By Bobby Narang- Photos by Paul Connolly
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GILBERTS – On a blistering hot afternoon, the Algonquin Argonauts entered its fans with a memorable day of football. The 11U D3 football team played the Hampshire Whip-Purs on a picture-perfect day for football in the middle of Labor Day weekend.
The Argonauts struck first with a dynamic second-quarter touchdown but couldn’t hold the lead despite a late charge. Hampshire scored 13 unanswered points to pull out a 13-6 victory on Saturday afternoon. Argos coach Jason Schumann pushed his players throughout the humid afternoon, imploring them to be focused and put forth their best effort. Schumann, in his 25th season coaching youth football, said he saw several memorable moments, but also a few frustrating sequences.
“Mental mistakes killed us all game,” Schumann said. “We never gave up and played until the end. We had a lot of positives. We’re starting to come together as a team, just had a lot of mental mistakes. It was one of the days.”
The Argos showed they were all business early in the game to the delight of the large and enthusiastic pro-home team crowd. Running back Miles Sedarski set the tone with a big afternoon running the ball and playing strong on defense.
Sedarski churned his way to several big gains, breaking numerous tackles to finish a hard-fought 32 yards rushing to go with five yards receiving. The Whip-Purs played strong, especially on the defensive line, to hold the Argos’ high-powered offense in check for most of the game.
“I always get nervous before a game, but I felt pretty good today, especially on offense,” Sedarski said. “The line blocked good, but we have to do better.”
Quarterback Payton Aguilar shared some of his duties behind center with Devin Rohrbacher. Aguilar showed he wasn’t bothered by pressure, rushing for 17 yards, including a nifty 12-yard scamper. He also completed four passes for 19 yards. “The line blocked good, but we could do better,” Aguilar said. “We had a good touchdown drive. Everybody blocked hard and we did a nice job. It was hot today, but we didn’t give up. I feel pretty good about playing quarterback. I’m throwing good.”
The Argos broke the scoring ice when Gionni Cavaliere broke lose for a 12-yard touchdown run with 7:07 left in the second quarter. The hard-running Cavaliere darted to his left and went untouched for the first points of the game. The Argos, though, missed the point-after-attempt but led 6-0.
“We didn’t give up and we have to do better, especially on blocking and we all have to work harder and do more in practice,” Cavaliere said. “I was happy we played hard and stayed in the game.”
The Whip-Purs added a touchdown late in the half to tie the game, then used a quick, big-play drive to grab a 13-6 lead with 7:57 remaining in the third quarter. But the Argos’ defense clamped down, plugged the line of scrimmage and started applying pressure on Hampshire’s quarterback to keep the game within reach.
The Argos’ offense struggled moving the ball, finishing their first two second-half drives via downs. Just when it looked like Hampshire had the game sealed with a late fourth-quarter drive into the home team’s territory, Sedarski came to the rescue.
The aggressive and physical linebacker busted into Hampshire’s backfield, ripped the ball out of a player’s arms and started racing toward Argo’s goal-line. Sedarski showed off his speed and instincts, avoiding Hampshire’s players to race 75 yards for a possible game-tying touchdown.
However, the Argos were flagged for clipping on the touchdown, giving them the ball at Hampshire’s 40-yard line with 1:31 left in the game. Sedarski credited his determination for making the key strip and run. “I was getting kind of mad because we needed the ball, but I was able to get it,” Sedarski said. “Someone grabbed my legs, but they didn’t get a good grip, so I kept running and turned around and saw the flag, it kind of made my heart sink. It felt good, though. It was my best play of the year.”
With the game in the balance – and the sideline and fans suddenly energized – the Argos put together their best drive of the game at the right time. The lengthy drive featured several big plays, including an 8-yard run by Rohrbacher and a pass completion to Cavaliere on the seventh play that turned out to be the final play of the game. “I was really mad I couldn’t score on that play,” Cavaliere said.
The Argos’ entire team factored in the game, including Josue Castros, Jacob Johansen, Gionni Cavaliere, Liam Vogelmann, Elliott Norton, Jayden Asrar, Andres Brito-Sanchez, Christopher Velez, Miles Sedarski, Matthew Nickel, Julius Sandoval, Jordan Lopez, Cameron Strahs, Hunter Amin, Payton Aguilar, Devin Rohrbacher, Nicolas Lesage, Brandon Shanks, Brett Sanders, Paulie Lombardo, Robert Kolliker, Isaac Herrera and Damien Asrar.
The Argos cheerleaders were stellar throughout the game, helping motivate the crowd with their spirited routines and cheers. The cheerleading team helped to motivate the football team with several crowd-pleasing cheers and routines on the humid afternoon. The Tiny Mite cheerleading team featured Nevaeh Amin, Nina Blakey, Elena Campobasso, Gabriella Campobasso, Daniella Falcone, Marissa Jensen, Emilia Loza, Colbie Lucas, Whitney Lucas, Michelle Rivera and Harper Savage.
The Inspired Cheer team had coaches had the team working hard and on point with their routines. The Inspire Cheer team consisted of Jillian Grigg, Hannah Murzyn, Maya Polis, Kendall Russ, Sohpia Schumann, Melina Smith and Nadya Wyzukovicz.
