By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p204627566 **
Orland Park— The Orland Park Pioneers Varsity team played near flawless football on Sunday afternoon.
The season opener for the Pioneers was a good way to showcase their efficiency, coaching and talent on all three sides of the ball.
But the Pioneers made one fatal flaw on Sunday – on the second-half kickoff.
Homer Glen took advantage of one mistake, scoring on a touchdown on a kickoff to notch a 7-0 victory over the Pioneers at Mike Navarro Stadium.
Orland Park Pioneers Varsity coach Adam Sutter took the hard-fought defeat in stride, electing to focus on the positives, including his defense pitching a shutout.
“It was a battle,” Sutter said. “It was a weird way lose. We’ve been on the winning side of that, but sometimes you will lose. It was a great game and a fight this time. We went back and forth. Someone has to lose. The defense was stout and we had a lot of good plays on that side. Daniel Ramirez had a big fumble recovery for us. Our defense is pretty solid. We held them the whole game until the one kickoff.”
Despite not scoring a touchdown, the OP offense moved the ball and controlled the clock, helped by a small-yardage running game and efficient play at quarterback. The offensive line, which consisted mostly of Nicholas Hertzog, Noah Maslowiec, Mohammad Ashkar, Brian Curran and Karam Olyyan – played as a solid unit for all four quarters. Running back Nicholas Peisker was a strong force for the game, snagging yards in chunks with his hard running mostly up the heart of Homer Glen’s defense.
“I also saw a lot of positives on offense,” Sutter said of his team. “The line blocked really well. Nick (Peisker) ran the ball hard and Max had a couple of nice catches and Noah Maslowiec had a nice catch over the middle for a big gain at the end of the second. We just couldn’t get into the end zone. It was a great battle. We did well on both sides of the ball, and just have a couple of things to correct. The boys fought hard all game. It was a tough hard fought game, but just didn’t go our way today.”
The Pioneers opened the game with a force on offense, driving down the field on a nine-play drive before a pair of incompletions led to a punt. Peisker, who also plays linebacker, had a big seven-yard run and quarterback Hudson Doftert tossed an 11-yard completion to Maximus Streets-Pruitt on the second play from scrimmage.
“It was definitely a good game,” Peisker said. “I thought the defense played well. We had some mental mistakes. I think some people were nervous because it was our first game. I think we will get better. I just tried to run hard. The O-line did well. I had a lot of good holes. I think mental mistakes killed us. We had some negative plays that ruined us. We had to capitalize better in the red zone and we would’ve won.”
The Stallions nearly took the lead in the first quarter, though Doftert stepped up with a touchdown-saving tackle. Cade Judeh earned a few cheers with a thundering tackle on third down. Peisker had a tackle-breaking nine-yard run on the second drive.
“They put a lot of pressure on our line and we made a few bad plays on offense,” Doftert said. “We had a few really good drives. We made one unfortunate play on the kickoff return that was bad. I just have to not overthink it, maybe run when it’s open. We did have good plays and forward momentum, but some drives they just blew up.”
Ramirez had a big play to stop a scoring threat in the second quarter in the scoreless game. Ramirez snared a fumble that bounced off the turf and returned the ball for nearly 10 yards to put the Pioneers in good position at their own 48-yard line with less than two minutes remaining until halftime.
The Pioneers were unable to capitalize despite a 15-yard pass from Doftert to Maslowiec on the third play of the drive.
Maslowiec, a tight end and defensive end, wasn’t bothered by the defeat too much because the Pioneers had a solid effort. “The offense was working pretty good and we powered the ball and blocked off well on the ends and had momentum,” Maslowiec said. “The defense did good. We were able to stay in our gaps and our holes and break through the line. We had a few unfortunate plays, but we played really good and didn’t give up and weren’t tired. It was just that one kickoff.”
The Stallions shocked the home team with the game-winning TD return to start the second half for a 7-0 lead.
On their second possession of the second half, the Pioneers had one of their best drives of the game. The 12-play drive featured an eight-yard run by Doftert, in part due to a big block by Peisker for a first down. Later in the drive, on third down, Peisker moved the chains with a leg-churning six-yard run. Seven plays later, the drive ended with an interception on third down at HG’s 18-yard line.
The final few minutes turned into a game of missed opportunities for the Pioneers, who struggled finding their rhythm on offense.
The fifth-quarter game was full of action and highlight-reel plays for the Pioneers. Rayan Ghabayen made a solid tackle in the game, and several offensive players shined during the tense and hot game to build some momentum for the varsity game.
The Pioneers also saw several of their players participate in the action, thye include Louai Suleiman, Zackary Salah, Anderson Matthews, Vinny Ficaro, Jude Daghlawi, Panos Kyros, John Sutter, Luke Tonra, Nolan Byrne, Dylan Enriquez, Aleksandar Tosev, Marquise McMorris, Jacob Hyla, Carter Peluso, Leonardo Luciano, Thomas Lynch, Nick Mase, Muhammad Kassem, Aws Khalil, Edward Follis, Gavin Connors, Ryan Kenny, Daniel Malacina, Faris Hussein, Abdelkarem Shuaibi, Julian Mika, Rodney Vincent, James Okrasinski, Nicholas Hertzog, Dylan Ahmer, Avery Vermilyea, Joseph McCann and Issam Abulaban.
The cheerleading team was also in top form on Sunday. The team consists of Gia Parisi, Brinley Laniosz, Charlotte Day, Leah Janota, Addison Meyers, Oliwia Burda, Violet Fino, Giulia Cangelosi, Natalie Brown, Aviana Briseno, Annabelle Briseno, Frankie Ficaro, Aubrey Baran, Natalie Kehoe, Ellyana Connors, Aviana Martinez, Keira Barrera, Annabelle Deloya, Brittney Blazys, Brooke Blazys, Kaelyn Albright, Luciana Rupp, Nora Velez, Giuliana Bertucci, Lily Hahn, Perla Boulus, Gabriela Alonso, Sonia Carlan, Hailey Camargo and Marguerite Ryan.
