By Ed Muniz- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p176366197 **
ORLAND PARK—A Wednesday Night Football League clash between the Olrland Park Pioneers and the New Lenox Jr. Warriors, two of the top teams at the Junior Varsity level was the feature game of the two scheduled in Orland Park on Octorber 7.
This game could be a prelude of the league championship game as each team had earned a spot in the WNFL Playoff to begin one week later.
Both teams would hold leads but once the Jr. Warriors jumped ahead by two scores in the second half, they cruised to a 20-14 victory.
The Pioneers offense kick-started the game. Speedster Jason Erwin at quarterback exhibited early the type of threat he is. Hs ability to elude or out-sprint a defender creates plays and gives defenses fits. In that opening series, he displayed the difficulties the Jr. Warriors would face all game.
Give the visitors credit, their constant pressure finally forced a punt to end the Pioneers first efforts.
As it turned out, Erwin was mostly the Pioneers offense. Both Pioneers scores came as a result of his elusiveness. One on the ground and one through the air.
A 61-yard dash around the left edge for the touchdown put the Pioneers ahead 8-6, it showed his quickness and acceleration.
Later in the game, his ability to avoid a Jr. Warriors rush gave him time enough to locate a receiver that went 53-yards on the pass for the touchdown.
Descibing his ability to avoid tackles, going back and forth from sideline to sideline doesn’t do him justice, you have to see it.
When asked about his effort or pressure to perform, Erwin added,
“I feel pretty comfortable, no pressure at all. I like having the ball in my hands at anytime, it’s fun. I use my teams energy, that gets me going, I’m a team player. I think we bring a lot of energy to the field, we’re just a good team of guys. My effort is because of them. All-around, I think we are doing pretty good, not much to improve on. I do feel like a leader on the team even though I’m a fifth grader. I’m pretty fast, so I’m cofortable with that and how I play.”
Although the Pioneers defense was making stops behind the tackling of Erwin, Owen Garrity, Nick Pomonis, Connor Kvelland (pass defense) and Scott Gumienny, the Jr. Warriors did jump ahead after driving to the Pioneers 2-yard line followed by a short plunge into the endzone to lead 6-0 with just under six minutes left in the first half.
WNFL games consist of two 25-minute half with a continuos clock.
It took the Pioneers offense just 3-minutes to respond.
Erwin called his own number, took off left and didn’t stop until he reached the endzone 61-yards later for the Pioneers touchdown. Talon Tyrakowski added the 2-point conversion-kick, putting the Pioneers up 8-6 just before halftime.
Pomonis did add a stop on a pass completion by the visitors and when the next pass attempt fell incomplete, the combatants went to the break with the Pioneers ahead.
Among those that stood out defensively and would continue hsi defensive prowess throughout the game was Nick Pomonis. His stellar play at the line kept the Pioneers close. He was doing all he could to fight off blocks and be in the plays to stop the rush of the Jr. Warriors. He would turned out to be one of the Pioneers defensive stalwarts in the game.
“I feel I was doing pretty good tackling, my vision too,” said Pomonis. “I was able to see where the ball was going quick and get to it. There were some hard things out there too. Getting around their tackle was hard but my vision helped me get off the ball quick. Coach Pat (Richardson) has helped me a lot doing that. I like playing the defensive line too, I think I’m good at it and making tackles.”
The second half saw the Jr. Warriors reclaim the game.
They opened with a 9-play drive and used a power running style to move downfield with two big completions along the way getting them to the Pioneers 4-yard line. From there, a simple run up the middle gave them the lead once again at 12-8.
The Pioneers defense continued to make stops but were not able to get off the field on key downs. Several Pioneers made tackles or defended passes, among them were Adam Krokos, Pomonis, Erwin, Michael Ordman, Jackson Biskup, Kvelland, and Joey Zotto.
The Pioneers looked to repond as they did previously after a Jr. Warrior score.
Erwin added 13-yards on a run with Kvelland and Ordman also adding positive yards with runs of their own but on their sixth attempt, a key mistake would eventually put them farther behind.
A costly fumble was recovered by the visitors which they used after 7-plays to elevate the lead to 20-8 with a perfectly timed “Hook and Ladder” play the Pioneers couldn’t defend. The touchdown occured with just under four-minutes left in the game.
On the visitors second scoring series, Adam Krokos stood out, gathering 3-solo tackles doing all he could to prevent a score. He would finish with five tackles for the game.
The Pioneers didn’t quit and rallied to move the football upfield. Erwin was doing all now. First 11- then 14-yards running the ball, then finally scrammbling around waiting for a receiver to clear, finally connecting on a pass to Ordman that went 53-yard for the touchdown to make the score 20-14 with 1:06 left in the game.
With no kickoffs in the league, an onside kick was not an option, all the Pioneers could do was use their remaining timeouts but a couple of Jr. Warriors kneels ended the game.
Other Pioneers adding to the effort or suporting their teammates included Colton Gutkowski, Gunner McCarthy, Keith Piekarz, Luke Krokos,Thomas Sutter, Cooper Elslager, Will Poore, Emmett Kane, Ryan Lukas, Ameen Musa, Jase Enstrom, Patrick O’Boye, Carter Erwin, Michael O’Connor, Lucca Morandi, Noah Cordoba, Christopher Medina, Andrew Richardson, Caden Kolodziej, Anthoy LaPapa, Christian Paulson, Laith Hammami, Dominic Gabriele, Dominic Lach, George Petraitis, Collin Valan, Bradley Patterson, Vincent Shervino, Jimmy Elsberg, MIchela Galivan, Zechariah Torgerson, Jude Morrar and Rayder Slabenak.
