By Ed Muniz- Photos by Kathy Jones
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NEW LENOX- When the Lightweight Jr. Warriors came calling on their crosstown rivals, the Jr. Knights at Lincoln-Way Central High School, between the two teams, they had suffered a lone loss.
Heading into this game, the Jr. Knights had reached the last game of the RVYFL regular season unscathed, sitting a perfect 7-0 while the visiting Jr. Warriors had accumulated a 6-1 record.
Needless to say, these two teams were very similar in talent as was the goal back when teams were formed by the NLYFA.
With this being a rivalry game, records don’t seem to matter much as each team was going to give their all considering these teams are quite familiar to each other.
Another reason is the fact of holding the advantage and privilege of bragging rights for a year. The Norm in Sports.
This game saw one team limit its mistakes and take advantage of the other’s mistakes. When the last second ticked away, the Jr. Knights continued their unbeaten season with a 19-8 victory, upping their record to 8-0 while the Jr. Warriors fell to 6-2.
“It was just a battle, these kids are tough kids, we stopped them on D. Finally got some things going on offense, Super Proud of them,” said Coach Kevin Fangerow. “Our defense has played pretty good all year, giving up just a few scores and then our offense just pounds the ball. It is special beating that team. A lot of friends over there, its competitive, a friendly rivalry. Happy the boys came out and competed.
The opening round of the RVYFL Playoffs will see the Jr. Warriors play next weekend while the top seed Jr. Knights will have a bye. Of note, the Jr. Warriors and Jr. Knights may face each other again in the semi-finals on November 10 if both continue to win.
Opening the game, the Jr. Knights gave a little. Runs by Jr Warriors’ Colin Ryan, Chase Phillips, Sammy Olszta saw them gain a first down but after that, the tackling of Logan Kurek, Ryan Vogt, Anthony Salzman, Ryan Gagan, Hauk White and Jaxon Oyoung forced a punt.
The Jr. Warriors were even more assertive with their defense, shutting down the Jr Knights on three plays, also forcing a punt. The big defensive play by Everett Foytik who forced a fumble and the scramble resulted in the Jr. Knights losing 17 yards.
The first quarter ended with the Jr Warriors second possession ending with a punt due to some aggressive play by Jr. Knights’ Gagan and White to close out the first quarter scoreless.
The second time the Jr. Knights saw the ball, they began at their own 32-yard line and proceeded on an 11-play drive that ended in the endzone on a 2-yard keeper by Woodburn. Woodburn tossed to White for the extra-point and gave the Jr. Knights a 7-0 advantage.
The Jr. Warrior offense was struggling to move the ball. In their three first half possessions, they had punted in all of them.
With time about to expire in the first half, the Jr. Knights were looking to get a late first half score. A Pass attempt turned out to be a bad idea when Jr. Warriors’ Chase Phillips stepped in front of the intended receiver and returned it 39 yards for the Pick Six with two seconds left before half.
With the conversion kick, the Jr. Warriors took an 8-7 advantage into the break after the huge play.
It took the Jr. Knights all of one play to regain the lead, opening the second half.
Woodburn called his own number and hit the right sideline untouched and didn’t stop until 59-yards later for the go-ahead touchdown. With the 13-8 lead, momentum was squarely on the Jr. Knights side now with the shocking run.
Trying to respond, the Jr. Warriors found it difficult not only because of the tackling of Jr. Knights’ Jayden Skultinas, Oyoung and Vogt but also the penalties they couldn’t avoid.
The Jr. Warriors had to punt again and hope for their defense to get them another try. They did just that. Stops by Nolan Popp and Foytik produced negative yards for the Jr. Knights and forced them to punt.
Both teams closed out the third quarter with punts. The jr. Warriors caught their opportunity early in the fourth when Dustin Rys recovered a fumble at the Jr. Knights 35-yard line.
From there Phillips took his Jr Warriors to the Jr. Knights 11 on his 25-yard run. Advancing to the 9-yard line and nearing the endzone, a touchdown would give the lead to the Jr. Warriors as time was winding down in the game.
After a incomplete pass, the Jr arriors went to the air again on fourth down but a savy Woodburn snatched the football out of the air and raced 96-yards for the Pick Six touchdown, upping the lead to 19-8.
“I think I did good, thanks to my team,” said Woodburn. “Our blocking,our catching, we did good all-around as a team. I have good genetics too is why I feel I play well. I think I could be better flowing to the ball on defense. I thought our team played a really good game and I’d give it an A. I’m looking forward to the playoff and staying unbeaten.”
Amped up after the score, the Jr. Knights defense let it all go on with their defensive pressure. After a sack by Vogt, an errant throw by the Jr. Warriors quarterback was intercepted by Kurek which sealed the win for the Jr Knights after taking a knee a few plays later.
“I did get stuffed a lot when I was running but that pick at the end, it just made me feel happy, my whole team,” said Kurek. “It was important to beat them because we’re rivals and we are both in the same district. I know a lot of them. I should have run harder and get to the holes faster so I don’t get stuffed.”
A strong defense really was the difference in this game along with mistakes in key moments.\
The Jr. knights defense was stellar in limiting the Jr. Warriors offense. Among those playing well was Jr. Knights Aiden Young. He added,
“I thought I had a good game on defense,” said Aiden. “I like playing defense because I think of it as positivity because we get the ball back to our offense. I like breaking up plays. I like making stops and being in on assists. I think I can get better still on defense filling gaps and stuffing runners.”
The Jr Warriors were plagued with penalties especially offensively. They also couldn’t build on Phillips “Pick Six” to end the first half. It was a difficult loss for several of the Jr. Warriors including Chase Phillips who providing the only scoring for his team.
“It’s not hard playing them. We couldn’t do anything,” said the disappointed Phillips. “I got a pick six against them and got a couple real good tackles. I run hard and don’t stop. If we get enough good blocks, then everybody can do it. I just have to stay home on defense at cornerback. And as a team, we have to stop the penalties on offense. When we face them in the playoffs, we’re going to have better blocking and we’re going beat them.”
At Center, Kieran Finerty may have been the most consistent lineman on both sides. The Jr. Warriors added,
“I enjoy wherever I play. As a center my job is to block after the snap and make sure to get the ball to the QB,” said Finerty. “I’m comfortable doing long snaps as you saw a lot today in this game. I need to block better and on defense get through quicker and make more tackles.”
“They’re a good team, they’re coached well, and we knew it was going to be a hard fought battle,” said Assistant Coach Nick Stanton. “Penalties really killed us. We had a lot of penalties and shot ourselves in the foot. We just didn’t come out and execute today. We have a good group of kids, we’ll rebound from this. Mistakes and penalties really hurt us in this game. I thought we moved the ball on the ground well, I thought we could have passed better but our mistakes cost us. Give them credit, they brought some pressure today.”
Fifth Quarter Play saw players display their skills as well. The Jr. Warriors offense was led by the play of Jaxon Love. His couple of big runs didn’t produce points but he showed he can produce big yards. Defensively, Angel Velasquez was hue for the Jr. Warrior with several tackles and a recovered fumble
The Jr. Knights provided the only scoring of the Fifth Quarter when a pass from Mason Wendtland was cradled in by Cameron Medved who out raced all others to the endzone for the 40-yard touchdown.
Linebacker’ Evan Rojek impressed his head coach with his play during the Jr. Knights defensive stint.
Other Jr. Warriors playing hard all day were Attilio Witt, Colby Goodwin, Mason Wassong, Caden Stanton, Caleb Stanish, Rocco Saso, Keaton DeCesare, Braydon Visny, Cameron Bartasius, Joseph Vitt, Finn Raught, Greyson Reyna, Patrick Eggert, Nathan Hennerbry, Finn Ward, Jaxon Love, Grayson Fishback, Adrian Serna, Cnrad Kriks, Nicolas DiCianni, Dylan Burla, Wyatt and Seamus Finerty, ben Wolski, Nolan Popp, Ethan Kozola, Jackson Cerullo, Trent Senkpell, Archer Kutusch, Fernando Arreola, Connor Shelton, Ryder Barratt, Colin Pesek, Bryson Schaffer and Cash Rimkus.
The Jr. Knights saw contributions from Declan Rickson, Ben Rodriguez, Evan Rojek, Ryan Kocolowski, Jeremy Petruzzi, Cormac McGinnis, Abel Bachler, Brayden Fredrickson, Anderson Meinert, Lucas Cruz, Ben Herrera, Austin Emmart, Trenton Dolan, Cole Higgins, Collin Freeman, Zachary Good, Thomas Kroll, Michael Fangerow, Michael Keim, Santino Valentini, Jack Rakowski, Max Berner, Mason Watland, Owen Maher, Colby Cakora, Nathan Fagan, Declan Malicdem, Brayden Graves, Ace Savage, Asher Mueller, Dominic Mezydlo, Landon DeCarlo and Billy Maas.
The Lightweight Jr. Knights and Jr. Warriors Cheerleaders also gave their all to entertain each home and visiting crowd and performed at Halftime.
The Jr. Knights Cheerleaders include Hadley Adeszko, Emma Anderson, Avery Badie, Audrianne Beaudry, Lyla Blaze, Quinn Braner, Camille Briden, Dylan Buchanan, Abigail Churlin, Charlotte Davila, Allison Fitzgerald, Alexandria Graves, Tessa Greiner, Francesca Grzebielucha, Charlotte Hack, Adalyn Herbert, Brooklyn Kelch, Hannah Kelly, Cayla Knowles, Kayla Maher, Kenzie Mulcahy, Kelsey Neil, Addison Newman, Gabriella and Emma Okon, Isabella Payne, Ellie Roberts, Quinn Ruhaak, Rylie-Ann Runia, Madison Springer, Blakely Tadin, Rozlyn Valenta, Ava Wassong, Audrey Wernet, Stella White and Grace Wolski.
The Jr. Warriors Cheerleaders include Ella Bali, Audrey Barton, Angelina Berrini, Teresa Bulow, Isabella Castillo, Hailey Dowding, Briella and Gabrielle Druktenis, Sophia Dumblauskas, Shay Echandy, Gracie Gaines, Maeve Glynn, Hannah and Kate Hughes Rylee Ilkanic, Stella Jadin, Anna Mae Jeglinski, Karla Koenig, Anna Koney, Kyla Kucala, Brooklyn Largen, Laila Litke, Austyn McCullough, Quinn Mcelree, Madeline McKibben, Olivia Murray, Luciana Olszta, Kamryn Pandell, Emma Paver, riley Pelkowski, Molly Pellini, bella Porto, Emma redican, Nora Serio, Lilliana Strein, Elin Swanson, Elizabeth Veach, Layla Wassong, Riley and Mackenzie Weber and Evelyn Wilson.
