By Pat Z McGavin=Photos by Renee Kaspar
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p902491732 **
GILBERTS— The Algonquin Argonauts 7U team is like a classic train, with its conductor and the rest of the support pieces who play their parts perfectly.
Declan Druger and Leo Miceli are the command staff the rest know how to play off and follow.
“They’re very disciplined kids,” coach Ricky Silva said. “They all get hyped up, and they have each other’s backs. Those are two of the leaders on the team, and they talk with the other kids.
“It’s just an incredible thing for seven-year olds, just communicating with each other and making sure everyone understands their roles and where they are supposed to be.”
Druger scored two touchdowns and Miceli added an insurance score in the 18-6 Homecoming win over the Elmhurst Bears in Pop Warner League play at Gilberts Elementary School on Sunday, September 21.
The Argos (5-0) maintained their perfect start. The pride and love were self-evident and expressed by all.
Druger’s older brother, CJ Druger, is the star of the 8U team. The younger Druger shows the same athletic flash and burst with the ball.
Druger scored on each of the Argos’ first two possessions. The first start was essential in building morale and developing confidence through the rest of the team.
Equally important, the fast lead put the Bears behind the 8-ball, and forced them to play catch-up and chase the lead. The deficit was too great to ever overcome.
“That’s what we tell them to go out and set the tempo for every single game,” Silva said. “They execute tremendously, and they don’t fall short.
“I think the biggest thing is even when they do get scored upon, like today, they don’t get down on themselves. They always make sure they are up for the second half.”
Druger is dangerous from anywhere on the field, demonstrated by his 65-yard touchdown burst down the left sideline just moments into the game.
He has the best of both worlds, the size and range to run between the tackles and the speed and burst to get around the edge.
That combination is lethal.
“I’m fast and I’m a good runner,” Druger said. “I also know how to use the stiff-arm if somebody tries to tackle me. I just love going out there, getting tackles.
“We also have great teammates who are very good.”
Defensively Druger and Miceli are the standouts, with excellent work from defensive linemen Timothy Vasquez and Carter Hamilton.
Owen Peterson, Elijah Salas, Evan Jessogne and Harley Young also did a great job shutting down running lanes and applying pressure.
Roman Juarez was the unsung hero of the defense with three tackles for loss.
“We all play very hard, and we never back down or give up on any play,” Juarez said. The Bears team boosted some stellar athletes of their own.
Their speed and athleticism clearly challenged the Argos.
Like the early running of Druger, the aggressive play of Vasquez and O’Brien set the early tone.
“I looked over there, and I saw that there was a gap and I ran through it and I was able to make those tackles,” Vasquez said. “That’s always been my favorite part about playing.
“I love tackling. In order for us to keep this up, and keep winning, we just have to keep working hard.”
Druger’s three-yard tackle for a loss forced a punt, and set up the Argos’ second touchdown drive.
Miceli started it off in grand style with a 20-yard run. As if passing the baton to Druger, he concluded the excellent start with a 43-yard touchdown run down the left sideline.
“My style is very fast and very shifty, and I’m hard to stop out there,” Miceli said.
The early two-touchdown advantage turned out to be necessary when the Argos suffered their only true adversity. The Bears caught the team in a rare mistake and out of defensive position.
As a result, the Bears’ best player broke free for a 43-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Vasquez limited the damage by registering a great stop on the conversion effort.
The team regrouped and responded.
Miceli had an apparent touchdown nullified by an illegal block. The drive stalled out. Channing Meehleib made a great tackle for loss in the closing seconds to maintain the Argos’ 12-6 lead leading into halftime.
Juarez began the second half as an extension of his excellent first half play with a huge hit on the opening play from scrimmage. O’Brien and Hamilton joined forces for another negative play that forced an Elmhurst punt.
The Argos’ ability to create pressure at the point of attack was a significant part of their success.
“I was able to get outside of them and get to the quarterback,” O’Brien said. “I think it’s because we practice really hard, and our middle linebackers are very good.
“That’s why we were able to make those stops on defense.”
After the early penalty wiped out a touchdown, Miceli put the game out of reach with a four-yard touchdown run with five minutes to play. His 37-yard down the right sideline set up the score.
“I saw their best player, that No. 8, coming towards me, and I felt like I had to get away,” he said. “I used a stiff-arm, and another kid came in and I juked him and I was able to get a touchdown.”
Juarez and O’Brien ended the game with negative plays that created a euphoric feel for a team celebrating a joyous and deeply satisfying Homecoming victory.
“They’re having fun, and that makes it a lot easier to show up for practice,” Silva said. “They know what the expectations are, for practice and they talk with each other.
“We tell them to work as hard in practice as they do in a game, and visualize the action. It’s a very cohesive team, and they listen to the coaches, and do what we ask of them.”
The Algonquin Argonauts 7U team had many standout contributors in the 18-6 Homecoming win. They included Rocco Silva, Titus James Varda, Cooper Schroeder, Jonathan Rivera Jr, Leonardo Wozniak, Nathaniel Roman and David Horner III.
The Sideline Argo Cheerleaders also were there supporting the team while entertaining the fans They included Olivia Anfeldt, Elowyn Bilyard, Grace Botta, Miranda and Cataleya Brito, Mercedes and Cristina Brito-Sanchez, Natalie Castaneda, Penelope Cole, Bella Darling, Liviand Sophia Dolan, Ariana Eckart, LaCie Eskridge, Lilliana Fuentes, Milani Gamo, Leylani Gutierrez, Savannah Halper, Mia Martinez, Charlee Namm, Elizah Ocampo, Ivon Ovalle, Angelina, Alycia, Ashely and Melissa Perez, Sophia Salas, Joslyn and Hannah Shackelford, Julia Sliwinski and Clara Thorsen.
