By Patrick Z. McGavin- Photos by Renee Kaspar
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HAMMOND, In.— Momentum is what every team strives to create. The different means of achieving forward energy is sometimes a random or coincidental action.
Call it a sideways or leaping movement for Gavin Garrity, the equivalent of a ballet artist. Garrity made a spectacular diving stop of a punt, regained his balance, took to his feet and brilliantly cut across the field and found his blockers for a spectacular 42-yard touchdown return in the opening moments.
The play was like a force multiplier for the Super Lightweights team, like a rock rolling downhill that could not be stopped.
“They punted it, and I made the diving catch, got up and I was able to find my blockers and make a cut,” Garrity said. “It was a great way to start.”
The conversion run by Sean Kikilas gave the Pioneers a 7-0 advantage before they even ran a play from scrimmage.
Fast starts typically translate into great endings. Garrity’s open field touchdown run and a dominant defensive performance ignited the Pioneers’ 27-0 victory over the Northwest (Ind.) Vipers in a River Valley Youth Football League game here at Bishop Noll on Sunday, October 6.
“We started off feeling really good. I got hit, and I was a little banged up,” Garrity said. The only downside was a hard hit he suffered as he dove into the end zone.
Garrity was forced to sit out the Pioneers’ second possession, and back up Thomas Richardson piloted the offense during his recovery. The Pioneers’ other playmakers and standouts stepped up in his brief absence, and the team rarely missed a step. Everything came together with a first-rate performance.
Garrity also threw a touchdown pass as the Pioneers dominated every phase of the game. His all-around play on offense, defense and special teams ignited the fire for the rest of the team and established the template for Pioneers’ superior brand of football.
“It was a great way to start the game, because he’s also our quarterback, and I always like it when he scores,” running back Taylan Morandi said.
Morandi was the other catalyst with a personal-best 112 yards on just eight carries, punctuating the one-sided victory with the final touchdown.
The offense was clicking and showed the ability to move the ball in chunks or piece together methodical drives. For its part, the defense was simply suffocating, and never allowed the Vipers to gain any kind of traction on that side of the ball. Nine of the 13 plays the Vipers ran in the first half were either negative yardage moments or plays for no gain.
Garrity, Morandi, Nate Abbs, Martin Groark, CJ Hufford, Arthur Slabenak and Dominic Maurella made up an athletic and free-flowing defensive that annihilated the Vipers at the point the attack.
The interior created pressure, and the second and third levels had clear freedom in making hits on the ball and stopping the Vipers’ runners in their tracks.
Luke Bosack was the first among equals. He registered four tackles for loss. On the first play from scrimmage, he burst inside with a hammer hit that knocked running back four yards behind the line of scrimmage.
“At the first play of the game, I blew this one kid up, and the rest of the game I was just fired up,” Bosack said. “I took advantage of the rest of the players to get excited and also do good for the team, get more good hits and run the ball better.”
Bosack showcased his offensive skills with first half runs of 5 and 10 yards. “Usually I don’t run that much with the ball, but today I got my chance and I was able to make those huge runs with the ball,” he said. “The hits I made on defense just fired me up.”
The Pioneers did a great job of mixing their runners—the quick and mobile Morandi using his speed to get to the edge, and the inside game of Bosack and Sean Kikilas.
After sitting out the second possession that ended with a loss of downs, Garrity returned to direct the attack with two second quarter scores.
Brilliantly using misdirection, Kikilas took an inside handoff and bolted 23 yards for the second touchdown. “Gavin gave me the ball in that situation, and I knew I had to take off,” Kikilas said. “I had a bunch of blockers leading me, and I took a cut and I was able to score.”
Bosack’s conversion run pushed the lead to 14-0 with 6:33 to play in the second quarter. “I knew it could help our team,” Kikilas said. “The way everybody ran the ball just got us fired up to score more. The defense made sure that they didn’t gain any yardage. The Vipers could never really block us.”
The defense maintained its sharp play with negative stops by Abbs and Kikilas again returning possession to the Pioneers just inside midfield.
Morandi’s 29-yard gallop was the first strike. With the Vipers’ defense trying to contain the multi-pronged running back, Garrity threw them off with a gorgeous play action fake. He found a streaking Bennett Kersten in the right flank for a 13-yard touchdown pass.
“The offense did a great job of blocking, and everybody ran hard and did their job,” Garrity said.
The 20-0 halftime lead gave the Pioneers all manner of flexibility and freedom to play its entire roster, without losing any effectiveness or efficiency on either side of the ball.
Morandi showed what he was capable of with the opening play of the third quarter. He burst around the left edge and used his lightning speed for a 45-yard burst, the longest play from scrimmage of the game. Two plays later, he went opposite side, outracing the perimeter level of the Vipers on the right edge for the explosive 21-yard touchdown run on the right side.
Jordy Kolodziej accounted for the final margin with his conversion run with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter. “I hit the hole really hard, and ran as fast as I could and got outside so that I could score for my team,” he said.
Under league rules, the Vipers had their last three drives start deep in the Pioneers’ territory. The Indiana team threatened, getting inside the 10-yard and as deep as the 1-yard line on their final possession.
The second and third-team players rose to the occasion and took great pride to ensure the shutout. Zachariah Ballouta, Paxson Leighleither, Lorcan Redmond and Amari Adigun collaborated on a series of strong stops. Sean Johnson ended the game with a 1-yard loss that deprived the Vipers of the end zone.
“Over the years I didn’t do as well as I wanted, but because I’ve been practicing I really got a chance to show what I could do out there today on defense,” Ballouta said.
The Super Lightweights of the Orland Park Pioneers had many standout contributors in their 27-0 victory. They included Peyton Barbee, JJ Abuzir, Moody Jaber, Quinn McCarthy, Wyatt Kipper, Suhaib Ballouta, Xyan Bell, Lawson Capps, Brady Higgins, Zakariya Jaber, Alex Kopec, Shane Sternberg, Luke Holoubek, Vinny LaPapa, Michael Maurella, Michael Patterson, Michael Ramos, Henry Wade, Ian Frost, Jonathan Mizera, Ammar Abdelmuti, William Jordan, Michael Sweis, Luke McDoniel and Paul Rylan Davies.
The cheerleaders also brought great energy and passion to their performances. They included Sofie Annerino, Nora Astor, Aleena Badwan, Lea Barbee, Lucy Bohanek, Stella Bristow, Gianna Bryk, Evelyn Byrne, Charlotte Dorigan, Zoey France, Normandy Golden, Sadie Griffin, Stella Guerrero, Alaina Holoubek, Callie Juarez-Radovanovic, Eleanor Koehn, Kennedy Krokos, Siena Lang, Mia Mizera, Savannah Molina, Hazel Nicholas, Grace Poore, Falyn Simon and Isla Zelensek.
