By Ed Muniz-Photos by Renee Kaspar
**Additional Photos are available for purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p322154054 **
The Bloomindale Bears Junior Varsity Silver Team took part in their Programs’ Annual “Bloomingdale Bowl”. Matched up against a familiar foe, the Bears would battle a tough and bigger Carol Stream Panther team in preseason action on August 19 in Bloomingdale.
After jumping out to an early 13-0 lead, what looked to be the onset of a rout, turned into a humbling 16-13 defeat on the bright Saturday morning.
“Unfortunately, we got shut down offensively,” said Coach Rich Barski. “We definitely need to work on our offensive line, sustain their blocks longer as well as our lead block on our runs need to improve; if we can get our lead block to make way and create the holes, that will be the best option for us.”
Early on, the Bears were a well oil machine and had the advantage of speed and elusiveness which resulted in long runs and scores.
Their opening possession saw them go 55-yards in four plays, even after a penalty took them from the Panther-29 back to their own 45-yard-line.
Quarterback’ Joey Trusz found himself hitting the far sideline and never looked back after scoring the initial touchdown of the game. His run was impressive streaking past defenders and out-maneuvering them with ease.
Sunwoo Kim added the point-after for the Beras 7-0 lead early on.
The Bears quickly limited the Panthers on their first offensive attempts. Led by the tackling of Broy Swan with two solos and a sack of 6-yards lost by Brad Wasz, the Bears were back on offense at the Panther 22-yard-line.
A 22-yard speed and juke run by Julius Rivera, followed two plays later by a 10-yard “Catch me If you Can” touchdown sprint by Trusz put the Bears well in control with a 13-0 lead.
“I kinda like running the outside but if i have to, ill cut in,” said the nimble Bears quarterback. “I need to work on my passing game, mostly my accuracy. It’s hard knowing everybodys job and every play, it’s whats hardest about being a quarterback. I thought we struggled blocking at times. I still think we will be a very solid team. I’m ready for the season.”
The Panthers hadn’t got their feet under them still and coughed up the football just a play later with Wasz jumping on the loose ball for the hosts, giving them another chance to extend their lead.
The visible elation of the comfortable lead and total control of the game of the Bears sideline may have sparked something of an urgency, or simply fired up the visiting Panthers.
From then on, entering the second quarter, the Panthers outplayed the Bears.
The Bears offense that was on fire was put out when Carol Stream stifled the Bears offense five plays later, allowing only one run of 12-yards by Kim, then producing tackles for negative yards and a turnover on downs.
The Panthers first play after the stop saw them go to the air. A Panther receiver got behind the defense and although the Bears defending it well, an under-thrown pass would deflect off the extended arms of the defender and be hauled in by the Panther receiver who went 85-yards for the score.
A two-point conversion pass completion now saw the Bears lead down to 13-8.
A couple of runs by Kim produced 15-yards on the ensuing Bears possession but a penalty stalled the momentum and saw the Bears turnover the ball on downs for the second time.
An amped up Panther defense was now seizing the momentum and transferring it to their offense.
An 18-yard reverse saw the Panthers nearly in the Red-Zone. After a 9-yard pass completion, the Panthers used their size and muscle to power in for their second touchdown. With another two-point conversion pass completion, just like that, the Panthers now led 16-13 looking the fresher of the two teams.
The Bear’s defense was giving their all on the drive with tackles by Brandon Ball and Brayden Redding, but stopping a bigger offense on a short field is a difficult task for any defense.
The Panthers maintained their lead into halftime.
Having little success up the middle, the Bears relied a lot on their efforts to get to the edge. Unfortunately, the visitors knew that, and it made things easier for them while more difficult for the Bears running attack.
Defenses were key during the second half.
For the Bears, Wasz was extremely active, producing tackles or assisting on them to open the third quarter. He didn’t turn off his pursuit for the rest of the game as well.
“I noticed they tried to pass more, it was hard to cover because they’d send several guys out,” said the Bears defensive star.
“They were larger than us, but I still was going to make my tackles. They scored on us because of our poor coverage today. We need to improve that. Id rather we were bigger. but we have the talent to make it work. I also think my speed helped me get to the quarterback quick.”
Offensively, the Bears went to Kim more and more. He is a difficult tackle for anyone due to his ability to see the field and opportunist ability to find a gap and to avoid a solid hit on him. Several times a stop turned into more yards by him.
It also helped that his team’s line play was adequate enough to provide some openings, in particular from his center.
“Scoring touchdowns, having a good connection with your teammatesis the best but it can be frustrating at times too,” said the speedster Kim. “I was trying to hype up my team , asking them to work hard wihen I got loud. Ilike the sideline cheering and yelling your name when you’re running the sidelines, tahts the best feeling. I need to improve on every part of my game, I run pretty well but getting hit is tough getting hit by the safety when you get through the hole.”
Although the offense was limited and the line downfield blocking was limited at best, center Andrew Barski did provide the best line play.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to assist my teammates,” the Bears center. “This is my second year at center, I kinda like it. The best part for me is getting hit, I enjoy the contact. Our biggest issue was staying on our blocks long enough to get things going, we have to work on that.”
Andrew added he was really pumped coming out for the second half and felt he did a pretty good job but couldn’t speak for his other linemates.
There wasn’t any advantage throughout the entire second half by either team. Both defenses were limiting play and shutting down the opposing offense. For the Bears, tackling by Wasz, Mikey Mazza, Joey Mendosa, Ball and Rivera help keep the Panthers from increasing their lead.
Unfortunately, the Panthers matched the Bears defensive efforts and also limited the Bears tally. Kim, Trusz and Rivera were kept in check and held to small gains on their attempts.
The Panthers looked like they might add to their lead near the midway point of the final stanza after completing a long pass, but a stout Bears defense forced a fumble that was recovered by Brandon Ball.
A 21-yard weave by Trusz followed by 10 more from Rivera had hopes of a comeback but consecutive tackles by the Panthers for losses moved the Bears the wrong direction which they couldn’t recover from as time eventually expired, giving the visiting Panthers a 16-13 victory.
Defensively, the Bears did show they will compete with anyone, their smaller size won’t limit their abilities to succeed. Several players showed off their skills, among them was their lone female player.
Nose guard Julianna Loynes gives her all and holds her own against the boys. She is an aggressive player who can plug up a hole or pursue to her side.
“Last year I was stuck on offense, I didn’t really like playing offense so one time I got put on defense and coach saw I could play defense so then I got a starting defense position,” said Loynes.
“I think I’m pretty good at tackling, I really like pushing them around and making a tackle. I prefer it much more than offense. At times its fun playing with these guys but a lot of them still give me a hard time, but I take care of that.
The Bears at times looked quite a threat to score showing they can make big plays offensively, but they also found that the war of attrition will become a factor if the game is close.
“Thie was definitely a nice bowl game to see and understand what we need to work on,” said Coach Barski. “I was happy with everything considering we have 11 new kids playing their first game ever. For a first game, I think they did really well, they took direction well and were limited with the little mistakes.”
“It’s going to be a fun year but a tough one too. There are 30 teams across the league at the JV Silver Division and only eight make the playoffs out of 30, so it will be hard to get there. I need to focus on making it a learning and fun season for the kids, make it fun, make them love the game is really all I need to do, that’s my goal, winning is secondary.”
Other Bears showing the grit included Giantuca Campisi, Alex Grodski, Kasper Kaminski, Aramis Ureste, Joey Mikal, Rafal Krystopa, Sebastian Dudzik, Georgio Medrano, Nick Panagiotopoulos, Mason Pasillas, Jason Pransky, Jack Atkins, Chris Ryan, Krystian Mastyga, Leo Ortiz and Marcus Triplett.
