By Bobby Narang- Photos by Lauren Gray
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PLAINFIELD – Winning comes in many forms of life.
In sports, a winner is often the team that scores more points than the other team. That’s why they keep score and statistics.
In the case of the 13U Algonquin Argonauts, winning didn’t arrive in the traditional sense on Sunday afternoon at Plainfield Central High School.
On a warm but breezy afternoon, the Argos struggled putting together positive yards on offense. Defensively, the Plainfield Saints were just too much for the Argos. The Celtics played a near flawless game on offense, defense and special teams to dominate the Argos.
The Saints had several big-plays to post a 32-0 victory over the Argos in Division 3 action. But the Argos didn’t let the tough loss bring down their spirits.
During a short but positive postgame, held in the bleachers right under the main scoreboard, the Argos gathered for a chat about the game and life. The Argos’ players, led by William Sutek, presented their four coaches with a small gift bag for National Coaches Appreciation Day. Each coach received a number of items, including a signed football by every single player, a clipboard and a few candies.
Yes, the Argos showed they were winners in the game of life, showing appreciation for all the hard work, time and commitment their coaches have given them this season.
“That was awesome,” Argos 13U coach Terrence Pierce said. “I wasn’t expecting that. It was the first time I ever got a football signed by the team. That was really cool. I was so surprised. It’s been a good season. We emphasize that it’s about our family. As a team, we’re a family away from a family. These kids bring each other up, even if they have a bad run or game, we move forward and get positive. We have a great group of kids and coaching staff. I think all of these kids are really going to start to connect in football and will have their names all over the place in high school.”
Pierce said his players would’ve liked a closer game, but they walked away with their heads held up high because they played hard until the final whistle. The Argos showed good sportsmanship by congratulating the winning team after the game.
“We understand that we’re learning football,” Pierce said. “We just try and get better one or two steps better than the last time. Every time we touch the field, we’re getting better. My goal is by the end of the season that all of them love and understand football and they have great relationships with each other and their families and go on and enjoy playing football.”
Sutek was one of the players who shined in the tough loss for the Argos. His toughness and running prolonged several drives to keep his team within range of a victory for the first two-plus quarters before the game got out of hand.
Sutek said the team enjoying showing their appreciation for their coaches with the goodie bag of gifts.
“I love these coaches,” he said. “It was awesome. They are like father figures to me.”
Sutek paced the offense with 35 yards rushing, including some key yards on the final drive of the game. He helped the Argos close out the game in a strong manner. Earlier in the game, he was shaken up but managed to return to the field to help his teammates on defense from the linebacker spot and at running back.
Sutek recovered a fumble early in the second quarter to keep his team only down at 13-0.
“I just tried to run through people when I had the ball today,” Sutek said. “I saw several positives today. We had good teamwork and everyone working together on our team and the other team. Everyone tried their hardest.”
Quarterback Will Eich tossed a pair of incompletions but ran hard to avoid the Saints’ fast and physically strong defense for most of the game.
“I felt good today,” Eich said. “We did good for most of the game. Their defense was really big and fast. They had one player who kept crashing down on our line almost every play. We had a few nice drives. William had a few nice runs.”
Edgar Cazares did a solid job playing center on the offensive line and defensive end. The defense limited the home team to six points in the second half. John Schroeder was one of the key players on defense, notching numerous big tackles. Schroeder had two key tackles on one drive by the home team in the fourth quarter.
“The defense did pretty good, especially how the linebackers played,” Cazares said. “We played good on defense. I thought it was a tough game, but we played really good as a team and we all tried.”
Hubert Sciepuk ran for just under 11 yards in the game.
“I just tried to follow my blockers and run hard,” Sciepuk said. “We ran the ball good. We have to keep working hard. We gave up too many big (plays). I think we could do better on offense and defense, but we still played tough all game.”
Gabriel Pierce contributed many solid plays on both sides of the ball. Pierce was a standout on both lines, helping open up holes for his running backs and also blasted through the Saints’ offensive line to keep the score closer.
“I think we definitely have more room for improvement on blocking on the offensive line,” Pierce said. “On defense, I would say our line was better than it has been. We were getting through and making tackles, which is good. The points to me don’t matter. It’s about us working together as a team and building that up and working it out on the field. We all come together as a family. We all have to work as a team. There’s always more room to improve.”
Offensively, Jayden Harms put together a 9-yard run on the final drive of the game. Diego Realzola delivered a few solid runs, while Hector Morales had a nifty 4-yard carry to go along with a long kickoff return midway through the third quarter after he snagged the bouncing ball in the air with one hand and darted up the field for a big highlight run.
The Algonquin Argonauts had contributions from their entire lineup, including Daniel Cieplay, Michael Mazzeo, Anthony Perez, Kenneth Arvizo, Aiden Teschner, Logan Nickel, Daniel Lajewski, Thomas Dooley, Logan Hitch, Dylan Foster, Marcus Budzisz, Landon Bernard, Donald Smith Jr. and Henry Hartmann.
