By Bobby Narang- Photos by Kathy Jones
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase for 2 weeks at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p420765200 **
FLOSSMOOR – Late Sunday night, the varsity team of the Orland Park Pioneers hit a big speed bump.
As the fourth game on a humid and sweltering day, the Pioneers struggled moving the ball on offense.
On the other end, the host Homewood-Flossmoor United varsity team celebrated Homecoming by delivering an all-star performance.
H-F scored early, often and never stopped en route to a dominating 50-0 victory over the Pioneers at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
The H-F team had an elaborate pre-game ceremony, which further delayed the kickoff time.
The home team never stopped celebrating in the four-quarter game, which was a running-clock in the second half due to the mercy rule.
As the Pioneers slinked off the field in frustration or the blowout loss, Pioneers’ coach Andy Rybak pointed to a few positives he saw in the humbling defeat.
“Yeah, this one was tough,” Rybak said. “It felt like we were hanging around early, but they have so many big playmakers and so much speed. We’ve got guys out, so we’re not at full strength. We had a lot of moving pieces this week and guys were not where they were supposed to be to be able to contain that speed. It’s something we won’t have, in that sort of speed, but by coaching kids and putting them in the right position, we should be able to improve and close that deficit. We hope to see these guys again in the postseason.”
The H-F United team was just too strong, too big and especially, in this game, way too fast for the Pioneers. The home team blitzed the Pioneers with big plays, coming in all three phases of the game to turn in a dominating performance.
The Pioneers made the home team work in the first quarter, battling tough on defense until allowing a 37-yard touchdown reception to fall into a 6-0 deficit.
The second quarter was the big difference in the game, as H-F United scored on a 1-yard TD run, a 48-yard scoring run, adding a defensive touchdown and a 34-yard TD all in the second quarter.
One of the few positives in the defeat came on the Pioneers’ second drive of the game. The Pioneers drove to the 2-yard line but lost a fumble.
However, the Pioneers’ defense responded when Jack Bordelon recovered a fumble on the very next play at the 7-yard line to keep the game close. Bordelon made a big play at the line, saw the football squirted loose and pounced on the ball to end the H-F threat.
Orland Park’s Ryan Almasri had a big play, returning a kickoff nearly 50 yards with 3:40 left in the second quarter. Almasri displayed good speed, made a couple of cuts and relied on his toughness to nearly score a highlight-reel touchdown before getting pulled down by a few defenders.
The next two-plus quarters were controlled by H-F United, but Orland Park backup quarterback Kyle Krokus, who played strong in the fifth quarter, came into the game late in the fourth quarter.
With the game way out of reach, the Pioneers managed to slowly put together a lengthy drive to finally show life of ending the shutout. Krokus completed passes of 10 and eight yards. The Pioneers had a chance to score, but Krokus’ fourth-down pass was incomplete with 1:51 left in the game.
Coach Rybak said his players, even though not in the mood to talk much after the postgame, showed resiliency and a strong attitude for playing the entire four quarters despite a massive deficit.
“I saw some guys, not all, but some who showed a lot of heart and they will be stepping up as leaders,” Ryback said. “I thought Kyle Krokos had a tough job as the backup quarterback and playing in the fifth quarter. He came in late in the (second) game and made some great passes in the fifth and late in our game. He made some nice passes, got rid of the ball quickly and did a good job. On the offensive line, Luke O’Reilly is playing and leading and pulling and he wanted to come back at the end. He’s showing a lot of heart on the offensive line.”
Even on a dark day on the field, the Pioneers picked up significant contributions from nearly everyone on the team. The team includes Ryan Beeler, Colin McElligott, Connor Ward, Colin Kluever, David Kopec, Thomas Elliott, Santino Marrella, Josiah Johnson, Kyle Krokos, Ashton Brennan, Caden Votteler, Mason Overmyer, Wyatt Heinze, Luke Rybak, Henry Byrne, Keegan Fogarty, Layth Zughayer, Nicholas Davis, Ryan Almasri, Harley Camargo, Noah O’Kennard, Terrin Lovitt, Nicholas Baniewicz, Michael Sraga, Luke O’Reilly, Mark Grech-Lisula, Jude Doftert, Nathaniel Owei, William Reilly, Brandon Castillo, Aidan Rios, Jacob Morakinyo, Cameron Taylor, Abdallah Abuhamda, William Gardner, Ezennaya Nwachukwu, John Macros, Nolan Burns, Cristian Arevalo, Daniel Evers, Jack Bordelon, Joey Driscoll, Brady Straka and Rhett Capps
The cheerleaders provided a ray of sunshine on a bad day for the Pioneers, showcasing elaborate routines that led to some big cheers at halftime. The team included Alyssa Abed, Lily Carroll, Erica Gonsowski, Layla Jeffries, Hope Majdecki, Madalyn Marable, AnaSophia Martin, Hailey McDonald, Ava Mendoza, Avery Nugent, Maeve O’Connor, Ava Pastiak, Paige Pomonis, Arianna Ramadani, Leah Ramos, Jordyn Shamma, Jozelyn Tamayo and Klaudia Willis.
