By Patrick McGavin-Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
**Additional Photos are available for purchase at justallsports.zenfolio.com/2022pioneers.**
Dylan Butler always remembered his coaches telling him never to give up.
Nothing is ever certain in football. Effort and desire color every movement. As a crucial two-way player for the Orland Park Pioneers Lightweights program, Butler learned that value of never taking any plays off.
On two different occasions, Butler and Nakhati Thompson made touchdown saving tackles at the verge of their own end zone.
“Those plays tremendously changed our confidence,” Butler siad.
Two yards seems so incidental in a game. At other times, it seems monumental. The Lightweights made the distance seemed unreachable.
The Orland Park Pioneers Lightweights made two separate goal line stands that preserved their 7-0 victory over the Homer Stallions in the season-opener of the River Valley Youth League Football at Sandburg High School on Sunday, August 28.
“We never won a game against Homer, and that is going to impact our whole year,” Thompson said.
The Pioneers showed hustle, determination, and resilience. Pressed on the opening drive by the Stallions, Homer appeared headed for a backbreaking touchdown on the opening possession. A deep run stopped by Butler and Thompson in the shadow of the end zone.
The Pioneers simply took their game to another level.
On first and goal, safety Drake Ulaszek broke through for a two-yard loss. He followed with another five-yard loss.
“I tried my hardest,” Ulaszek said. “I always pay attention to where the ball is going. My coaches always tell me to look at the quarterback, and I was always watching him.”
Butler was another invaluable player during the first quarter goal line stand. His pressure created turmoil for the Stallions at the point of attack.
“We ran these special plays, me and Butler, and they couldn’t block us,” Ulaszek said. “I got to the backfield three times.”
On fourth and goal from the 10-yard line, Homer tried to get around the edge. Thompson and Butler collaborated on the final stop at the three-yard line. The offense took over from there.
After their first drive was stalled by a holding penalty, the Pioneers engineered a brilliant 13-play, 97-yard scoring possession.
Orland Park brilliantly mixed the running and passing plays, revealing a diverse attack that overwhelmed the Stallions. Thompson used his breakaway speed to get to the perimeter of the Stallions’ defense.
Another running back, Enzo Angone, worked the interior, using his shifty actions and elusive moves to find open space. Angone started the possession with a 10-yard run. Thompson with three consecutive carries that went for 16 yards.
With the Stallions packing the box, the Pioneers opened up the attack. Quarterback Charlie Enstrom dropped back and found Angone over the middle for a 19-yard connection. Thompson broke free for 17 yards.
This is his second year playing for the Lightweights. The difference is profound. He sees the field better, and knows how to run off his blockers or get to the edge.
“I think I got better over the past year,” Thompson said. “Really it’s a team effort. You can’t do anything without your team. It can’t just be me playing, or one up against 11.”
Angone and Thompson put the finishing touches on the superb drive.
After gashing the Stallions’ interior for six yards, Angone set the table for the touchdown. He made a backbreaking block that opened a running route for Thompson’s 14-yard touchdown run around the left edge.
“I knew if I blocked him and got him out, that Nakhati was free for the touchdown,” Angone said.
Thompson also scored on the conversion run for the 7-0 advantage.
First games are the ultimate blank slates. In the first true test against live competition, anything is possible. For the Lightweights, the offense is a work in progress. Timing is crucial, and the team is still getting its bearings.
The only downside to the thrilling victory were penalties that nullified two long Thompson touchdown runs of 51 and 85 yards.
Butler accepted his responsibility.
“I had a couple of flags on me, but my teammates picked up,” he said.
The negated touchdowns altered the balance of the game. A game the Pioneers felt in complete control of was suddenly riding in the balance.
In another way, the missed opportunities of those called back touchdowns just amplified the late game drama. Events again played out in near identical fashion as Butler made a game-saving stop at his own two-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Linebacker Nicholas Peisker stood up to the challenge. He made two consecutive stops for loss. He used his speed to knife through the Stallions’ line and post two-yard and three-yard tackles for loss.
In his first year on the Lightweights, Peisker was a tackling machine for the Super Lightweights team last year. He has great instinct and feel for the game.
“I knew it was going to be a lot harder playing at this level,” he said. “I knew I’d have to work harder and put in the work.”
Peisker said the two long runs that Pioneers surrendered upset the team.
“We got very mad, and then we sealed the deal,” Peisker said. “You have to get mad, and then go through and fire that gap and get the ball, or bring the guy down.”
Butler helped secure the victory with another fourth down stop.
“Our defense is really good,” he said. “They were on the two-yard line twice, and had four downs, and they couldn’t score a touchdown.”
The last denial of their own goal line came with just over three minutes remaining. Thompson helped run out the clock with one final great run, a 25-yard burst around the right edge.
“I just had to run as hard as I could,” Thompson said. “We run sprints every day in practice, down and back, and back again. We worked very hard for this victory.”
Coach Andy Ryback could never recall beating Homer in his career.
“After today, I feel like we could beat most of the teams in the league.”
In the Fifth Quarter, Ryback praised the play of Brian Curran.
The Pioneers Lightweights had many contributors, small and large, in their 7-0 victory over Homer. Other players that shaped the victory were Kristian Willis, Anthony Baniewicz, Gavin Loman, Carter Bellik, Vinny Ficaro, Evan Lavelle, Luke Tonra, Luke Rybak, Ben Snider (injured), Finnian Redmond, Carter Peluso, Logan Helman, John Werner, Cade Judeh, Karam Olyyan, Nicholas Mase, Luke Makuch, Nicholas Herzog, Moody Abudan, Ryan Marek, Brock Lenzen, Hudson Doftert, Aidan Rios, Qais Naser, Steven Mullins, Ryan Duckhorn, Muhammed Kassem, Andrew Quinn, Zachary Salah, Maximus Streets-Pruitt, Justin McNamara, Erik Baran, and John Sutter,
The cheerleaders brought a special passion and joy to the game. They included Aubrey Baran, Keira Berrera, Brittney Blazys, Brooke Blazys, Annabelle Briseno, Hayden Cmapbell, Avery Carroll, Isabelle Castillo-Mez, Frankie Ficaro, Emma Golonka, Delaney Grenda, Tessa Heinze, Arabella Hernandez, Bianca Kapusciarz, Brinley Laniosz, Malayna Marable, Gabriella Milosovic, Emily Minard, Eleanor Nothnagel, Emma OVerman, Makayla Roman, Emma Ruisz and Kamilla Ulaszek.
