By Patrick Z McGavin- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gedhill
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ORLAND PARK— The Super Lightweights of the Orland Park Pioneers are never going to forget their desire after a rash of unexpected setbacks.
The easy part was to lose hope or give up after seeing two turnovers converted into touchdowns against them. Staring at the wrong side of the scoreboard, the Pioneers did just the opposite.
The Orland Park group put together one of the best halves of football this season against a very skilled Frankfort Falcons team.
“My whole team dominated that second half,” Luke Bosack said.
“One of my coaches said we never gave up mentally, and that just kept going in our heads. Even when we were down 12-0, we stayed tough, kept going and never gave up.”
The Super Lightweights’ second half rally came up just short in the 12-6 loss in the regular-season finale of a River Valley Youth Football League game at Sandburg High School on Sunday, October 20.
“We feel pretty good about how we fought,” said Bosack, who had three stops for loss as part of his seven-tackle performance. “All of our coaches are happy.
“Everybody is really happy with the effort that we put out there.”
The game was the story of two halves.
Turnovers doomed the Pioneers by throwing two first half interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. In the second half, the Pioneers turned the table, creating the takeaways and putting the Falcons on their heels.
The Falcons failed to score an offensive touchdown. Other than their opening series, a nine-play drive, the Frankfort team was a road to nowhere.
Gavin Garrity and Bosack took turns registering tackles for loss, joined on the follow up action by Zachariah Ballouta. He also expertly defended the fourth down pass attempt, creating the deflection that produced the loss of downs.
The turnovers disrupted the Pioneers’ offensive consistency of the first half. The quarterback, Garrity had the best plays with a series of naked bootlegs, dives and keepers around the left side.
He also showed a good touch on his passes.
“I got down a little bit after those interceptions, but then I bounced back up, and we got into the game,” Garrity said. “The offense went down for a little bit, but then we built them back up on defense. Everybody got very excited.”
Down 12-0 to start the third quarter, the Pioneers came ready to change the momentum of the game. Seven of the 11 plays Frankfort ran in the second half ended up either no gain or negative yardage.
Sean Kikilas ignited the second half flurry with a takedown for a 1-yard loss to start the second half. Two plays later, he jumped on a loose ball and recovered a fumble at the Falcons’ 32-yard line.
“I saw the ball on the ground, and their quarterback was about to pick it up, and I stripped it right back out and recovered the ball,” Kikilas said.
Quite frankly, the Pioneers made it personal. Frankfort ended up paying.
“Our coaches and all of my teammates really pumped me up,” Kikilas said. “One of their players hit Taylan Morandi in the face, and he was also talking trash to our tight end.
“That got us mad and fired up, and we just wanted to go out and play even harder. The whole team just wanted to go out, and crush them.”
Aided by a personal foul against the Falcons and a 8-yard run by Kikilas, the Pioneers broke through with the methodical and disciplined eight-play, 32-yard scoring drive.
Morandi got the best revenge with a 1-yard plunge for the score with 2:02 to play in the third quarter.
“Defensively we ran really hard to the ball, and did a great job of tackling against them,” Morandi said. “That just sparked the offense. We put those points on the board, and we never backed down.”
The Falcons appeared to respond with a 21-yard run on first down. That turned out to be their only dangerous play after halftime.
Bosack and Kikilas posted back to back stops for negative yards, and Garrity joined in on third down for another crucial stop that necessitated a Falcons’ punt.
The Pioneers were operating at a fever pitch.
“The sidelines were really going crazy, and that helped everybody on the defense to just go out and hit somebody and crush them,” Kikilas said.
Taking over at their own 37-yard line, the Super Lightweights had seemingly climbed all the way back.
After helping move the ball into the Falcons’ territory, Morandi was stopped on third down.
Garrity’s fourth down pass fell incomplete. Even so the Super Lightweights were not down. Another sharp defensive stand engineered by Bosack and Kikilas forced a 3-and-out.
The Pioneers had one last chance, and appeared primed for something spectacular after Peyton Barbee cut loose for a 43-yard end run.
The play was called back for holding. Garrity took a punishing hit that forced him out of the game. In the end, the Pioneers ran out of time. Their effort, valor and toughness transcended any statistical limitations.
No team ever wants to lose their last regular-season game. Momentum counts, as does reaching their peak at the right time.
The Super Lightweights proved they belonged.
“Our defensive line got into the gaps, and we made the plays on first, or even fourth down when we had to,” Garrity said. ”If we play them again in the playoffs, we have to do a better job. But now we know their plays.”
Backup quarterback Thomas Richardson took the final snap after Garrity was banged up. He directed the offense in the Fifth Quarter. He connected on a pass with Martin Groark.
Sean Johnson ran the ball hard. Moody Jaber and Henry Wade had some great stops on defense. Jordy Kolodzief had a touchdown run.
“I know all the plays, and I know where the ball is going, and or what side,” Thomas Richardson said. “It’s really important for the people who don’t get that much time to play on Sundays.”
Despite the 12-6 loss in the final game of the regular season, the Super Lightweights featured many standout contributors. They included JJ Abuzir, Nate Abbs, Quinn McCarthy, Wyatt Kipper, Suhaib Ballouta, Xyan Bell, Lawson Capps, Brady Higgins, Zakariya Jaber, Alex Kopec, CJ Hufford, Shane Sternberg, Luke Holoubek, Bennett Kersten, Vinny LaPapa, Michael Maurella, Michael Patterson, Michael Ramos, Lorcan Redmond, Arthur Slabenak, Henry Wade, Paxton Leithleiter, Ian Frost, Jonathan Mizera, Ammar Abdelmuti, William Jordan, Michael Sweis, Luke McDoniel, Paul Rylan Davies, Dominic Maurella and Amari Adigu.
The Super Lightweight cheerleaders also brought great style and passion to their performances. They included Sofie Annerino, Nora Astor, Aleena Badwan, Lea Barbee, Lucy Bohanek, Stella Bristow, Gianna Bryk, Evelyn Byrne, Charlotte Dorigan, Zoey France, Normandy Golden, Sadie Griffin, Stella Guerrero, Alaina Holoubek, Callie Juarez-Radovanovic, Eleanor Koehn, Kennedy Krokos, Siena Lang, Mia Mizera, Savannah Molina, Hazel Nicholas, Grace Poore, Falyn Simon and Isla Zelensek.
