By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p1013343959 **
MOKENA — The Jr. Celtics 11U football team did countless things right on Sunday afternoon.
They played stout defense, holding the visiting Maywood/Bellwood Spartans to second quarter touchdown. The Jr. Celtics played strong defense, controlling the line of scrimmage, not giving up any long plays nor did they hurt themselves with penalties or mental mistakes.
Offensively, the Jr. Celtics were moving the ball at times, slowly building momentum with a solid running games. On special teams, the Jr. Celtics also had a good effort.
But the Jr. Celtics missed on the main ingredient required to win football games – scoring points.
Maywood/Bellwood rode the strong arm and fast legs of several players, including their quarterback, to a 7-0 win at Main Park on Sunday afternoon.
Coach Tony Urso said his team came a few plays away from a possible win, but he liked the positive attitude and quality effort his team gave throughout the four-quarter battle.
“It was a bend-but-don’t break model we were trying to accomplish here,” Urso said. “That’s a really good football team. We tried our best, but got overleveraged at the end. Their quarterback was a very good quarterback. It’s hard to contain a special player like that, but we did a special job shifting and moving over and tried to slow him down a bit.”
The Jr. Celtics (2-2-1) made a few costly mistakes that bit them in the end, mainly penalties that stopped them from prolonging drives or moving the chains and letting the defense rest.
“Penalties killed us,” Urso said. “Once we started getting some momentum, the penalties stopped us with some mental breakdowns.”
Several drives pointed toward Urso’s claims. Down 7-0 with 3:31 left in the fourth quarter, the Jr. Celtics started a possible game-tying trip down the field at their own 31-yard line. Offensive line issues, along with strong pressure by the Spartans, put the Jr. Celtics into a long fourth-down situation. The drive ended with an interception by the Spartans.
“We have to be smarter and limit our mistakes, so we can have longer drives and score more points,” Urso said. “You have to give credit to the other team. They have some very talented players on both sides of the ball and were quick.”
Greyson Johnson had a game to remember, setting the stage to be a menace on both sides of the ball at the start of the game. Johnson, one of the toughest and biggest players on the field, blew up first drive with four stellar tackles. On the 10th play of the drive, Johnson helped slow down the Spartans’ momentum with a 5-yard tackle for a loss that put the ball on the Celtics’ 15-yard line. Tomasino Urso stopped the scoring threat with a tackle on fourth down.
On their next drive, the Spartans managed to find the end zone, scoring on a 51-yard touchdown run to seize a 7-0 lead with 1:20 left in the half. The quick-strike drive stung the Jr. Celtics, spoiling some momentum by the home team after a six-play drive ended with a punt.
Johnson stepped up again on the Spartans’ first drive of the second half, blowing up the line on the seventh play for a loss to spoil another scoring threat. Johnson kept his postgame words to a bare minimum but noted the need for improvement.
“We had too many offsides and holding penalties,” Johnson said. “Their quarterback likes to run high and we should’ve gotten the ball out. We have to be more disciplined after this loss.”
Coach Urso said numerous players played a vital part in keeping the game close against the high-octane offense by the visitors.
“I thought Declan played really good and (Tomasino) did a nice job and Grayson was balling out on every play,” Coach Urso said. “Everyone played hard and showed effort. We just couldn’t score today.”
Byrce Szczepaniak wanted to digest the loss, holding his postgame words to a brief comment. He had two long runs on a drive late in the second half, carrying the ball for 14 yards and adding a three-yard run.
“We had a lot of penalties, but our defense did pretty good and we only allowed seven points, so it was nice to be in the game with a chance to win it,” he said.
Tomasino Urso, a linebacker and fullback, maintained his poise throughout the muggy afternoon and kept the team together with his energy. Urso helped slow down several drives by the visitors with his tackling and closing gaps.
“We stayed to the outside and made a couple of big tackles,” Urso said. “We just needed to stay low and tackle more and less penalties. Their quarterback has a really good arm and they have some good skilled players he can throw to. They’s a good team. We have to play smarter and not have so many penalties and move the ball more. We hurt ourselves so many times.”
Wide receiver/linebacker Declan Kirk was a big-time player for his team, seizing advantage of battling the athletic Spartans and relying on his speed and instincts to be a threat on offense and defense. Kirk said costly mistakes cost his team a possible win.
“It was frustrating because we had a lot of penalties,” Kirk said. “I thought our defense was very good against that team. We stopped them for nearly the entire game. We’re a good team and can do better.”
The 11U Jr. Celtics relied on a team effort to stay close during the game, including players Casey Gahan, Dean Copack, Anthony Baniewicz, Romeo Brooks, Jonathan Collins, Mason Munch, Thomas McLaughlin, Eli Schubert, William Janik, Luke Husenger, Shareef Allan, Brady Lindholm, Grant Whitchurch, Connor Seltzer, Asher Kokolus, Austin Flynn and Liam Berland.
