by Ed Muniz-Photos by Renee Kaspar
The clashing of helmets, the thunder of pad-to-pad impacts, and the noises of whistles being blown, all signifying the return of Football after a nine-month hiatus for most youth programs.
To welcome its’ return, the Bloomingdale Bears Youth Football and Cheer organization hosted a Preseason Bowl on August 20. Throughout the day, games were held on two fields at Circle Park. From the five-year-old Flag player to 14-year-olds of Varsity football, football officially announced its return.
A bevy of games saw them hosting teams from Pop Warner and the Bill George Football League, which included the Addison Cowboys, the Carol Stream Panthers, the Elmhurst Eagles and the Elk Grove Eagles.
In the 10U game, the Bloomingdale Bears Gold level team found itself facing a formidable opponent in the Addison Cowboys. The Cowboys as nine-year-old’s, were Pop Warners’ State and Regional Champions playing in the 10U division.
Facing a tough task ahead of them, the Bears to a man, gave it their all throughout the game, but size, speed and cohesiveness was too much for the undersized hosts, which resulted in a one-sided game as Addison ran away with the 39-0 win.
Coach Rob Anderson has a talented group of players who should do very well in the BGYFL this year but from the start, the size difference was difficult not to notice.
Coach Anderson was unavailable for comment after the game, but assistant Frank Gravina added: “We look at the good and the bad today, so we capitalize on our good things and work on improving the bad. We can fix players fumbling or out of position, we can fix things like that. We start small and capitalize on the positive things we did.”
The Bears did make the BGYFL playoffs last season, so this is an experience group capable of winning many games this year.
“Our goal is to get back to that this year, but we take one game at a time, stay focused on that and let things play out as they do.”
Coach Gravina added that he felt the Bears need to improve their play at the line and be more precise on the fundamentals of the game. Gravina also felt the loss was good for them, they faced a high caliber team in the pre-season, and they have one direction to go.
“Our guys are small, little, tough guys, we’re scrappy. Intimidation was a factor today as our guys looked up at the players opposite them all game. We’ll have to get over that because that’s going to happen all season. I’m sure we’ll get over it as the season goes on. That’s how we were last year. I think we will be a very good team.”
For the Cowboys, winning has become routine. This is a loaded team with size and speed. Coach Dino Cardone knows what he has, and the boys give their all every play.
“We have very good group of boys that know what they’re doing. We run an up-tempo offense, we can run at you, and we can throw. I feel we have a really dynamic offense, its special. We still have a lot of work to do after this final tune-up before the regular season starts.”
What was evident about the Cowboys was that they’re big, but they get to the ball quick defensively. Team speed was on full display as they covered sideline to sideline.
“We pride ourselves on having a great defense. Its good to have a scoring offense, but I believe that defense wins games,” said Cardone.
Coach Cardone also added, “The Bloomindale Bears have a great organization, and we played a great team today. They gave their all the entire game, they’ll do very well in their league, you just see it. We are thankful to have the opportunity to be invited and to have played them. I wish the whole organization the best in their season and hopefully together we all can represent the Chicagoland area great”
The game didn’t start off well for the Bears as a fumble on their first possession just two plays in was recovered by middle linebacker’ David Salazar Jr.
After a tackle by Bloomingdales’ Lucas Nosek of Addison’s Jason Thalhammer after 5-yards, the Cowboys would score on a 32-yard pass-play from quarterback Jesus Ortiz jr. to Ryan DeNardo, eluding one Bloomingdale tackler and racing to the endzone.
Facing an aggressive Cowboy defense, The Bears went to their speed back Chase Gravina, who got around end and picked up the Bears first down after a 12-yard rush.
Gravina again managed to pick up 8 more yards on the next series after tackles by Sebastian Acono and Thalhammer produced negative yards for the hosts first two tries.
A short pass from Logan Anderson to Gravina grabbed just four yard and forced a turnover on downs for the Bears.
It took the Cowboys two plays to extend their lead to 12-0 when Thalhammer took the handoff, and didn’t stop until he reached the endzone, 60-yards later with four minutes left in the first half.
The Bears found the running game very difficult for themselves as big pressure from the Addison defense resulted in fumble on Dominic Garcia’s first attempt.
The quick fumble recovery by Nikolas Anest, would turn into another score for the Cowboys. Markus Elder Jr wasted no time on the ensuing play and broke free on the 34-yard touchdown run. Elder Jr added the point after to up the Addison lead to 19-0, a minute after their previous score.
“It was hard when its raining like it was today,” said Bloomigdale quarterback Logan Anderson. “I enjoy leading this team and I thought we passed the ball well today, we just had a hard time keeping our block but they’re pretty good, maybe we were a little overmatched. I think we will do pretty good this year anyway.”
The first half ended as the Bears struggled against a larger opponent.
Without kickoff in this preseason game, teams began at their own 35 yard-line. That’s where the Cowboys open the second half. Their first snap from scrimmage propelled their lead once again.
Ethan Cristerna produced the longest run of the day with his 65-yard touchdown run. Angelo Morales added the point after to bring the advantage to 26-0.
In their first series of the second half, Bloomingdales’ Garcia and Gravina gave their all each carry, but were met with a slew of defenders. Acono, Tyler Houston and Cain Ocampo limited them to negative yardage or no gain.
The Bears advanced the ball when they went through the air. Anderson found Brain Fieck for 13-yards before being stopped.
The positive yardage came to a halt once the Bears reached midfield after a Garcia run.
Tackles by Thalhammer and Acono and an 8-yard loss by Anderson brought the third quarter to a conclusion.
The final quarter saw the Cowboy lead increase. The Bears fought and tackled the best they could, in this instance, they were facing a size and speed differential they simply couldn’t match.
A 39-yard romp by Morales and point after by Cristerna gave the visiting Cowboys a 33-0 lead.
Gravina was the standout for the Bears, he led the team in rushing also in tackles.
“I just tried to get the most yards I could. It was hard because the openings weren’t very big,” said the Bears speedy back. “On offense I gotta improve on catching the ball. I like running the ball, if he wanted to pass to anyone else, I wouldn’t care. I really just wanted to hit someone and get some yards whenever I ran the ball. We have to finish our blocks and get better at that.”
The Cowboys would add a late score and conclude the game with 39-0 shutout of the host.
The Cowboys had numerous stars in this game. Angelo Morales play on both sides of the ball was at a high level. His speed and elusiveness was a factor not only offensively but also making tackles.
“I thought when it started raining it worked out better for me,” said Morales. “I had a good game, but I could be better. I juked guys running the ball but reading the play defensively; I have to be better. I thought our team played an “A’ type game, but we can get better. I liked today.”
Another Cowboy who was relentless on both sides of the ball was Jason Thalhammer. Know as the Hammer, he nailed several players for tackles, but also knew how to get into the end zone.
“I think I’m running the ball really good and on defense, I’m reading the plays really well as the quarterback turns his hips,” said The Hammer. “I have a lot of experiencing. I also thought we really rushed their offense very well today, causing them to fumble a few times. We played really good today.”
Thalhammer also stated as a team they need to stay focused every play.
For Sebastian Acono, playing defensive line is a favorite of his. “My coaches work with me a lot on my footwork and today I think I played well because of my improved footwork. I could be much better on defense getting through the line, so I’ll work on that. I really like playing defense because I’m better at it, plus I like tackling guys.”
Although the Bears lost big on the score board, their play and effort throughout the difficult game never cease. They showed grit to the last whistle against one of the best 10-year-old team in Northern Illinois.
Other Bloomingdale Bears giving their all include Frankie Jurkowski, William Hetrick, Leo Heath, Joe Blanford, Logan Jarock, Lorenzo Flores, Nathan Avila, Lazo Lovelace, Evan Schwind and Joesph Turek.
The Addison Cowboys also saw contributions in the win come from Michael Aguilar Jr, Giovanni Alvarez, Ke’lon Dennis, Jax Krotz, Damian Milewski, Matteo Morrone, Marco Odonnell, Matthew Plaza, Noah Soria, Matthew Thomas Jr, Omar Trujillo and Christian Tzamouranis.
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