By Patrock Z McGavin-Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p340449177 **
FRANKFORT—If the beginning felt like a nightmare, the players of the JV side of the Orland Park Pioneers made sure not to go down without a fight.
The first play of the year began with a botched exchange and a fumble. A 26-yard running play on the second possession was called back by a holding penalty.
Despite all of that, the bright moments outshone the negative.
”Just talking about myself and how I played, I didn’t do that well in the first half,” running back Ben Snider said.
“I started to step it up in the second half, and it was the same with the rest the team.”
Penalties and a sluggish first half doomed the JV Pioneers in their 12-0 loss against the Frankfort Falcons Blue in the opening game of the River Valley Youth Football League here at Aleck Field on Saturday, August 17.
The Falcons’ running back had breakaway scoring runs of 62 and 37 yards for the two touchdowns. The Orland Park defense played well in spite of poor field position and the early turnover.
Linebacker Nicholas Peisker had six tackles. Defensive backs Dylan Butler and Hudson Doftert also played well, amassin three tackles apiece. In each half, the Pioneers forced the Falcons over on downs, including their opening possession following the lost fumble.
“We were pretty good for having our first game,” Butler said. “I think our defense has to make better tackles, and and our line has to hold up better. We have to stop making arm tackles, and put head up and go through their hips.”
Interior linemen Cade McNulty, Qais Naser, Ryan Duckhorn and Justin McNaamara also played well for the defense. Linebacker Logan Helman showed quickness and speed in getting to the ball carrier. Ryan Duckhorn stripped a ball in the second quarter from a Falcons’ running back the Pioneers nearly recovered.
Apart from the two scoring runs, the Pioneers held the Falcons in check, denying the big plays and getting pressure on the quarterback.
“We had some breakdowns, and they made some big plays, but I thought we played pretty well,” Peisker said. “Once we play more together, and take some better angles out there, it’s going to be a whole different game.”
The season-opening loss marked the JV head coaching debut of John Duckhorn. Despite the setback, he saw much to be optimistic about.
”The kids played extremely tough,” John Duckhorn said. “We did a lot of things that we’ve been working on for the last four weeks. I just appreciate the resiliency of the kids throughout the game, and all the different things they had to bounce back from.”
First game are sometimes impossible to predict or entirely prepare for. The most consequential actions turned out to be a series of devastating offensive penalties.
The Pioneers suffered five holding penalties, the most damaging on the Falcons’ goal line in the final five minutes.
The Pioneers mounted a 16-play, 62-yard drive, earning a first and goal at the 4-yard following a fourth down sneak by quarterback Charlie Enstrom.
On second down, running back Enzo Angone took a hard hit and was tackled at the 1-yard. Angone is the JV team’s most dangerous offensive weapon, a quick and explosive talent who has the ability to get to the edge.
“We were super-close to scoring, and I really thought we were going to get in there and make a comeback in the fourth quarter,” Angone said. “It ended up not happening.”
The holding call took the ball back to the 14-yard line.
Enstrom’s fourth down pass to John Werner was knocked away, preventing the Pioneers’ first score of the new season.
“I had some nerves at the beginning, I think the whole team did,” Werner said. “After we started playing, I didn’t really feel it. I was just having some fun playing some football. We’re going to keep working hard in practice, and we’re going to do really well.”
Enstrom finished 9 of 13 for 68 yards.
Werner caught four of his passes for 26 yards. Drake Ulaszek had two catches, and Helman also caught a seven-yard pass.
“I don’t think we ran our plays to the best that we could, but we did alright out there,” Enstrom said. “I threw a couple of slants, and we were able to get the balls to our receivers.”
The opening exchange of Enstrom and Snider put the Pioneers on their heels with the turnover. Snider made amends with a fanatic open fields stop of the Falcons’ quarterback for the fourth down stop.
Angone ripped off a 26-yard scamper down the left sideline on second down but the play came back due to holding.
Early games are about mitigating mistakes and learning to clean them up.
“We had a bunch of penalties in the beginning, and I just tried to talk to the guys who got called for those to keep their heads up, so their minds were good to make the next play,” Angone said. ”We’re going to work on that a lot in practice.”
The Falcons scored on the 62-yard run on the first play of their second possession at the 1:09 mark of the first quarter. The Frankfort program finished the scoring with the 33-yard run with 4:33 to play in the second quarter.
The Pioneers played tough and evenly the rest of the way.
“We came back in the second half, and shut them out and moved the ball,” John Duckhorn said. “You don’t have a chance to come back unless you do things like that.”
Snider worked his way between the tackles for the tough yards. Angone got to the edge. Enstrom showed poise and presence in the pocket, finding his receivers or buying time to break down the Falcons’ perimeter.
“We talked to the coaches about how their defense was lining up, and we had the inside open, and we could run up they middle and get a huge chunk of yardage,” Butler said.
Snider finished with 12 carries for 38 yards.
Despite having to sit out some plays in the second half, Angone had six carries for 25 yards.
One game does not make a season, and the Pioneers JV will join the other three programs for the home opener against Frankfort Square at Sandburg on Sunday, August 25.
”I think we’re going to respond really well,” Peisker said. “I think we’re going to work hard in practice, and work on our mistakes. We’re going to come back stronger as the season goes on.”
In the Fifth Quarter that preceded the primary game, Charlie Miele forced a turnover for the defense.
Anthony Baniewicz played well at quarterback, and was joined by strong play from Vinny Ficaro, Gavin Loman, Panos Kyros and Jacob Hyla.
Despite the 12-0 season-opening loss, the Pioneers received standout contributions from their entire roster, including Max Streets-Pruitt, Marco Orozco, Evan Lavelle, Luke Tonra, John Sweis, Finn Redmond, Carter Peluso, Karam Olyyan, Nick Mase, Zackary Salah, Gavin Connors, Maverick Vander Veer, Dylan Gavin, Noah Maslowiec, Brock Lenzen, Nicholas Dertz, Steven Mullins, Nicholas Hertzog, Dylan Ahmer, Avery Vermilyea, Adam Naser, Erik Baran, Jayden Spiotto, Brian Curran, John Sutter.
The cheerleaders also brought tremendous energy, passion and precision to their routines and special halftime performance. They were represented by Kaelyn Albright, Aubrey Baran, Brittney Blazys, Brooke Blazys, Aviana Briseno, Annabelle Briseno, Oliwia Burda, Hayden Campbell, Giulia Cangelosi, Avery Carroll, Ellyana Connors, Charlotte Day, Annabelle Deloya, Darcy Dorigan, Frankie Ficaro, Emma Golonka, Arabella Hernandez, Ariana Hinton, Leah Janota, Bianca Kapusciarz, Flora Lane, Brinley Laniosz, Malayna Marable, Addison Meyers, Serena Murray, Sofia Murray, Emma Overman, Gia Parisi, Emily Pastiak, Charlotte Raubolt, Maklaya Roman, Emma Ruisz, Luciana Rupp, Alyse Sparacino, Kamilla Ulaszek, Kassandra Vazquez-Gutierrez, Nora Velez.
