By Bobby Narang- Photos by Renee Kaspar
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NEW LENOX – Defense ruled the day in the battle on Sunday between the New Lenox Junior Warriors Orange and the New Lenox Junior Knights Red in the JV game.
The game kicked off at 3 p.m. at Lincoln-Way Central High School, right in the heart of the afternoon heat. Unlike the previous game, this game was all defense with very little offense.
A total of three touchdowns were scored in the four-quarter game, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of action.
Peter Lotus scored on a 33-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to lift the Junior Warriors to a 14-7 victory over the Junior Knights.
Although the game featured little scoring, it was a thrilling battle between two evenly matched and well-prepared teams. Both teams played with a lot of heart, passion and toughness in the intense battle of wills.
Neither team scored in the second or third quarters, putting the importance on the final quarter. The last quarter was must-see football, as both teams were motivated to win the game after pushing, clawing and fighting for every yard in the first three quarters.
Lincoln-Way Junior Warriors coach Adam Sommer, on his sixth and seventh grade-filled team, said it was a great way to end the regular season. The Warriors, now 6-2, head into the postseason while awaiting their playoff seed.
Peter Lotus had one carry the entire game, even though his team ate up several minutes of clock time to win the battle of possession in the game. Lotus made the most of his one rushing attempt, slowly going to the outside on a sweep before turning the corner and darting 33 yards for a touchdown with 2:08 left in the fourth quarter to break a 7-7 deadlock the winning touchdown.
“It was a great win and comeback and the boys really battled,” Sommer said. “We had a few kids who really kept us alive in the end. Our quarterback went down and (Keegan Norberg) came in and led the team to a victory. Peter Lotus is a great running back and a tough player who hits the hole hard. He’s one of our captains and we rely on him a lot. Our offense basically had the ball the whole first quarter. We try and grind it run the clock down. I’m proud of the boys and am looking forward to a good playoff run and hopefully we can make some noise. It’s time to see what we can do in the playoffs. I’m just super proud of my guys.”
New Lenox Junior Knights coach Kyle Jakubek credited the winning team for scoring on the last drive to pull out the win. The Knights played near flawless ball, not hurting themselves with costly turnovers or penalties or mental mistakes. They played sound defense, contained a high-powered Warriors’ attack, and controlled the game for the second half.
However, the Warriors just put together an impressive drive late in the game, taking advantage of a small breakdown to score a touchdown.
“It was a tough way to lose it with two minutes to go in the game,” Jakubek said. “Defensively, I thought we played well and offensively we came out and started moving the ball in the second half and got a score. I thought we had the game in control, but one play changed the game. It was the right play at the right time for them. We had to step up and make a play at that time. We can’t play soft with two minutes to go. We have to bounce back.”
The Warriors opened up the game with the first score, ending a 10-play drive that covered half of the field and took up just over nine minutes. The stellar drive ended in grand fashion, when on fourth down and 1 at the 2-yard line, quarterback Andrew Sommer threw a touchdown pass to a teammate for a touchdown for a 6-0 lead. The drive took up nine minutes and covered 55 yards and overcame a sack by Junior Knights defender Shawn Erikson on the fourth play and another big play by Erikson on a hard tackle on the ninth play.
The Knights’ lone scoring play was one to remember. The Knights, down 6-0 in the third quarter, took over the ball with 3:23 left in the quarter. Despite a big hit by the Warriors’ Zachary Gress on the second play, the Knights kept moving the ball. Fallucca had a 9-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. He then caught a third down pass to move the chains. On third down and six at the 2-yard line, Fallucca tossed a touchdown to Caleb Neil give his team a 7-6 lead with 4:53 on the clock.
“It was a great drive, a nice little play where we made it look like a run and getting our tight end out right behind the linebackers and they came up, we then dump it over the top or if they stay back, we run the ball,” Jakubek said. “It was sort of like a read play, just reading their linebackers and giving what they take us.”
Fallucca said it was a perfectly executed play to end a long drive.
“I saw a lot of Warriors’ players on that play and rolled and saw my teammate open, so I did a jump pass,” Fallucca said. “We played hard. It was a tough game. We will have to work harder next week in the playoffs.”
Trailing for the first time all game, the Warriors showed their heart and ability to control their nerves in a pressure-packed situation. After getting just one yard in the first three plays, Norberg showed off his arm with a long toss that found the waiting arms of Lotus for a 20-yard reception for a first down to extend the game. Graham Foytik had two straight carries to move the ball to the 42-yard line of the Knights.
Then, on a nice play, the Warriors gained 11 yards to set up Lotus’ winning touchdown run that shocked the crowd for a 14-7 lead.
“I just tried to make a play,” Lotus said of his TD. “I saw two guys and one of our guys made a great block and I slipped through. I was happy that our team did great. The line did great and our quarterback threw the ball great on our drive.”
The Knights got the ball back for one final chance, cut threw four straight incomplete passes to go out on downs to effectively end their chance for a victory.
Nathan O’Dette, a wide receiver, caught two passes for seven yards for the Warriors.
“It was a good win,” O’Dette said. “We had a very good comeback. Peter Lotus has a great run on his touchdown. Our offensive line did a good job blocking.”
Easton Rimkus was a big presence at defensive end and left tackle for the Warriors.
The Warriors’ offense was paced by Foytik’s 78 yards on the ground.
“Our backs had great pass coverage and our linemen got a few sacks,”Rimkus said. “That last drive was one play after another. We had a couple of setbacks but kept coming back. We blocked good on that drive.”
In the fifth quarter, Liam Ovalle had a big tackle in the short game for the Warriors. Teammate Carson Bartasius had a highlight-level tackle in the game.
For the Knights, Cam Bateman showed off a lively arm at quarterback in the fifth quarter game. Frankie White displayed good speed with a long reception followed by a nifty cutback.
The Warriors played with passion and heart in the loss also getting help from Jacob Jakubek, Logan McHugh, Alexander Wilczek, Nathan Skultinas, Mariano Valentini, Vinny Evangelista, Caleb Callaghan, Tommy Johnson, Tyler Stevens, Jack Lang, Finnegan Ramsey, Mason Noto, Thomas Pacholski, Mason Angelini, Luke Stevens, Vince Sabatino, Cam Bateman, Thomas Thompson, Dean Dombrowski, Frankie White, Matthew Melinauskas, Dominic Buoncore, Benjamin Ramsey, Henry Bonko, Marshall Watson, Jaxson Kedziora, Logan Tsiamas, Brendan Churlin and Shawn Erickson.
The Knights played and celebrated as a team, picking up help from Andrew Howard, Cody Zamzow, Jordan Thompson, Weston Weiss, Mason Gray, Graham Foytik, Nicholas Druktenis, Kane Ward, Mason Koenig, Liam Ward, Cameron Lask, Camden Petit, Luke Ryan, Carson Bethke, Brett Pelkowski, Jase Royal, Zachary Gress, Joseph Littrell Jr., Michael Morrison, Vincent Bencic, Christian Weiss, Liam Ovalle, Matthew Morrison, Nolan Barnes and Dylan Chlipala.
The cheerleaders on both sides of the field were in constant movement and were positive in hyping up the large crowd throughout the intense game.
The JV Red Knights’ cheerleading team included Addison Chandler, Hailey DeBoer, Reese Drew, Vivian Fennell, Paeyton Gerritsen, Elina Harvey, Lily Hofferica, Georgiana Huizinga, Audrianna Kenny, Caroline Kerr, Piper Knispel, Josette Loizzo, Sophia Maratea, Hailey Neil, Francesca Noto, Toula Riley and Alexia Valente.
The JV Orange team included Addison Cooke, Londyn Cullen, Carmella DeCesare, Gabriella Gress, Alivia Groen, Blakely Ilkanic, Lauren Litke, Hadley Mansker, Ava Matarrese, Colleen McSherry, Mia Morrison, Reese Swanson, Emerson Xanders, Colette Weis, Addison Zahorik and Juliette Zaragoza.
