By Patrick Z. McGavin- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
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JOLIET—Missing one of their key players, the Algonquin Argonauts 9U team went to a familiar call and dialed up the perfect runner. The play came into the huddle, known as “Robust 26,” and two-way standout Cayton Druger was ready to blast off.
“The offensive line and the other backs did a great job blocking, and I just saw the hole,” he said. “I hit it hard, and I scored.”
Druger broke loose on a second quarter 67-yard touchdown run in the 6-0 victory over the Plainfield Saints in the Pop Warner Game of the Week at Aux Sable Middle School here on Sunday morning, September 14.
In a showdown of elite programs, the Argos (4-0) overcame the loss of quarterback Bryce Fulton on the first play from scrimmage to prevail over the Saints (3-1).
Druger was also spectacular on defense, posting seven tackles. He registered consecutive stops for losses late in the fourth quarter that denied the athletic and gifted Saints the opportunity of hitting paydirt.
The Argos’ defense has not allowed a touchdown this season.
“Our overall talent is very high, and we have a lot of speed,” Saints’ coach Kyle Clancy said. “They did a great job of keeping our speed in check. The first three games of the season, when we got outside, we could outrun everybody. We have four or five kids who are probably faster than anybody in the whole age group. They did a great job of keeping us inside, and keeping us away from what we usually do.”
Fulton was forced out after taking a hard hit to start the game. Leo Colella was thrown into the breach, as the Argos adapted on the fly.
“I didn’t really expect our starter to go down like that,” Colella said. “I got a little bit nervous. The coach called the play, and I just went with it. I gave it to the person who was supposed to get the ball.”
The Argos had to scale down their offense to fit the emergency quarterback. Druger and the other primary ball carrier, Gannon Root, did just enough to keep the Saints off balance.
“I like to run hard, fast and juke guys out when it’s there,” Druger said.
Argos coach Chris Ciepley said the team discovered a critical lesson.
“We learned today our depth chart, when it comes to some of our key players, really needs to be expanded upon,” he said. “When we lose one of our key starters, we’re not just stuck to running a very limited offense, which is what we had to run today once we lost Bryce. Our backs always find a way to get it done, and our linemen did a good job, at least in the first half. We had too many penalties. We have to clean that up.”
The Saints’ multi-purpose offense is also dangerous from anywhere on the field. Quarterback Bobby Daw has multiple playmakers at his disposal, especially two-way star Zachary Wason, Umar Henson, Austin Alba and Nathan Bania.
“People try to send linebackers who come out of nowhere, and I just have to get away,” Wason said. “We needed to get better blocks, so we don’t have to break as many tackles. I definitely like using my speed better.”
The Saints generated their deepest advancement following the Argos’ touchdown run. Dow altered the run and pass brilliantly, with Wason breaking off a couple of hard runs.
The Argos’ Jaxson Ecker came up from his cornerback spot, and made a series of excellent stops. The drive stalled out at the Argos’ 18-yard line with Miles Lobo creating pressure against Daw on the fourth down incompletion.
“We are all great together, and we’ve scored a lot of points and won games,” Daw said. “I get to be the leader on the field. I just don’t think today we blocked as well as we normally could. We had too many breakdowns.”
The Saints had four possessions in the second half. Their standout defense kept the team in the game. The offense too often faced second or third and long.
“Playing against a team of that caliber—they were the state champions last year—we just had too many penalties, and you can’t do that against a team like that,” Clancy said. “You can get away with that against lesser teams and still capitalize. You can’t have penalties on first and second down, and being five yards behind the chains, and trying to play catch up. We have to work on our blocking.”
The Saints’ had their best starting position at the Argos’ 44-yard line snuffed out with Root intercepting a deflected pass midway through the third quarter.
“I just saw it get tipped, and I just told myself I was going to get to the ball and make the play,” Root said. “I like defense because I get this opportunity, and I get to hit. We put in the hard work in practice, and we saw what happened. I think we just flipped the switch.”
Having one final possession at the Argos’ 47-yard line, Ecker again made a brilliant play with a two-yard loss of Wason on a swing pass.
After another huge negative stop by defensive tackle James Kieras, the Argos forced back-to-back incompletions for the victory.
“The defense has been solid the whole year,” Ciepley said. “The boys bail us out of every situation we get into.”
In the end, the Argos made just one more play than the Saints. Cayton Druger was the true difference maker.
“He got to the outside and we just couldn’t tackle him on that play,” Wason said.
The sight was a familiar one for his coach, who has grown accustomed to those types of exploits and explosive plays.
“He’s great,” Ciepley said. “He just loves football. He lives, sleeps and breathes football. He understands it, and he is one of those kids you can’t teach what he knows. It comes naturally to him.”
The Algonquin Argonauts had many standout contributors in the 6-0 victory. They were Kaiden Fox, Cael Ciepley, Taylor Langley, Anoosh Simon Varda III, Miles Lobo, Jacob Skrzypczak, Mason Wasilewski, Steven Baum, Kayden Anderson-Monnie, James Kieras, Parker Benacka, Robert Springhorn III, Gavin Brink, Oliver Cottrell and Maddox Hopp.
Despite the loss, the Plainfield Saints received strong play from its entire roster. Those players were Declan Clancy, Camden Pitts, Luke Kokowicz, Timothy Goodwin, Kameron Gwin, Jack Collier, Samuel Erickson, Stratton Womack, Damian De Leon, Charles LaFlamboy, Kane Fink, Decker Shabala, Beckett Sultan, Brayden Lingier, Caleb Wheeler, Nico Sierra, Camden Hendricks, Colin Kranc, Mason Pineda, Mateusz Blachut, Gavin Taylor, Henry Vore and Henry Kreml.
