By Ed Muniz-Photos by Renee Kaspar
**Additional Photos are available for purchase at justallsports.zenfolio.com/2022pioneers.**
After a disappointing loss in their River Valley Youth Football League opener, the Junior Varsity Pioneers were looking to get righted as they visited the Frankfort Falcons on September 4.
In week one, the Pioneers struggled offensively at one position yet they had opportunities to score. In key situations, that became visible to all.
After making a few changes, the Pioneers appear to have the solution to a successful remainder of the season, beginning with their 14-0 shutout, notched in Frankfort.
“We had kids that stepped up and filled in and did a great job for us,” said Coach Vince Annel. “We have great talent, it’s just a matter of getting that talent to use. I thought today we were well balanced, we used both sides well. The kids that lead did just that for us. It was good to see them do that.”
Coach Annel led the team this week as Co-Head Coach Tim O’Reilly was not available at the game.
The Pioneers opened the game with an eight-play drive using a running attack by running-backs Mason Marable and Vinnie Annel. New quarterback Jack Bullington also would tuck it in and go when needed.
The drive fizzled out, but it showed the Pioneers came ready to give it their all.
They quickly were back on the field offensively after cornerback’ Colin McElligott stepped in front of a Falcon pass, coming away with the interception.
The Pioneers tried to change things up after the turnover by going to the air, unfortunately, the connection wasn’t there yet and squandered the opportunity needing to punt.
Last week the Pioneers defense was good, that didn’t change this week. Tackles for losses by McElligott, Annel and a pair by Nick Shamma quickly put an end to the Falcon effort.
Beginning the second quarter at midfield, the Pioneers continued to try advancing through the pass. Bullington was now finding his receivers with an occasional bit of luck thrown in.
He connected with Ayden Toth, Marable, Annel, and a deflected pass wound up in Sam Basiorkas hands as he happened to be headed in the right direction, continuing their drive.
Driving to the Falcons 13-yard-line, Marable found a gap off the right line and rushed to the end zone for the Pioneer touchdown. Bullington converted the Kick-After giving the Pioneers an 8-0 lead.
A major difference this week was the success of the passing game. The ability to find receivers and get the ball to them continued drives and maintained control of the ball.
With the lead, the Pioneers defense continued its assault on the Falcons offense the remainder of the half. Thomas Elliott, Shamma, Annel, Marable, Elligott, Nathaniel Owei, Bullington and a big sack to close out the half by Ryan Almasri, kept the host Falcons scoreless.
The third quarter again saw the Pioneers dominate on defense. Last week, the Pioneers came out from halftime and appeared exhausted and sleepwalking through the play, which cost them a touchdown they couldn’t recover from.
This week was different. The spark was there, and their play was totally focused.
The first series saw McElligott grab three tackles. Not big in stature, but feisty at the tackle, McElligott was finding plays coming his way and he stepped up making the stop. His ability to snag a player and not lose a grip is vice-like.
Basiorka and Elliott also had pairs of tackles that forced a turnover on downs and gave the Pioneers another chance to up the score.
The running of Marable and Annel moved the ball for the offense. Bullington also connected with Ayden Toth as the Pioneers looked to extend the lead, but a fumbled snap was recovered by the Falcons which squashed the positive drive.
Defense again stepped up as it had all game. Owei, Almasri, Basiorka, McElligott, Annel, Marable and Elliott each added to the tackle tally and stopped the Falcons once again.
The Pioneers took over now in the final quarter and proceeded to go on a 12-play, 66-yard drive culminating in a 2-yard touchdown run by Annel.
During the drive, the Pioneers used a good mixture of run and pass plays. Bullington and Marable each had big runs and a completion by Bullington to Toth produced 23-yards.
The 14-0 shutout was completed shortly there after giving the Pioneers their first victory of the young season.
Quarterback Jack Bullington was among the changes for the JV. His ability to complete passes and tuck it in when needed and be elusive at that, paid off for the Pioneers.
“During practice, I hadn’t been getting the ball off quick and today I thought I did a good because I didn’t get sacked today,” said Bullington. “I used to play flag and it’s mostly passing so I got to work on passing a lot plus I watch a lot of football and see the pros do things, so that helped today.
Bullington is a smart quarterback and added:
“Obviously having a good passing game takes the focus off the run and changes the game, so that’s something that will work for us moving on.”
Many of Bollington’s passes ended up in the hands of Ayden Toth. The new combo could be lethal to other defenses and create a problem that might be hard to solve. Toth was mentioned by his coach as one of the team leaders and plays like it.
“I feel that most of the players on the team are leaders and I’m trying to step up and be a leader too,” said Toth.
When asked about the connection between Bullington and himself that worked so well in the win, Ayden added:
“We see each other a lot, we go to school together and he lives near me plus he’s a good friend so it the same on the field. When we were in trips, we used that to our advantage because we were in one-on-one situations, and he got the ball to me.”
For Ryan Almasri, his defensive play was quite noticeable. He managed to be around the ball a lot and busted through the line to disrupt play. He didn’t always make the tackle but was key on how well the defense played at the line.
“I thought getting through the gap I did well today,” said Almasri. “We work on getting through gaps in practices, I also wait and see how the play develops to see what I have to do. I use my speed to get into the play too. I thought our defense played a 9 out of 10, we had some mistakes, but we can fix them.”
His equal defensively was Nick Shamma. Adding height and weight to his frame, the veteran player has really improved his play. A leader among the tackle tally, having a run stopper like him is a huge advantage.
“Im executing and being more aggressive this year,” said Shamma. “Last year I was going up against a bunch of bigger kids so that gave me a lot of experience and it really made me work hard. Now this year I’m bigger and more experienced. I enjoy playing the defensive end, its fun but obviously I don’t get to touch the ball this year like I did before.”
Fifth Quarter play was also improved by the Pioneers. Offensively, Joey Driscoll had a great run that went for a touchdown. Christian Czerwonka got his chance in the backfield and gain some yards, Nicholas Baniewicz made a big catch and run play and Ethan Vinson added to the running tally again.
Defensively, the play and tackling was a team effort. Some that stood out were Layth Zughayer, Ashton Brennan, Mark Grech-Lisula and Terrin Lovitt along with others.
Other Pioneers adding to the win included Ryan Beeler, Colin Kluever, Kyle Krokos, Caden Votteler, Mason Overmyer, Wyatt Heinze, Henry Byrne, Dominic Gigliotti, Kyree Gills, Nicholas Davis, Alex Kantzavelos, Eli Citlau, Nolan Bburns, Jude Doftert, Luke O’Reilly, Santino Marrella, William Reilly, Jacob Oberman, Andrew Wojtanowicz, Dominic Rizza, Micheal Sraga, John Curran and Brady Straka.
Supporting the team from the sideline were cheerleaders Alyssa Abed, Lily Carroll, Issabela Enriquez, Erica Gonsowski, Madeleine Heinz, Layla Jeffries, Madalyn Marable, Hailey McDonald, Liliana Minard, Lucy Moran, Avery Nugent, Maeve O’Connor, Paige Pomonis, Arianna Ramadani, Taylor Ruisz, Jordyn Shamma and Klaudia Willis.
