By Ed Muniz-Photos by Renee Kaspar
** Additional Photos are Available for purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p781515532 **
Elgin— Spring: The season of growth and renewal, characterized by warming temperatures, rising sap in trees, and increased daylight. It is a time when plant life buds, animals emerge from hibernation, and ecosystem activity surges.
Traditional Opening day are featured on the diamonds all over the country as baseball and softball come out of their hibernation, nationally.
In Chicagoland, for the past five years, a new neighbor to Baseball and Softball has moved in. One you’d typically see come fall.
Illinois 5-Star Nation has introduced for those that can’t get enough football a Spring League that has grown since its inception five years ago.
The 2026 Spring Season will have 64 teams competing from 6U to 14U while also offering a Girls Flag at 14U. Teams from Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana participate in the league that began on April 19 and will conclude the second weekend of June.
Among the combatants to kick-start 2026 were the Chicago Hellcats who faced off against the Kenosha Gremlins in the 7U division.
Football is an emotional game with both teams, as well as the sidelines, overflowing with it.
An early score saw the Hellcats jump ahead but after falling behind at halftime, a second-half comeback saw the the Hellcats (1-0) secure the 20-12 victory in Elgin and send the visiting Kenosha Gremlins (0-1) home defeated.
“Our team is kinda like a family, we do at times get emotional behind whats going on on the field,” said Coach Walter Lackings. “We have been together for a while and we have parents that are really into the game. All of us want the kids to succeed so we just hold them to a higher standard. If we aren’t getting to that standard, we do get a little excited.”
One thing you won’t see on Coach Walters team is goofing around. This is tight ship where discipline is without question easily visible and it works for this team. Calling a plays, knowing where they belong and executing. It is the result of that discipline that works for this Hellcats team.
“We know generally getting 6- and 7-year-olds attention can be hard but we hold them to a certain standard where they have to pay attention so, we really just install those values early that they will need later on in life, like respect and undertanding.”
Coach Walter also spoke of why they are able to get plays off where at this level, teams tend to struggle.
“In practice we run a fast pace tempo, I expect them to get back to the ball, so we can line it up and I can call plays and run more plays. We are used to that now.”
“Today, what worked for us was when it came time to lock in and be aggressive, our team snapped back, they believed in each other and played their positions well and ended up coming together and get that win. Definitely practicing our plays helped a lot today. I thought we need to work and improve our endurance, the team was a little tired as expected in the first week, we could also wrap up better, we had some missed tackles on their two scores. I knew we weren’t playing to the best of our abilities but the second half I knew once we got in our groove, and we did, we’d lock them down and did. It was a good opening win but I’m ready for next week.”
The Hellcats went on defense first, it wasn’t long before the offense was on the field. A hard tackle by Dash Butler caused a fumble which was recovered by Deaunte Dickerson on the Gremlins first try.
One play later, Butler dashed around right-end and didnt stop until he reached the endzone 35-yards later for the games first scrore a minute and a half into the game. Antwon Easley added the point-after to give the Hellcats a 7-0 lead.
“I made a fumble on the first play,” said Dash. “After that, I was thinking don’t look back when I was running with the ball. When I score a touchdown it makes me feel good. I am happy with how I played. I think I could get my speed up and be faster.”
The ensuing possession saw the Gremlins strike back despite the tackling efforts from Ahmir Mack, Dickerson and Tre Griffin. A run around left-end saw the Gremlins runner break a few tackles and streak 52-yards for the touchdown. After failing on the point-after attempt, the Gremlins now trailed 7-6.
The next Hellcats series saw them runoff seven straight plays behind the legs and rushing abilities of Dickerson, Easley and Legend Williams. Unfortunately, the Gremlins eventually forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back.
Shortly there after, the Gremlins would strike again on another long touchdown run. The 48-yard score put the Gremlins up 12-7 after again failing on the point-after inside a minute left in the first half.
With just :38 left before halftime, the Hellcats went to Dickerson who broke free and was all alone headed to the endzone, unfortunately, his over-confiendence got the better of him as he looked back and was eventually caught from behind at the 13-yard line while time ticked away. What looked like a sure touchdown ended up a long sprint of 52-yards.
Time expired as both teams went to half with the Gremlins holding a 12-7 lead over the Hellcats.
The Third Quarter saw the Hellcats come out determined to regain the lead. Using up nearly the entire quarter offensively, the Hellcats committed some errors to open their possession but looking to redeem himself, Dickerson took a hand off and once again broke off a 49-yard burst that flipped the field for the Hellcats.
After a pair of short runs and a penalty, the Hellcats called on Dickerson again who proceeded to pound free and streak 36-yards for the go-ahead touchdown.
“I just try to run past them when I get the ball and run as fast as I can so I can get a touchdown,” said Dickerson. “I do like breaking tackles, stiff arming people and trucking people too. I made my comeback after my goof up. I learned never look back. I think I run the ball pretty good. I play both sides but I like playing defense because I can cause fumbles and make some of them cry.”
Once again, Easley added the point-after to give the Hellcats a 14-12 lead they would never relinquish the rest of the game.
With three quarters expired, the job at hand now laid directly on the defense. Holding the lead was vital and the Hellcats to a player knew it. Upping their game in the final quarter, the Hellcats defense became more aggressive.
Line play was limiting Gremlin runs as now you saw the Hellcats getting to the ball quickly. Runs to the outside now saw the Hellcats defense limiting lanes and the arm tackling of the first half was a distant past.
The teams traded fourth quarter possessions. The Hellcats were trying to hold on while the Gremlins deperately looked to score and retake the lead so both defense were executing their top efforts as time wound down.
The Hellcats’ Easley and Grayson Haerris and Tre Griffin were key in shutting down the Gremlins efforts. A pair of sacks by Easley and a tackle that loss four yards by Harris stood out as the Gremlins lost the ball on downs.
With very little time left on the clock, Easley put the finising touches on the comback Hellcats win with a 22-yard touchdown gallop to the endzone for the 20-12 victory.
Among the others that shared and displayed their talents on the field, Legend Williams was adding to the offfense with runs that produced positive yards throughout the game
“I should get outside so I can score but I look for openings,” said Williams. “I think I get to the hole pretty quick but I need to practice more to get better and get faster. I think I can help the team more.”
Antwon Easley may have been the Hellcats most complete player. His talents offensively, scoring a touchdown and blasting in for a pair of extra-points showcased his abilites only being over-shadowed by his prowess defensively in or assiting on multiple tackles, causing a fumble on a hard tackle while also recovering it.
“I like playing defense and tackling. I like playing defense more because sometimes I can make a fumble happen. I think I can help the team more playing defense. On their two long runs, I got bunched up in the middle but we got better after halftime. I think I can do better at tackling, pursue better and find the ball quicker.”
Another defensive standout was Tre Griffin. At times he was a wall and played off the block better than most. He too delivered one of the games hardest tackle felt all the way to Kenosha.
“I like playing the line both ways. I like blocking people a lot but also grabbing tackles on defense. I try to make sure that i finish the tackle too. I like playing ways. I’ll get better by practicing. I think I tackle pretty good too. I like playing on this team and the best part of playing on this team is winning.”
Several other players also contributedin the win. They include Kairo Lackings, Zyaire Murray, Josiah Ohnson, Marques Shepard, Amir Thomas, Mekhi Taylor, JaiveonCampbell, Siyer Lucas, Antauwan Harris, Kyan White, Jadan Armstead, Grayson Harris and Jayceon Jones.
