By Patrick McGavin- Photos by Jenn Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purhcase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p758873115 **
NEW LENOX— Sometimes the best things require the type of time and patience that only deepens satisfaction.
The Illinois Jr. Celtics had to find their own path in constructing one of the most gratifying moments of the season. The result was clearly worth the complications thrown in their path.
“Everything really started to click for us after we had a bad first drive,” quarterback Mikey Comise said.
“We started to hit our holes, and did a great job of blocking.”
The Jr. Celtics also sprung star running back John Skuzinski V firmly into the mix.
“We played hard and busted out,” Skuzinski said. “We deserved to win this game.”
Skuzinski ran for three touchdowns in the Jr. Celtics’ 19-7 Homecoming victory over the Lockport Jr. Porters in Pop Warner League play at Lincoln-Way Central on Sunday, September 20.
Every game has its own contours and digressions that create a driving order. Going up against an elite and physical defense, the Jr. Celtics found their answers, using the time and clock to their advantage.
The team changed the calculus of the game, transforming what appeared to be a tactical and defensive-oriented game of field position into a showcase for their versatility and skill.
The masterpiece, as it happened, was a 12-play, 78-yard drive that took up most of the second quarter. Comise brilliantly moved between the pass and run, using flare screens to the quick Declan Kirk to set up the explosive bursts of Skuzinski.
Significantly the offensive line found its groove.
“They had a little bit of a slow start, but then they really showed up,” Kirk said. “They created perfect holes for the running backs.”
Skuzinski had five runs for 35 yards, balanced by the outside actions of Kirk, who contributed two carries for 24 yards.
Comise mixed that with a 14-yard pass to Isaiah Hosman.
The line settled in, and the Jr. Porters ran out of their own answers.
“We always practice about being really good at getting off the ball,” lineman Weston Surber said. “We came out kind of flat, and then we had to get hyped up in the second quarter.”
Skuzinski punctuated the superb multi-pronged drive with a five-yard burst for the touchdown.
Confidence is king, and the Jr. Celtics seized the moment with a privileged string of plays that provided the 6-0 halftime lead.
The stage was set, and the Jr. Celtics developed their own brand of hunger and resolve.
“Scoring at the end of the first half like that just motivated us, and made us want to score even more points,” Kirk said.
Scoring first is always as much psychological as tactical. The advantages are often profound.
“That was so helpful because if we didn’t score in that situation, that just gives them one more chance to come back,” Comise said.
That game-changing drive was not just the work of the offense.
The possession was set up by a huge 10-yard loss by lineman Aiden Samanich and Vincent Venegas that forced the change of possession.
The second half marked not just more of the same but illustrated the point that the challenges thrown in the path of the Jr. Celtics made the whole enterprise worthwhile.
For his part, Venegas was just getting started.
He made a huge fourth down stop that returned the ball to the Jr. Celtics.
Skuzinski, pumped and excited, once again took center stage. He needed just one play to change the storyline one more time.
On the Jr. Celtics’ first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, he ripped off a 52-yard run to the six-yard line.
Skuzinski is a marvel to the other players on the team.
“He’s fast, and he hits the holes and he is great at finding the cutback lanes,” Comise said.
“He always gets outside and finds a way.”
Even at this precocious stage of his life, Skuzinski has a fine sense of the game, and how to utilize his talents for optimal results.
“I just follow my blocks, and I have perfect vision,” he said. “Nobody can really stop me when I get free.”
Despite being tripped up at the end, Skuzinski scored two plays later on a three-yard run and Comise pushed the lead out to 13-0 with the conversion run up the gut.
Jeremiah Hosman and Samanich collaborated on a great stop during the ensuing drive of the Jr. Porters.
The Jr. Celtics effectively put the game out of reach moments later with an interception by Calogero DiNaso.
He effectively fought with his own teammate, Jimmy Shorts, over possession of the ball.
The larger point was unmistakable.
The Jr. Celtics were clearly and irrevocably in charge, holding the momentum and the lead. The possibility of a comeback by the previously unbeaten Jr. Porters appeared more remote.
“We just had energy to do really well out there today,” DiNaso said. “Everything worked for us. Defensively we were staying pumped up.
“We kept making big hits.”
There appeared little for Skuzinski to do as a final statement. Nonetheless, he punctuated the victory in grand style.
He blasted through a seam on the right side and went untouched for a 50-yard touchdown run with 8:19 remaining.
The linemen who took turns rotating into the game—Nash and Weston Surber, Jack Sanders, Declan Faul, Joey Paciorek and Samanich—all shaped the flow and direction of the game.
Lockport’s quarterback broke free down the right sideline late to break the shutout.
Otherwise, this was as clean and purposeful a result as the team could have drawn up.
“We had great energy the whole game,” Skuzinski said. “We were pumped up, and everything started to go our way.
“We deserved to win this game. We played hard and busted it out.”
A morning that began on a note of uncertainty became a collective portrait of success.
“It was great to go up, and take control the way we did,” DiNaso said. “This is our Homecoming, and we want that stuff in our game.”
The Jr. Celtics’ 10U team had many standout contributors in the victory. They were Finn Ward, Owen Miller, Nicholas Mainor, Jacob Guisinger, Rhett Prasun, Leo Drabeck, Joseph “Joey” Paciorek, Hendrix Benard, Lukas Juricic, Jack Christou and Anthony Raspanti.
