By Ed Muniz-Photos by Renee Kaspar
**Additional Photos are available for purchase at justallsports.zenfolio.com/2022pioneers.**
The River Valley Youth Football League concluded its season on November 13 at St. Xavier University in Chicago
Championships would be decided at Super Lightweight, Lightweight, Junior Varsity and Varsity levels.
Teams from the Orland Park Pioneers, New Lenox Jr. Warriors and Jr. Knights, Mt Greenwood Colts, Frankfort Falcons and Homer Stallions made up the Participants vying for the 2022 RVYFL Championship.
Two teams, the Orland Park Pioneers and the Mt Greenwood Colts vied for championships at two levels.
Of the 42 teams that competed in the league this season only one would remain unbeaten at the end with five suffering just a lone loss.
One thing is certain, the RVYFL features some of the best youth football players in Illinois.
For the Pioneers and President Jenny Czerwonka, Pioneer coaches, players and parents, the 2022 season will be one that will not easily be forgotten.
Their two finalists at Super Lightweight and Varsity, would capture Championships, only the second time the Pioneers have had multiple Champions in a RVYFL season.
Previously, in 2017 under President John Stefanos, the Pioneers did have three finalists and wound up winning at the same levels as the 2022 Champions did.
This year the Pioneers also had a first at Super Lightweight. Coach Al Krokos and his coaching staff captured two Championships, a WNFL and a RVYFL title. They repeated as WNFL Champs as well. Previously, Todd Shelton had a finalist in both championships but won only one.
The Varsity Pioneers had their third consecutive appearance in the Championship game at that level and for this group of Pioneer Players, it was their fourth consecutive Championship appearance under Todd Shelton and Chris Stefanos.
The Super Lightweight and Varsity Pioneers are very comparable. Each had a vaunted defense. The SLW gave up just 26-points all season. They shutout 7 of 11 opponents and concluded the season and playoffs with five consecutive shutouts, and those that scored only did it once.
Their lone loss was an extra-point difference at 7-6. They average giving up 2.4 points a game. The next closet team defensively gave up nearly three times what the Pioneers did.
“Not giving up any points in the playoffs is impressive,” said Pioneers President Jenny Czerwonka. “This group of SLW kids, families and coaches are the future of the program. They have a lot f energy on this team. I’m very proud of all of them.”
The Varsity defense was formidable as well. They gave up just 52-points in 11 games with only one opponent scoring twice on them all year.
Their starting defense gave up just two scores all season. Their depth at defense speaks loudly allowing just 5-points a game. They featured five defensive All-River Valley players.
Offensively, the SLW Pioneers scored 171-points this year averaging 16-points a game. They seemed to be the lone team that was successful passing while also featuring a dynamo in the backfield who knew one speed. The offense also was complimented by others with speed.
The Varsity Pioneers scored more points than any other team league wide. A whopping 329-points by the offense gave them about 30-points a game, with a season high of 43 in the Championship game. The Pioneer offense also had five players selected to the All-River Valley team.
They had talent on both sides of the ball with veteran, talented leadership guiding the offense at quarterback and a running-back that is regarded as the best player in the league and now highly coveted. Throw in a receiving core second to none, it proved impossible to outscore them.
These two Pioneer teams were examples of teams playing as one with one goal in mind. Both were guided by excellent coaching staffs, and both were loaded with willing, coachable players which is a recipe for success, while also having great support off the field.
The SLW were a similar “Mini-Me” copy of the Varsity in many ways which could see many more victories and championships to come.
Fifth Quarter opened each Championship contest.
The Pioneer SLW Fifth quarter team would score three times during their offensive possession.
MJ Ordman led the Pioneer offense scoring from 40 and 30-yards. Each time he hit the sidelines and raced untouched to the end-zone for his touchdowns. First around left end and then around right.
“On the quarterback keeper, everyone thought I was going to go to the left, instead I just turned around and saw where my blockers were going,” said MJ. “When I get to the sidelines, I know I’m gonna score because I’m outside and have the angle. I pick up speed when outside and I can see the angle of the defense. It feels very good to win two championships.”
Also adding his own score was Austin Flynn who sped 40-yards to open the game. He too like hitting the sidelines and streaking past every Homer defender.
Others tallying yards for the Pioneers were Nolan Burke, Adam Krokos, Taylan Morandi, Gavin Garrity, Zach Ballouta, and a 13-yard run by Yasin Yousef.
Defensively, the Pioneers gave up one lone score. Their stout defense dug in and gave the Stallions very little the rest of their game.
Nick Pomonis stood out, leading the team in tackles and chasing down the Homer runner after being completely on the opposite side.
“I put my hands up and stop the blocker and get around him to make the tackle,” said Pomonis. “I kinda like tackling, it helps me make a stop and help the team too. I think I will be better getting off the block.”
Also adding their own tackles included Nathan Campos, Thomas Sutter, Laith Hammami, Ordman, Scott Gumienny and Gavin Garrity.
In the Championship game, the Pioneers were facing a foe they had opened the season against and had defeated handily by shutout. But the Stallions had entered the Championship doing everything needed to get to this game, including a little luck and a four-game winning streak.
This match-up wouldn’t be like their previous one and both teams knew it.
Some things changed but when the last tic of the clock expired, the Pioneers had once again shutout the Stallions, winning 9-0 and capturing their second Championship of the year.
“Very Proud, Very Proud, 44 kids, 6,7, 8 and one five-year-old mixed in there, just came together as a great team all season,” said Coach Al Krokos.
“Two Championships, the teamwork and the way they stuck together are utterly amazing. Today we got around what they were doing and scored a couple times, but the refs took one away and we scored by our defense, we just stayed at it.”
“Our defense played really, really well throughout. Our defensive line, you can’t double them all. That simple! Just a great job by our lines both ways, blocking offensively and tackling defensively.”
The Pioneers began the game offensively and were greeted with an aggressive Stallion defense that quickly had them punting four plays later.
Punter Luke Krokos booted the ball that went 38-yards, flipping the field, and what could have been an advantage for the Stallions, was flipped to a disadvantage having to start from their own two-yard-line.
You could see the Pioneers defense just waiting for the snap, knowing the situation at hand. On the snap, Frank Wilkinson beat his blocker and made the tackle for a safety.
Just like that, the Pioneers led 2-0 and got the ball at their own 30-yard-line too.
The Pioneers did manage to gain a first down on the ensuing possession with Michael O’Connor grabbing 11-yards on a run but other than that, the Pioneers were kept in check and soon turned the ball over on downs.
After one quarter, the Pioneers led 2-0.
Wilkinson was at it again, penetrating the backfield and making a stop for a loss. Cole Baldridge and Carter Erwin added tackles of their own to force the Stallions to punt.
Behind Jase Enstrom, O’Conner and Carter Erwin, the Pioneers began to move the ball with their ground-game picking up chunks of turf.
A 19-yard gain around left end by Enstrom was followed by a 9-yard burst by O’Connor that had them at the Stallion 18. But consecutive holding penalties moved the Pioneers back 20-yards.
Enstrom did score from 28-yards out, but the second of two mysterious penalties nullified that touchdown around the right edge. Due to the penalties, the Pioneers soon gave up the ball on downs.
Wilkinson was having a super first half, again making another stop for loss. Owen Garrity also had a tackle for loss which had the Stallions again punting, unable to get anything going against the Pioneers staunch defense.
The Stallions one-yard punt gave the Pioneers a short field to try to add to their lead with just 46-seconds left.
From the Stallion 22-yard-line, Enstrom gained 3-yards, Krokos fired an incomplete pass and on third down, Enstorm used his speed and got to the edge on the handoff and raced down the right sideline 19-yards with just 6-seconds left for the Pioneer touchdown. O’Connor added the extra-point to give the Pioneers an almost certain insurmountable 9-0 lead at halftime.
The second half did see the Stallions try to get back in the game moving from their own 25-yard-line to the Pioneers 24. Along the way, several Pioneers made stops. O’Connor, Carter Erwin, Jude Morrar, Enstrom, Lucca Morandi, Owen Garrity, and of course Wilkinson, who ended the Stallions efforts with another tackle for loss on fourth down.
“I was just trying to get around the blocker so no one could block me, I kept doing the swim move over their helmet and it kept working for me,” said the defensive star Wilkinson.
“It jukes them kinda and gets them out of my way so I can get the sack or tackle. I was beating the guy a lot today. We are good because our coaches pushed us really hard for the first 12 days we practiced, after that, we got better every game, even the one we lost.”
Also shutting down the Stallions were the defensive stops by Andrew Richardson and Baldridge who countered Wilkinson’ efforts. The Stallions simply couldn’t stop all the Pioneers from making tackles.
For most of the season, Jase Enstrom has found injuries to hamper his highly anticipated game this year. After a stellar season last year, much was expected of him running the ball. Somewhere during the early part of the season, his contributions were more on the defensive side.
Not this game, what was seen last year, finally showed up and at the most important time. His speed and elusiveness created problems for the Stallions they hadn’t seen since their opening game.
Enstrom made big carries when it was needed most and scored the only touchdown of the game showing his talents.
“I saw everyone seal their block on my 28-yard touchdown run, I didn’t see the hold, but I tried to get to the sideline around this one guy and did and scored but that was called back,” said Enstrom.
“The second touchdown, I honestly thought I was gonna go down, but I stayed up and didn’t see anyone in the clear, so I ran diagonally to the pylon and scored. I think I can avoid getting tackled better. Next year I will.”
The Stallions tried to air it out as the clock wound down, but three incompletions ended the game and gave the Pioneers the 2022 River Valley Youth Football League Super Lightweight Championship with the 9-0 victory.
Other Pioneers adding to the Championship season include Jack Dubois, Zane Judeh, Blake Schuler, Vinnie Spizzirri, Wyatt Kipper, Cayden Caldwell, Ellis Hubbard, Jason Erwin, Noah Cordoba, Chris Medina Jr., Shane Sternberg, Jordan Ulaszek, Arthur and Rayder Slabenak, Anthony LaPapa, Christian Paulson, Cody Godlewski, James Okrasinski, AaronMcCarthy, Thomas Richardson and Max Bauer.
Cheering on the team and entertaining the fans all season, were the Super Lightweight Cheerleaders. They include Juliana Corsi, Madison Davis, Violet Fredin, Brynn Fregeau, Mia Fregeau, Martin Groark, Hadley Hanrahan, Quinn Heinze, Alaina Holoubek, Vera Joda, Margot Joda, Callie Juarez-Radovanovic, Ella Kluever, Gemma Laniosz, Brielle Lenzen, Aubrey Mason, Amanda Mathis, Brailey McDonough, Annabella Milosovic, Ayya Ramadani, Avery Seliga, Peyton Tomasik, and Moira Troy.
