afternoon matchup saw them battle the Tri-City Wolverines.
At this level of Pop Warner football, teams play an 8-man tackle game. It is more instructive, teaching the sport, while also introducing the athlete to tackle football.
Rules are slightly different, but players still play hard and seem to enjoy the contact for the most part.
No kickoffs, punting or scores kept. But along the sidelines of course parents are keeping a tally. With no fumbles behind the line of scrimmage, the game is relatively safe without the pile of bodies after a loose football.
There is still plenty of action during games. Some hard tackles happen with an occasional tear drop and agony on the young 6 and under faces, but for the most part, players are hugged and dragged down.
The Jr. Celtics would start the game offensively. Unfortunately, their first series lasted one play after a fumble was recovered by the wolverines.
On the opening play, Westin White scrambled for 8-yards but lost control on the Tri-City tackle.
Now on defense, a touchdown saving tackle by Logan Cesek prevented a quick score after a big run by the Wolverines.
Tackles by Jameson White and Max Lepore followed on the next two tries, but the Wolverines crept to within a few yards of the endzone.
The Wolverines struck paydirt on their next rush and scored the opening touchdown from 4-yards out.
The Jr. Celtics next series started off better. Lepore took the handoff from Landon Brown and churned up 7-yards. Two straight runs from Westin White picked up 32-yards with a long of 27.
Now sitting at the Tri-City 22-yardline, things looked promising for the Jr. Celtics, but the next four plays resulted in a fumble, and just 2-yards on three carries from White and Lepore.
The visitors defense picked up their pressure, getting to the ball quickly for the stops, forcing a turnover on downs.
The Wolverines were having huge success getting to the outside and adding big chunks of yards. They would add their second score after four plays via a 70-yard streak to the endzone.
Prior to the score, tackles by Nicholas Petrocelli, Lepore and Cesek worked to slow Tri-City some.
Runs by Quarterback Landon Brown and Cesek closed out the first half.
Quarterback’ Landon Brown was first to go under center. He did his part getting plays off and handing the football off to his running back or running it himself.
The difficulty was the pressure and speed of the opposing defense that kept the Jr. Celtic offense from scoring.
The beginning of the second half saw the Wolverines fumble on their first two attempts, but their third went 65-yards for their third score of the game.
The Jr. Celtics used Brown and Francis Zalud at quarterback and continued in their next series. White added five yards and Lepore raced for 13to move the ball to midfield.
Frome there, Brown tried going to the air and connected with White, who dashed 50-yards on the touchdown pass with the home crowd cheering loudly.
The Jr. Celtic score showed they too could find the endzone as happy faces along both sidelines were displayed.
The Wolverines didn’t wait to respond. They quickly got the Jr. Celtic score right back with a 65-yard burst of their own on the very next play.
The Jr. Celtics offense went at it again trying to cut into the Wolverine defense. Runs by Lepore and White added 21-yards to the offensive tally.
Once again, Quarterback Brown connected through the air with White that gained another 10-yards. The surprising ability to complete passes at such a young age was impressive.
“I like playing Quarterback,” said Brown. “It was hard trying to flick the ball and put it right in their chest, but I think I did a good job today. Ill do better next game and turn in the right direction the team.”
The Wolverines weren’t sure if it was a run or a pass coming next. A handoff to White saw him add his and the teams second touchdown after racing 34-yards for the touchdown.
“I scored touchdowns today,” said White. “It was easy running the ball. I want to catch the ball more and go for the touchdown again. It was easy to tackle the running back too.”
Mokena never git the ball back as the Wolverines maintained control the rest of the game until the final second ticked off.
The Jr. Celtics did add additional tackles before the game concluded. Lepore and Whites each added a pair at the end.
Lepore led the Jr. Celtics in tackles. He had a knack for getting near the ball on several of the plays and made stops.
“I like making tackles,” said the defensive star. “Number 7 got all their touchdowns and one of my coaches said to stop him, so when I tackled and got him, I made him cry. I really like playing defense. I like tackling people.”
“The difficult part for us is getting them awake,” said Coach James Mellon. “We are kind of slow to begin with, similar like this last year, seems it takes us a full half to get going. We were better today with our tackling, but we got to work on pushing teams to the inside instead of letting them run wild on the outside. Theres always next week.”
Other Jr. Celtics adding to the effort at home was Kai Tuburan, Masom Comise, James Mellon, Jacob Palacios, Jackson Baker, Kaleb Cloutier, Mario Williams and Leonidas Christou.
Cheering on the 6U Jr. Celtics and performing at halftime were the Tiny-Mite Jr. Celtic Cheerleaders. They include Brooke Copack, Mila Cox, Jayde Dorosz, Brooklyn Firlit, Carleigh Gill, Ella Koschnitzki, Maggie Lepore, Slaone Ludwig, Ellie Mahalik, Hayden Neal, Kelsey Niemeyer, Nicole Pflug and June Smith.
