By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos ae Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p304560679 **
ORLAND PARK— Momentum is often the driving engine in nearly every sporting event.
On Sunday, at Seliga Field on the Sandburg High School campus, the Orland Park Junior Varsity football team experienced the importance of momentum.
The Pioneers came out of the gates on a mission, scoring a touchdown early in the first quarter to set the stage for a blowout victory. The Pioneers scored 14 points in the first quarter, added 22 points in the second quarter to cruise to a 42-0 victory over Northwest Indiana Vipers on Sunday afternoon.
The Pioneers (4-2) rode a big-play offense and a tough-as-nails defense to an easy four quarters of football, allowing nearly the entire team to get some reps on the sun-splashed afternoon.
Standing just outside a shed underneath the main grandstand, Orland Park coach Al Krokos was thrilled about his team’s improvement from the first week to the sixth week of the season. Krokos emphasized how nearly every player has stepped up for the team late in the season.
“We’re building toward the end of the season,” Krokos said. “This was a good win. We got some work to do for Wednesday and next weekend. We will enjoy it tonight and come back strong next week. It was a great team effort all around. Everyone played well on the field, from the offense to the defense to the special teams.”
Leading 8-0 with 3:29 left in the first quarter, the Pioneers’ defense came up with a strong effort, when Noah Maslowiec recovered a fumble.
The offense went to work, scoring a touchdown on the third play of the drive for a 14-0 lead. Zackary Salah bulldozed his way over the right side for a 2-yard touchdown with 39.6 left in the opening quarter.
Once again, the defense was opportunistic. This time, it was Nicholas Dertz recovering a fumble with 8:59 left on the clock in the second quarter.
The Pioneers went into attack-mode on offense, again. John Sutter darted along the left side, tip-toed the sidelines and went into the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown for a 22-0 advantage.
Sutter said it was a great game for the entire team.
“It was really fun because we knew we would get some fun plays in today,” Sutter said. “My favorite was probably my touchdown run. I was running hard, but the hole wasn’t open, so I just jumped outside and hit a defender but kept running. It felt good to score a lot of points. Our offense is very explosive. We can pass or run the ball. We have very good running backs and receivers who are very talented and our coaches are very good.”
The lead ballooned to 28-0 following Lucca Morandi’s 5-yard touchdown run. Morandi showed his strength and speed, bouncing outside off a defender and into the end zone.
The Pioneers’ defense didn’t stop despite a big lead. Morandi added a sack on the Vipers’ next possession to end a threat on fourth down. Nicholas Peisker was the next player to touch the end zone, scoring on a memorable run.
Peisker received an excellent block from Andrew Richardson to spring him loose, then broke two tackles at the 5-yard line before hitting paydirt for a 36-0 lead.
The highlight reel plays kept coming for the defense, as Luke Tonra had a sack on fourth down to halt another drive by the visitors.
The offense went to work, eating up a lot of clock on a long drive that ended with a 10-yard TD run by Caden Kolodziej. He had a 6-yard run right before his TD scamper. Caden Kolodziej said it was a nice call by the coaching staff, but he also noted the solid play by the offense and defense in the rout.
“We were supposed to do “23 lead” and I just grabbed the ball and ran as hard as I could through the hole,” Caden Kolodziej said. “We did the play again and was able to get in the end zone for my second touchdown. It felt really good. The blocking was great, allowing me to get to the outside. The other team couldn’t move the ball against us. Our offensive line blocked great and we caught a lot of balls. It was awesome. It’s been a super fun and awesome season.”
Avery Vermilyea said the defense had one of their best games of the season in holding the Vipers to under 60 yards of total offense.
“The defense stopped them,” Vermilyea said. “It was fun because they couldn’t move the ball at all. They were frustrated. We could see it on their faces. They had a lot of trouble moving the ball.”
Rayder Slabenak spent most of the day playing defense for the Pioneers, so he was appreciated of the solid effort by the unit.
“They couldn’t do anything against our defense,” Slabenak said. “It was a great game by everyone. Everyone tackled well.”
Dylan Ahmer handled duties at running back and cornerback, playing a hand in the memorable effort by the offense and defense on Sunday.
“It was a fun game,” Ahmer said. “The line did a great job. The holes were open and our defense played outstanding. We’re a great team overall.”
To win their fourth game of the season, the Pioneers picked up contributions from the entire roster, including Maximus Streets-Pruitt, Hudson Doftert, Anderson Matthews, Vinny Ficaro, Luke Krokos, Cole Baldridge, Panos Kyros, Luke Tonra, Dylan Enriquez, Carter Erwin, Carter Peluso, Tyjuan Hagler, Karam Olyyan, Noah Cordoba, Nick Mase, Andrew Richardson, Gavin Connors, Moody Abudan, Christian Paulson, Scott Gumienny, Noah Maslowiec, Cody Godlewski, Nick Pomonis, Samuel Horeluk, James Okrasinski, Ameen Musa, Dominic Lach, George Petraitis, Collin Valan, Bradley Patterson, Dylan Ahmer, Michael Ordman, Michael Galivan, Jude Morrar and Owen Garrity.
The junior varsity cheerleaders also showed up with numerous excellent routines and cheers to provide support for the football team. The team includes Brielle Lenzen, Natalie Brown, Addison Meyers, Aria Lasky, Ania Cunningham, Ellyana Connors, Frankie Ficaro, Natalie Kehoe, Annabelle Briseno, Annabelle Deloya, Lila Gavin, Leah Janota, Nadine Gazarin, Nora Velez, Charlotte Day, Margot Joda, Ella Kluever, Sydney Scharpf, Ayya Ramadani, Avery Seliga, Maeve Smith, Madison Davis, Sana Kishta, Lily Hahn, Olivia Hufford, Giuliana Bertucci, Annie Milosovic, Hayden Campbell, Katelyn Gallina, Avarie Schwartz, Peyton Meekma, Eivan Willis, Marguerite Ryan and Emilia Krol.
