By Mile Toogo- Photos by Renee Kaspar
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MOKENA—What a difference a year makes.
For head Coach Tom Comise, his troubles of last season are a thing of the past.
Last season, Comise’ Jr. Celtics team struggled to find the right formula to win, only managing to win a solo game and tie another.
To say it was a frustrating 2023 season for Coaches, players and fans would be an understatement.
But that feeling is long gone after two wins to open the 2024 season, Comise and staff along with payers and families are all enjoying the big turnaround.
“17 kids came back from last year of the 20 total this year. we are just teaching these kids to believe in themselves, the next man up mentality,” said Coach Comise. “We changed up some things that fit our personnel and size and everything. We just told them day by day, we get better. I’m just so proud of these kids.”
The dramatic difference is easy to notice. No longer are there players not knowing where to go, when to go in, or what position to play.
This years coaching staff is running a tight, organized, well-informed, cohesive team and things couldn’t be working any better.
You also aren’t seeing in the early season opposing teams getting big plays on the Jr. Celtics.
Players are now performing as a team and truly seem to be understanding their roll and what it takes to win.
Playing a home game in week two of the 2024 season, the Jr. Celtics were ready for whatever team they’d face opposing them on this August 31 festive, Homecoming Day.
Lockport had the unlucky task of facing a confident Mokena bunch.
It turned out to be a lamb being brought to slaughter.
The Jr. Celtics used a running attack that featured both speed and power and some elusiveness along with a passing game that produced big plays. An opportunistic defense that swarmed and gang-tackled throughout, enroute to a 27-0 shellacking of the Porters.
Right from the start, the Jr. Celtics were on.
Paxton Kirk kick-started the assault with a 36-yard run. The Jr. Celtics moved quickly up field from their own 35.
Surprisingly using the pass, Quarterback Michael Comise connected twice with Caleb Partin, the second time for an 8-yard touchdown. The Jr. Celtics also benefited from a pass interference earlier in their opening drive. John Skuzinski V added the point-after for a 7-0 lead, early in the game.
The Porters tried to respond and moved the ball up field to the Jr. Celtic 35, but that was as far as they got. Stiffening up their defense, the Jr. Celtics saw hard tackles from Skuzinski, Jack McKiney, Hendrix Benard, Joseph Paciorek and Ryder Dow to force the turnover on downs.
The teams exchanged punts to start the second quarter. Again, Comise connected via the air this time with Kirk for 27 yards, and on the next play, Skuzinski rambled around right end 30 yards for the Jr. Celtics second touchdown, upping the score to 13-0.
Again the Jr. Celtics made short work of the ensuing Porters series. Stops by Paciorek, Skuzinski and Caleb Partin forced a punt. With still time on the first half clock, Comise again went to the air and found Kirk for 14 yards to the Porter 33.
Working fast, the Jr. Celtics wanted one more score, but a Skuzinski 20-yard run came up short as time expired, with the Score still at 13-0
The Jr Celtics added to their lead the first time they had the football in the second half.
After another turnover on downs by the Porters, the rushing of Skuzinski, Partin, Comise and Ashton Bradshaw soon had them 3 yards from the endzone.
One play later, Comise called his own number and busted up the middle for the third Mokena score. His conversion pass to Partin brought the score to 20-0.
The Mokena defense was now playing to preserve the shutout. Entering the last quarter. A fumble recovery by Paciorek was a step in that direction. It gave their offense a chance to chew up the clock, but it didn’t use up much at all.
Michael Comise ran the perfect quarterback fake handoff after making a quick read and ran right up the middle into the endzone from 12 yards out. Bradshaw added the conversion point that saw the lead increase to 27-0.
“We did well as a team and scored a lot of points, it felt good,” said Michael Comise. “I thought we passed pretty good, I’ve been working a lot on passing. This year I get to run more and pass more, so it’s much different than last year. John (Skuzinski ) was really good on defense, with the tackles in the backfield, the defense was all good.”
Skuzinski then added, “The offense got the blocks in good, so it was easy to run, on defense, we read their plays, I was making quick reads and I’m fast to make the tackles. I’ll get better by working harder.”
Paxton Kirk also had a stellar game on both sides of the ball but it was elusiveness that stood out when he carried the football. His ability to find the openings and exploit them for big runs and teh agility to make the right cut impressed a couple of his coaches.
“I work at on my running at practice a lot,” said Kirk. “I look for the openings and get through them. I’m getting some good coaching too. I am a mixture of power and shiftiness running the ball. I want to get better at breaking through blocks when I play D-Line.”
The remainder of the last 6 minutes saw the Mokena defense continue to pelt the Porters with tackle after tackle, which got the ball back to the Jr. Celtic offense who then proceeded to eat the rest of the time, securing the 27-0 shutout victory.
What a difference a year makes!
“We are off to a great start,” said Tom Comise. “Last year we were on the other side of this, it’s nice to see these kids smile and start to love the game of football a little bit more. They always had the heart and worked hard, but there’s nothing better than walking off the field with your teammates after a big win.”
Several other Mokena players saw their talents seen by the big Homecoming crowd. They included Finn Ward, James Short Jr., Timothy Gena, Owen Miller, Hakeem Karim, Vincent Venegas, John Drabeck, Corbin Caine, Iacovos Christou, Rocco Macaluso, Jack Sanders and Paul Herring III.
Among all the Cheerleaders performing at halftime and during the game, entertaining everyone were the talents of Marlowe Kokolus, Olivia Richards, Annabelle Osborne, Calissa Kanu, Gabriella Bal-Denton, Lily Burke
