By Ed Muniz- Photos by Lauren Gray
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p237375796 **
ORLAND PARK— You like defense and more defense and even more defense? then you would have loved the defensive battle that took place in Orland Park during the Wednesday Night Football League game between the Orland Park Pioneers and the Frankfort Falcons lightweights.
With each touting stellar defenses and neither giving an inch, much of the early part of their game was about field position and using the punt as a weapon to hold the other at bey.
Then came the teams using all four downs and losing possesion on downs. The back and forth saw a first half snoozer, as fans and players waited for something to break free and change or create an advantage in the game with a possible scoring opportunity.
That didnt happen but the Pioneers came close losing the ball on downs at the Falcons 3-yard-line.
As it turned out, a defensive rarity turned out to be the sole difference in the game; a SAFETY late in the third quarter by the Pioneers was the games sole points and provide the host Pioneers a 2-0 victory on August 27 at Schussler Park in Orland Park.
“We knew Frankfort was going to be a dog-fight,” said Coach Dan Kolodziej. “They’re a great team, we prepared for them as best we could. You saw it was a back and forth defensive dog-fight. Our defense came out on top with the sfaety and that really sealed the deal for us.”
“Our defense was on it, they’ve been that way for a couple weeks now and our offense was a step or inches from converting some of those pass plays that could have gone for touchdowns, we just missed them. I said Frankfort had a great defense but we just missed some opportunity but our defense kept us in the game, I’m just super proud of how they played.”
What turned out to be a key play in the game was a fourth down rifle pass from Gavin Garrity to Luke Bosac from the Falcon 24-yard-line. Althogh double-covered, Garrity’s pass threaded the needle between the defender and Bosack made a phenomenal catch for 16-yards and a first down at the Falcons 8..
Although the Pioneers eventually loss the ball on downs, that pass and catch eventually led to the Pioneers having the Falcons running out of their endzone, leading to Dominic Maurella’s tackle for safety and a Pioneers 2-0 win.
As the Pioneers quarterback, Gavin Garrity has shown improvement, especially with his passing. He has become an offensive general on the field and is learning the position and what it takes to be a great quarterback. His leadership and clutch play in this game proved it.
“I was surprised that Luke (Bosack) caught it because there was two defenders right there but I got it through,” said Garrity. “Our running backs are really good but we are still working on the pass-plays, its why we dont throw as much. I love playing quarterback and the best part for me is learning all new plays. I feel just a little pressure playing it but I still love it. Our offense did pretty good and so did our defense with a lot of hard tackles.”
one of the standouts on the stellar defense was Jackson Biskup. His second half performance stood abvoe the rest. Biskup was making tackle after tackle. At the line or in the open field, he was a closer in the second half. He simply elevated his second half game and made a huge impact on keeping the Falcons scoreless.
“It was just a mindset to do well; all that and mentally and phisically, I felt great,” said Biskup of his excellent defensive effort. “Everybody played great. I read what they were doing, they love the outside so I was focused on the outside and making the stops. On offense we just couldnt get it going because they had a really good defense. Maybe we could have had better blocking but their defense was pretty good anyway.”
The Pioneers offense found the going difficult as the Falcons were quick to the runs outside whle also stuffing the middle. Occasionally the Pioneers would grab several yards on runs but for the most part were limited to small gains in the first half.
The Pioneers forte turned out to be their defense too. They were all over the Falcons from the onset. They too limited the Frankfort efforts throughout the game but especially in the opening half. Tackles by Bosack, Taylan Morandi, Ammar Abdelmuti, Biskup, Anthony LaPapa and Garrity frustrated the Falcons offense, forcing punts or turnover on downs.
Defense continued to dominate play during the second half for the Pioneers but their offense began to find chinks in the Falcons defensive armor.
A fumble recovery to open the second half by Michael Patterson thanks to a hit by Luke Holoubeck that caused the fumble, was soon followed by the Pioneers offense moving the ball via runs and a pass from the Falcons 25-yard-line to just three yards from the endzone. Althought the Falcons bent, they didnt break until the Safety by the Pioneers.
WIth a 2-0 lead entering the last quarter, the Pioneers defense was about to see Biskup put on a tackling clinic. In one Falcons series, Biskup made every tackle and forced Frankfort to lose the ball on downs.
Unfortunately, the Pioneers weren’t able to add on to their slim lead but that didnt matter much as they continued to stymie the Falcons offense, refusing to give much until the final whistle and a 2-0 victory.
Several players also did their part in the game and added to the Pioneers win. Among them were also thse that couldnt play but were there in support . They included Jaweed Abuzir, Gunner McCarthy, Nate Abbs, Keith Piekarz, Thomas Sutter, Joey Zotto, Will Poore, Sean Kikilas, Ryan Lukas, Zachariah Ballouta, Ellis Hubbard, Mike O’Connor, Martin Groark, Brady Higgins, Jason Erwin, Alex Kopec, CJ Hufford, Christopher Medina Jr., Shane Sternberg, Bennett Kersten, Brooks Foster, Arthur Slabenak, Paxson Leithleiter, Laith Hammami, Ian Frost, Jonathan Mizera, Dominic Gabriele, William Jordan, Jordy Kolodziej, Jimmy Elsberg, Connor Kvelland, Luke McDoniel, Paul Rylan Davies, Amari Adigun and Adam Krokos.
