By Ed Muniz- Photos by Kathy Jones
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p259484076 **
****This story has been amended and corrected. Our apologies for the error and oversight.****
The Yorkville Foxes would have to suffer the consequences unknowingly.
Nothing they did caused it, unfortunately, the schedule just worked out that way when they visited the 11U Jr. Celtics.
The Foxes would have to endure the wrath of Thompson and the home team. Why?
The previous week, the Jr. Celtics suffered their first defeat of the season, they were up-ended in a game they most likely say they didn’t play well.
After winning four in a row to open the season, then lose, a team wants to quickly get back to their winning ways. Good teams will; taking no prisoners in their onslaught.
It’s as if they have to prove to themselves, they are once again back to their normal winning ways. The Foxes in this case never knew what hit them in the Jr. Celtics 42-6 pounding win.
From the very first snap, the tone was set, and it was full speed ahead for the Nakahti Thompson and his Mokena teammates.
A record setting performance by Thompson highlighted the lopside Jr. Celtics win. His Five-Touchdown performance was a personal best for him.
“I was a kind of Surprised scrong five times,” said a modest Thompson. ” I had never scored five times in a game before. It felt different. It was just better than scoring two or three, it was just different and special but also surprising. We have more talent, I thought other kids should have scored.”
Thompson also added that practicing like they play is what wins games like they did.
“We had a great week of practice last week after our loss, we came out and took our anger out on them after losing. Playing like we did really helped my confidence.”
Mokena’s first three possessions resulted in three touchdowns, each taking just a few plays. Two runs and a pass-play had the Jr. Celtics up 22-0.
An interception by Nolan Purtill also assisted the Mokena offense get back to doing what it does best.
“I was watching to make sure the guy didn’t get outside of me,” said Purtill. “I had to read the quarterback and see where he was throwing, we knew they were going to throw in the flat. I had to have a hand on one and watch for the ball and make sure he didn’t get near it. I thought I was good at pursuing to the ball.”
Also adding to the defensive effort were tackles by Mason Jones and Anthoni Stefos prior to the Purtill pick.
But it wasn’t all offense, the Mokena defense wasn’t bad either. They gang tackled repeatedly with several players at the ball on every Fox try. It was as if Sony PlayStation 5 were being given away by the Foxes runners.
After the initial three touchdowns by Nakahti Thompson with a 37-yard touchdown run, Michael Brown connecting with Christian Taphorn with the 19-yard touchdown pass and a 22-yard run for touchdown by Thompson, the Foxes managed to score their lone touchdown.
A 57-yard sprint surprised the Jr. Celtics and saw the score now at 22-6.
Mokena responded with a time consuming, nine-play drive using runs by Bryce Robinson, Thompson, Dominick Bennett and Brown to move downfield to the Yorkville 4.
After a false start, the Jr. Celtics scored on a short pass to Robinson, elevating the lead to 28-6.
The Jr. Celtics defense was limiting play by the Foxes on their next possession. Tackles by Cameron Bateman, Robinson and Thompson kept the visitors moving backwards losing yardage. They did complete a pass that grabbed several yards, but it wasn’t enough, losing possession on downs.
With less than two minutes to play in the half, Thompson took a handoff, grabbing 9-yards on the try, he then followed with a nifty run off right tackle, made a cut right to the sideline and left all chasing him on the 69-yard touchdown run.
Heading to halftime, the Jr. Celtics had a 34-6 advantage.
Mokena’s defense helped give their offense another opportunity to score when Kyle Thompkins found a Foxes pass in his arms for the interception. Adrian Friscia had a pair of tackles with another by Kaiden Alexander was added prior to the Foxes turnover.
“Good game plan, I think I did really good at understanding what our coaches tell us and the game plan,’ said Tompkins. “I don’t think there was much hard out there. Yeah, it can be hard getting off a block, but keeping the gap and the outside contain was probably the hardest but not overly. I like playing the Corner and being on defense. When we struggle, we make adjustments during the game and at halftime. Our coaches do that really well.”
Thompson added another score on the ensuing play. Watching Thompson over the last three years, he likes to cut right often and did here, scoring from 30 yards out.
The only thing the Jr. Celtics did poorly was convert point-after’s; they were two of six in that area.
With a huge 42-6 lead and a running clock in place, it wasn’t long before the game ended.
Additional tackles by Dominic Nemchausky, Andrew Lowry, Caden Russel, Alexander and Robinson closed out the game.
Nemchausky has good size and could improve his game if he keeps playing and growing. He could be coveted by many high schools down the road..
“Being a big guy, I just have to adapt to the weather when I play hard. I have to most of the time because I get double-teamed a lot when I’m in there. I usually try to get low as possible when I get two guys on me, I then have to use a little bit of muscle. I was happy with how I played, hopefully the coaches were too and possibly I get to start.”
The Jr. Celtics had efforts from all its roster they included Jaxon Brown, Brayden Firlit, Frank Vosholler IV, Thomas Walsh, Izhok Jaber, Jackson Shanahan, Caleb Jablonski, Carter Gericke, Benjamin Tiernan, Max Dukups and Logan McGrath.
Cheering on the efforts on the field were the Pee Wee Cheerleaders. They keep fans into the games with their cheers and performed at halftime, displaying their skills. They include Brianna Adair, Madison Baker, Chloe DiBennardi, Angelica Enright, Charlotte Fowler, Madison Janik, Luciana Kolenko, Gabrielle Migacz, Eloise Morrison, Penny Oeser, Gianna Picciola, Gianna Ponzi, Mia Rhodes, Bevin Scanlan, Jessica Short, Teagan Smith, Anya Stojak, Madison Varnado and Alexis Vollman.
