By Ed Muniz- Photos by Gavin Peterson
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p669240706 **
ORLAND PARK— Sometimes just a few words of encouragement, belief and confidence or maybe even a slight tongue lashing, can be all that was needed to right a ship in the seas of sports.
After a subpar first half of football by Al Krokos’ Junior Varsity Pioneers, a few choice words of advice by the coaching staff, the Pioneers came out in the second half and played a better, well-round game of football which secured them the 6-0 victory over the New Lenox Jr. Knights on August 20 in the WNFL 2025 opener.
“I thought we played well,” said Coach Krokos. “We only let up one first down. Our defense dominated the game and on the offensive end, we moved the ball but it came down to execution. I thought in the second half we executed better and we were able to put one in the endzone.”
“We had two drives that stalled because of execution; early on in the year, thats what’s going to happen. A few kids playing new positions, we’ve been working on and they’re just getting comfortable in their own skin right now, but that will get better as the season goes on.”
When told that his players were motivated after the halftime speech, Coach Krokos chuckled.
One in particular that found the talk inspiring was Vinny Ficaro. His second half play was quite different from his first half effort.
Gone was that half speed reaction or half the effort— what you saw was Full-Go on every play and a committment to play at his best.
“I guess I was a little nervous but I did dog it some, I admit it,” said Ficaro. “My dad was telling me on the sideline that I kinda dogged it on the pass play. It was a bit far but I probably could have caught it with more effort. not happening again. I want the ball as much as possible. I’m more of a running quarterback with direct snaps. I did have a better second half and felt that Coach Krokos halftime speech and encouragement really helped me a lot. It really got me going when I caught the curl route pass.”
Ficaro is going to be an opponents nightmare if his effort continues to excel. His elusive open field running and long strides covers lots of yards and give the Pioneers a weapon others will dread dealing with. His 6-yard scamper into the endzone provided the games only score.
“Vinny had several great runs for us during the game. He played so well in that second half, ” said Coach Krokos.
The game was more a defensive battle but Pioneers offense showed a lot of potential. Carter Erwin took the reigns under center and showed excellent leadership at quarterback. He too is a threat to score anytime he calls his own number.
Maybe the surprise of the game was the rushing of Gerge Petraitis. The first year player was elusive as a runner and advanced the football on nearly every touch. On all his carries, only once did he lose yards and had a long of 26-yards.
“I was running pretty hard today,” said George Petraitis. “I got good vision when im getting outside. I know if the linebacker is coming in on me and when the safety or corner is coming. I run outside more when the inside guys are blocked. I’m more a shiffy runner than a power runner, so I’m running harder; I think I’m excelling at that when I really need to. I’m doing better than I thought I would, this is my first year playing.”
Both teams saw the endzone elude them in the first half but the Pioneers did move the ball much better than the Jr. Knights, unfortunately, small miscues prevented them from cashing in.
The Pioneers Defense was in top form all game. Tackles by Jude Morrar, Noah Cordoba, Luke Tonra and Michael Galivan led the first half Pioneers assualt.
It wasnt till midway through the third quarter that the Pioneers finally found the endzone.
Opening the second half defensively, the Pioneers continued their prowess and made short work of the Jr. Knights second half opening drive. Nick Mase, Cordoba and Galivan each collected a stop and forced a punt. From there the Pioneers started their scoring drive.
A mixture of runs by Mase and Petraitis moved the ball downfield and key completions from Erwin to Ficaro and to Bradley Patterson, moved the ball to the New Lenox 6-yard-line. Ficaro finally put his Pioneers team on the board after running in for the games only touchdown and a 6-0 lead to end the third quarter.
After stopping the Jr Kights on downs on the ensuing series to open the final stanza, on tackles by Galivan, Morrar and Christian Paulson, the Pioneers fumbled their firt play and gave their opponents another shot at tying or winning the game with about five minutes left in the game.
But more Pioneers defense again showed its dominance as Gavin Connors and Owen Garrity produced negative yardage on thier tackles.
The Pioneers went to their victory formation as the clock ran down to its last second, giving the Pioneers their first win of the season.
Defense was huge in the Pioneers win, limiting the visitors efforts throughout the game. Vital in their victory was the efforts of both Morrar and Cordoba. Thier line play stood out, perplexing the Jr. Knights on how to get by them. .
“I’m trying new techniques to get through the line and get into the backfield; actually get the tackle,” said Morrar. “It’s working but it wasn’t easy, my guy was holding me a lot but I still battled back. I would explode and make a move or two on the snap and try to get through. Not bad today.”
Noah also added:
“Guys would run right at me and I’d make the stop,” said Cordoba. “I too worked on new ways to get through. I’ve been working out with my dad trying to get stronger to get through the line not just in practice but also when at home. Push ups, pull ups and sometimes I lift weights. I thinnk it’s really working, I think I played like an “A” minus game today. I’m ready for the rest of the season.”
Other Pioneers contributing with their play or in support include Maximus Streets-Pruitt, Hudson Doftert, Zackary Salah, Anderson Matthews, Nicholas Peisker, Luke Krokos, Cole Baldridge, Panos Kyros, John Sutter, Dylan Enriquez, Jase Enstrom, Carter Peluso, Tyjuan Hagler, Lucca Morandi, Karam Olyyan, Andrew Richardson, Caden Kolodziej, Moody Abudan, Noah Maslowiec, Cody Godlewski, Nicholas Dertz, Nick Pomonis, Samuel Horeluk, James Okrasinski, Ameen Musa, Dominic Lach, Collin Valan, Dylan Ahmer, Avery Vermilyea, Michael Ordman and Rayder Slabenak.
