Story and Photos by Gary Larsen
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p293671642 **
Homer— GlenThe Orland Park Pioneers JV team saw its season end on Saturday, but head coach Andy Rybak had nothing but praise for a team that developed by leaps and bounds this year..
After the Pioneers’ 37-12 playoff loss to HF United ended their season, players gathered on one knee to hear Rybak and each of his assistant coaches sing their praises.
“As coaches we were just explaining — these kids have come a very long way this year,” Rybak said.”Development-wise, they were amazing. It’s a solid group and we have a lot of good athletes. A lot of that is just natural, so then it’s just about learning the game. And the kids are learning. They’re learning.”
And that’s all that players on a developmental-level football team are striving for.
“The linemen got better at blocking and we learned a lot of new formations, more than we knew at the beginning of the year,” quarterback Ashton Brennan said.
“Our defense got better at getting low and tackling,” two-way player Jude Doftert said. “We played better today and I thought it was one of the better games we had. We stayed in it until the end.”
HF United led 12-6 after one quarter at Kevin Killmer Field in Homer Glen, and 18-6 at halftime. The Pioneers struck pay-dirt in the third quarter but United scored 13 in the third and another six in the fourth to stay in command throughout.
Brennanconnected with Colin McElligott in the third quarter on a 40-plus yard scoring strike. McElligott ran a slant pattern over the middle from the right side, Brennan hit him in stride, and McElligott did the rest, scampering 30-plus yards to the end zone.
The Pioneers’ other touchdown came in the first quarter on a 1-yard run from Enzo Angone. Angone was busy all day carrying the football and broke off a pair of long runs up the right sidelines, once in each half.
The Pioneers had the ball near the goal line but couldn’t quite punch it in for the score, and a few other offensive mistakes left them hamstrung.
Defensively, the Pioneers had to deal with a United team they’d already lost to in regular-season play. United’s John Starks scored his team’s first two touchdowns on long runs, shedding tacklers along the way and setting the tone for a long day for the Pioneers.
“It was just hard to tackle him,” Brock Lenzen said. “Everyone was going high and we should have gone low. But we knew their quarterback was good and that they had a lot of weapons. They were good at keeping the ball on the ground and throwing it, too.”
Rybak knew his boys had their work cut out for them against HF United.
“That’s a talented group and it’s more than just (Starks),” Rybak said. “They have a lot of speed, they’re very well-coached, and it’s a good group. They combine with a program from Homewood and it’s showing. It’s an undefeated team in the regular season and they put up 37 against what I think is a very good Pioneer team — that’s saying a lot.”
The game’s final score may have been slightly misleading. The Pioneers had a red zone opportunity fall by the wayside late in the game, just before HF United finished the day’s scoring with a 55-yard touchdown run.
“We came out of our game plan early and they had a few defensive touchdowns that really turned the tide,” Rybak said. “They forced us out of our game plan early and forced us to do things that were a little riskier. Those risks, unfortunately, didn’t turn out in our favor in many instances.”
Roughly half of the Pioneers’ roster will move on from this year’s team next season. The Pioneers finished 4-4 in regular season play and finished the year strong.
“We played 11 regular games and we were the Wednesday Night Super Bowl runner-up,” Rybak said. “It’s a developmental group so the kids that aren’t playing the regular Sunday games play in the Wednesday league, and those kids went all the way to the Super Bowl.”
Doftert will look back on the season as an important incremental step in his development as a football player.
“This was my second year,” Doftert said. “Last year I was on the Wednesday night (team) and I didn’t even get to play offense last year. This year I’ve grown a lot and I got to play tight end. I liked (football) right away. I like all the hitting that’s involved with it.”
After each Pioneer coach had said his piece to the team, players presented Rybak with a football signed by every player on the team.
“You have a lot of responsibility as a coach but you just have to enjoy it, and I do,” Rybak said.. My coaches do, too, and they all just want to be a part of it.
“These coaches are friends and they’ve been together for years. That comes across in the way we coach. I think the kids see that and recognize that, and it makes them better.
“These kids will be competitive for a couple years and for the Pioneers organization to have all four teams in the postseason is awesome. The next group coming up will be great and as these kids move on they’ll be competitive.”
The complete roster for this year’s Pioneers JV team included Ryan Beeler, Jude Doftert, Gavin Loman, Colin Kluever, David Kopec, Dylan Butler, Colin McElligott, Cade McNulty, Kyle Krokos, Charlie Enstrom, Ashton Brennan, Caden Votteler, Evan Lavelle, Mason Overmyer, Wyatt Heinze, Luke Rybak, Henry Byrne, Ben Snider, Finnian Redmond, Logan Helman, John Werner, Keegan Fogarty, Drake Ulaszek, Layth Zughayer, Nicholas Davis, Luke Makuch, Enzo Angone, Terrin Lovitt, Dylan Gavin, Nicholas Baniewicz, Michael Sraga, Ryan Marek, Luke O’Reilly, Brock Lenzen, William Reilly, Aidan Rios, Qais Naser, Steven Mullins, Ryan Duckhorn, Nicholas Hertzog, Jack Bordelon, Justin McNamara, Erik Baran and Rhett Capps.
The JV Pioneers cheerleaders performed at halftime and this year’s cheerleaders included Carys Atraje, Aubrey Baran, Keira Barrera, Brittney Blazys, Brooke Blazys, Annabelle Briseno, Hayden Campbell, Giulia Cangelosi, Avery Carroll, Ellyana Connors, Charlotte Day, Annabelle Deloya, Darcy Dorigan, Frankie Ficaro, Emma Golonka, Delaney Grenda, Arabella Hernandez, Ariana Hinton, Leah Janota, Bianca Kapusciarz, Ella Kluever, Brinley Laniosz, Malayna Marable, Emily Minard, Natalie Ocon, Emma Overman, Gia Parisi, Emily Pastiak, Makayla Roman, Emma Ruisz, Luciana Rupp, Alyse Sparacino, Kamilla Ulaszek, and Nora Velez.