By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p218371088 **
Orland Park— The Orland Park Pioneers Lightweight Blue football team was all smiles before Sunday’s season opener against the Homer Glen Stallions.
The team opened the season amid running out of the blue inflated helmet in the southern end zone, helping create a buzz in front of their family and friends at Carl Sandburg High School.
The 2026 season is full of promise for the youth football team, aided by a deep and talented roster of football players with experience in the program.
Unfortunately, Homer Glen had a solid gameplan and moved the ball at will, scoring 13 points in the second half to pull out a 20-0 win over the Pioneers.
The Pioneers had a tough time building any ounce of momentum throughout the steamy early afternoon game, but they did feature several memorable plays and showcased a few building-block moments for the rest of the game.
“We will get better and better week by week,” Orland Park Lightweight Blue coach Adam Maurella said. “We have a lot of new guys on the team and have to dial them in and we have to get our offense going. We struggled blocking, but this was a good taste. We looked a lot better than in our scrimmage last week. Homer is a good and tough team with some big boys up there. Payton had a key touchdown that was brought back and that was a key stinger. We have to turn around and play better. This was a tough one.”
The Stallions did a solid job controlling the line of scrimmage, most notably on the defensive end. The Pioneers finished with a three-and-out on their first drive of the game, and from that point on just couldn’t have positive yards on consecutive plays.
Barbee said the Stallions had a solid defense. “Their defensive ends switched a lot, so we have to keep that in mind for our next game,” Barbee said. “We have to run harder and block harder.”
Even so, the Pioneers’ defense was a bright spot, particularly in the first half. Peyton Barbee was a standout on defense, notching a memorable tackle early in the game before Homer Glen scored a touchdown.
Amari Adigun and Luke Bosack combined to force and recover a fumble with 9:45 left in the second quarter to keep the game close. Barbee showed off his tackling skills in the secondary with two stops to close out the half.
The Pioneers were hit with some bad luck midway through the third quarter. Down 7-0, Barbee, an elite runner with speed and good vision, is a player to watch in the future. He broke loose for a long touchdown run but the play was called back due to a penalty.
The visiting team capitalized by marching down the field to lead 13-0, but the defense did have a few good plays on the scoring drive. Dominic Maurella notched a tackle from behind and Barbee added another stop. Barbee was back in the action with a tackle to stop a long running back with 6:47 left in the fourth quarter. Ammar Abdelmuti and Luke Bosack gangtackled a runner for a tackle late in the fourth.
“The defense did a good job,” Barbee said. “It felt good making a lot of tackles and helping my defense in the game.”
Bosack, who also plays running back, also combined with Maurella for a highlight-reel tackle. “At the very end, I was happy to stop them on a tough play up the middle with that tackle,” Bosack said. “I think we did a lot of good things, but we have to clear up some little stuff.”
Abdelmuti, a left tackle and nose tackle, said it was a hard fought game. “I liked how Peyton got a turnover and we all improved during the game and the team came together and we did good,” Abdelmuti said. “I think we can always do better and work harder.”
Tommy Richardson said the offense has the talent to be a force this season. “Peyton had a long run and that was good, but we couldn’t get any yards because they had a good defense,” Richardson said.
Maurella said the defense slowed down the visiting team and played strong in the first half. “On defense, we did really good,” Maurella said. “I was happy to get a lot of nice tackles, but we can do better on offense with our running and blocking.”
Lawson Capps said Homer Glen was a good test for the Pioneers, noting their defense was tough to move the ball against. “They had a really good defense,” Capps said. “They had us down and were pretty locked down defense and followed us well. They had a good offense and were able to run through us. We need to fix a couple of things, like our blocking and improve on defense.”
In the fifth quarter game, the Pioneers had some noteworthy plays on both sides of the ball. Isiah Holmes earned applause from the large crowd with a key tackle along the sidelines at the 6:18 mark. Moody Jaber recorded a stop in the backfield for three-yard loss, and Joey Guest burst through the HG’s offensive line for a three-yard tackle for a loss.
Capps had the big play of the game on offense, darting 50-plus yards for a touchdown via a nifty cutback move.
The Pioneers also had solid efforts in the loss from Jaweed Abuzir, Landon Lawler, Paul Bertucci, Harrison Ramirez, Luke Lawler, Quinn McCarthy, Zachariah Ballouta, Isiah Holmes, Joey Guest, Wren Rucinski, Sean Mendoza, Brady Higgins, Rasheed Williams, Jr., Luke Holoubek, Lorcan Redmond, Jayden Enriquez, Paxson Leithleiter, Noah Radzikowski, Ian Frost, Johnny Waliczek, Cade Rucinski, William Speck, Ethan Hamideh and Noah Hall.
The Lightweight Pioneers Cheerleaders were there entertaining the crowd and supporting the players. They included Scarlett Sternberg, Kara O’Meara, Kennedy Krokos, Stella Bristow, Emerson Schweikert, Eleanor Koehn, Elena Schmaling, Isla Zelensek, Lucy Bohanek, Zoey France, Savannah Molina, Aleena Badwan, Vera Joda, Normandy Golden, Hazel Nichols, Mia Mizera, Maevry Harmatys, Mila Schweikert, Tessa Dunmore, Tessa Basek, Siena Lang, Callie Juarez-Radovanovic, Alaina Holoubek, Sadie Griffin, Lea Barbee, Ava Kolodziej, Eva Aubin, Sofie Annerino, Hailey Valan, Grace Poore, Eloise Sarhage, Anderson Foster, Meghan Shilney, Lillian Fudala, Rosie VanRaden and Giana Santos.
