By Ed Muniz-Photos by Lauren Gray
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p1072465234 **
ORLAND PARK— Comeback victories always seem to carry more importance. Knowing that you’ve overcome a deficit and prevailed, theres somehing about that accomplishment that for some, carries more importance.
Ofcourse winning in blowout fashion can be quite rewarding. The sheer dominance over an opponent in sports is also qiute graitfying but it still doesn’t carry the satisfaction of a comeback triumph!
Just ask Coach Andy Rybak or any of his coaching staff. Their jubilation was on full display after a defensive stop secured the Wednesday Night Football League 8-6 victory over their rival Frankfort Falcons.
“Very Exciting,” said Coach Rybak of the win. “What an exciting game and win for us.”
Trailing 6-0 entering the fourth quarter, fans, players, coaches, all were waiting for something big to happen. All game the Pioneers vaunted offense was stymied and kept off the score board. The usual break away run or big pass never materialized . Everyone sat patiently waiting.
All season, the Pioneers have had phenomenal efforts come from running-back David Burgert. In one of the best runs seen at the Varsity level, Burgert used speed, determination and sheer guts to get his team in the endzone.
Burgert took a handoff, headed left towards his bench, was met by several Falcon defenders, fought to get loose while continuing to give his all. Bounced off a couple of Falcons while keeping his legs moving, looked stop at the sideline right infront of his coaches but somehow broke free and the streaked 58-yards to the endzone for the Pioneers lone score of the game, tying the game at 6-6.
A herculean effort unseen in WNFL competition. He simply refused to be stopped or tackled and kept powering through tackle attempts. Saying it was an impressive effort is simply not enough to describe Burgert’s run.
“Thats the thing, I don’t want to stop. Once I get my feet moving I’m either on the ground or they have me held and I cant go nowhere, it’s the only way I’m stopping,” said Burgert. “We really needed this. This is our last game on this field and it means a lot to us, so we really needed it and wanted this win. I really have to say the blocking really helped me too. I just didnt want to go down and kept going.”
Other than his efforts to not be stopped, the other enoyable moment on his touchdown run was the jumping up and down by his coaches as he ran past them headed to the endzone.
“That’s the kind of character he has,”added coach Rybak. “The kid couldn’t be more repectful, he’s very coachable, he loves his teammates, on top of everything, he’s unbelievably talented. No matter where he goes, he’s got a very bright future in this sport and he’s just getting started. I was telling one of our coaches, that may have been, certainly at the youth level, the single best run I’ve ever seen and I had a great angle; I was right there. Whatever it took, he was getting in the endzone, just an incredible effort and run.”
“Our second half defense was lights out too. Momentum means so much in this game. You get that first drive and you get a big first down after being fourth and four and we convert, it was just exciting. The kids get their blood pumping and go on and your get a great thing like Burgert’s run and then the defense steps up, at that point they felt they can’t be stopped, they knew it and felt it.”
The all important conversion-kick was left up to Gianluca Arceo. The “Moonshot” he blasted off his foot may still be orbiting, giving the Pioneers an 8-6 lead.
The remainder of the game was an ampped up Pioneer defense that was not going to allow much to the Falcons. A quarterback sack by Arceo followed by a Justin McNamara stop and a pass attempt knocked down by Arceo forced a punt by the Falcons. The Pioneers used their running game to control the clock and eat away at it.
Burgert and the return of Maverick Vander Veer rushing the ball ate up a lot of the clock.
Vander Veer impressed many last year with his speed and elusiveness in the backfield. Last season he was quite a surprise talent. His return from injury which had him out for a month and a half should elevate the running attack of the Pioneers.
“I broke my collarbone and have been out for six weeks but now I’m back and ready,” said the speedster. “I thought I played well on defense, made some tackles out there and when I ran the ball, I had some really good blocks, had a lot of blocks that helped me get yards. It felt really good to be back, really good. The best part was getting to run the ball again, getting touches. I think i just need to improve my tackling a bit more and pick up my speed, but not bad tonight.”
One last possesion by the Falcons saw tackles by Sean Buer, Vander Veer and Diego Aguilar stop the Falcons final efforts, securing the 8-6 victory for the Pioneers.
Football is an emotional game and topping the Pioneers in that part of the game is Gianluca Arceo. His vibe is contagious and his teammates visibly feed off it. Active throughout the game, Arceo can be a destructive force that opposing teams have to deal with. The Falcons had no answer.
“I have a lot of joy on the field,” said Arceo. “All that joy and excitement I have on the field comes from my teammates. I played basketball and a coach asked me to join the Pioneers football, boy am I glad I did. I come to practice every single day, my coaches always make feel welcomed, it’s why I give all I have on the field. Once I started playing on Wednesday games, I upped my goals. I really hope we can make it to the “Ship” on both regular Sunday and Wednesdays, I’m gonna give it my all.
The game started with the Pioneers forcing a fumble on the very first play. Drake Ulaszek’s hard hit jarred the football loose which was then recovered by John Werner to give the Pioneers an early gift and short field.
Burgert started the offense with a 13-yard blast. After a few short runs and an incomplete pass, the Pioneers tried a 26-yard field goal, the kick went higher than it did distance, falling just short of the cross bar.
The Falcons used that missed field-goal to their advantage and went on a 14-play drive, powering the ball with run after run until they scored from 10-yards out, but a missed extra-point saw the lead at 6-0.
Defensively, several players were making tackles but the Pioneers couldn’t make a stop when needed. Burgert, Buer, Aguilar, Arceo, Ulaszek, MIchael Stefancic and Liam West all made tackles.
The Pioneers tried to counter and started with a pass from Ben Schwarz to Werner for 11-yards but the drive stalled and forced a punt.
The teams exchange punts when tackles by Aguilar, Schwarz, McNamara and Burgert stopped the Falcons efforts as the first half neared its end. A 16-yard run by Schwarz saw the first half end with the Falcons up 6-0.
The third quarter didn’t open well for the Pioneers. A fumble on a run ended their opening series. Defensively, the Pioneers were still quite stingy and again saw Werner, Arceo and Buer force another Falcon punt.
The Pioneers picked up their pace after Schwarz found Ulaszek for 17-yards on the completion. The Pioneers offense maintained control into the fourth quarter and finally scored on Burgert touchdown run. After that, with momentum now securely on their side, the Pioneers closed out the game with the 8-6 comeback victory.
Other Pioneers who assisted in the game or were there for support included Syncere Preshon, Riley Atzman, Brock Lenzen, Gavin Loman, Dylan Butler, Cade McNulty, Charlie Enstrom, Evan Lavelle, Luke Rybak, Ben Snider, Finn Redmond, Jake Marzullo, Logan Helman, Gage Cucci, Adam Naser, Enzo Angone, Ryan Duckhorn, Malcolm McGonegal, Michael Sraga, Mohammad Abedalrahman, Brandon Castillo, Aidan Rios, Ahmed Ali, Steven Mullins, Nicholas Hertzog, Camden Czarnecki, Yousif Dahdal, Julian Trevino, Ryan Pempek, Erik Baran, Brian Curran and Qais Naser.
