By Ed Muniz-Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p260715627 **
Hammond, In.– Gavit High School was one of four sites hosting the River Valley Youth Football League playoffs.
Selected to feature the Lightweight division, hopes were that the weather would be accommodating.
Unfortunately, the misty, pesky rains and cold, breezy winds of Mother Nature arrived in the late afternoon of October 29 as the Orland Park Pioneers and the Homer Stallions were set to begin their playoff game.
Trying all she could to wreak havoc on the playoff encounter, not only would they have to contend with their opponents, but players had to deal with footing and contend with a slippery football.
Any error could cost you the chance to advance, so both teams came in with a mind set to adjust as the game went on.
Slightly over a month ago, the Stallions hosted the Pioneers at their annual homecoming.
Homer quickly got up 14-0 shortly after the game began back then, but a no-panic, resilient Pioneer Lightweight team was determined and unwavering after falling behind and came back to win 28-14.
Would Homer jump ahead similar to last game and hang on for the win or would the Pioneers avoid the early deficit and dominate from the get-go?
Mother Nature was sure to bother both teams as field conditions deteriorated and the cold and wetness was now saturating the playing field.
As it turned out, big plays and a stingy defense carried the Pioneers to a 12-0 shutout win on October 29 and moved them into the semi-finals of the RVYFL Lightweight Championship.
“All along, with the way we played the last game against them, we didn’t start off well, we just kept saying we needed to start off strong,” said Coach Alan Krokos. “We scored right away and put us ahead, I kept thinking if we can just put another one in the endzone we can get some separation here, but the return was better than we ever planned.”
“That definitely was our whole objective, get ahead and have them expand their playbook some, we were ready to cover that. They were on it early, making adjustments, that’s how they got us last time, but the kids were ready for it, we understood how to shift, that was big.”
Coach Krokos went on to add he felt preparation and execution was huge for them. He felt this game was the best game of the season for them. Regardless of not scoring offensively.
The game began how most coaches dream of starts. Fielding the loose football, Hudson Doftert took a few steps forward, made a decision to cut right as he noticed the Stallions flowing to his left, his speed got him quickly to the edge and proceeded to run 67-yards for the touchdown untouched.
The quick 6-0 lead squashed any thoughts of a similar start to last time they played.
Homer was now down just seconds into the game.
The huge score lifted the Pioneers and defensively, they continued their momentum shutting down the Stallions after four plays, earning a turnover on downs. Tackles by Andrew Richardson, Max Streets-Pruitt, Doftert and Nicholas Peisker were the reason.
The wet cold conditions didn’t seem to affect the Pioneers much going on an eight-play drive. Using a running attack and controlling possession is vital during playoff games, the Pioneers were doing just that early. A 15-yard run by Streets-Pruitt was because of the blocking of John Sutter and Doftert providing timely blocks.
Homer gave some but held steadfast after eight Pioneer plays and forced a turnover on downs after the Pioneers got to the Stallions 13-yardline.
Unfortunately for Homer, an amped up Pioneers defense was stingy, not giving up many yards, which had the Stallions punting after three plays. Tackles by Peisker, Streets-Pruitt and Lucca Morandi ended Homers’ second efforts.
The Pioneers weren’t perfect. A play later, a Krokos pass was simultaneously caught by Doftert and a Stallions defender. The official felt more of it was controlled by Homer and awarded the Interception.
On the ensuing play, a hard hit by Andrew Richardson caused the Homer runner to cough up the ball which Richardson recovered, giving possession right back to the Pioneers.
Now with a short field just 16-yards away from the Homer endzone, mishaps by the Pioneers and strong tackling by the Stallions soon had the Pioneers losing yards. A fourth down completion of 18-yards from Luke Krokos to Streets-Pruitt fell two yards short of the first down, the Pioneers squandered a great opportunity to extend their lead with the stop.
Peisker was a defensive machine. He made running the ball difficult for the Stallions. On the ensuing series, he managed to disrupt or stop plays with solo tackles, forcing Homer to punt after negative yards on four tries.
“We knew we were going to have to come out hard and punch them in the mouth,” said Peisker. “We needed to get momentum early in the game, we did that. A great block by Luca Morandi set the edge, Hudson (Doftert) made one cut and was gone. We usually go solo where I’m blitzing with the safety, I usually blitz a lot. I think we always play good in the rain and in rainy playoff games, that carried on in this game. We were ready for the conditions, we knew it was gonna happen, we practice for it, and it paid off.”
Peisker went on to say their next game he expects it to be a different outcome from last time. He mentioned that they’ll practice well and practice what they need to know. He feels they figure out what happened last time they played and what should happen this time.
His play speaks for itself, he oozes confidence and shows just how reliable he is and has been all season for his teammates and his team. With his defensive leadership, he is confident his defense will step up.
The game remained 6-0 headed into halftime. The Pioneers liked having the lead but as conditions worsened, anything could happen, so they came out still focused on the job ahead.
One player that seemed carefree was Quarterback Luke Krokos.
“I didn’t feel any pressure, it wasn’t raining at the time, so I felt pretty good and didn’t feel any pressure or anything,” said Pioneer Quarterback Luke Krokos. “We practiced well, and one of the coaches said if we run to the right we might score on the opening kickoff and we did.”
“We got really hyped up and really excited when we scored on the kickoff, we were all cheering, so was everybody else. We were moving the ball well; it’s just we couldn’t get in the endzone. We really weren’t worried, our defense was really playing good, we stopped them most of the game. (Nicholas} Peisker has been really good on defense. We usually go with the flow, run the plays and hope for the best.”
Krokos is the type of offensive presence you need to win. He is steady and shows no signs of pressure. He goes out, remains calm and gets the job done. On one play he was hit quite hard; on the verge of tears, he was at the sidelines getting the next play, he wasn’t coming out of the game, he wanted to lead his team even at the cost of pain.
The second half began with the Pioneers defense looking to continue dominating the Stallions. It took six plays but again they forced another turnover on downs. Tackles by Cole Baldridge, Jude Morrar, Morandi and a pair by Dylan Ahmer got the ball back to their offense.
The Pioneers got rolling again, taking up the rest of the third quarter and entering the fourth. Possession and controlling play were in their favor with the lead.
In the midst of a long series, the Pioneers saw their first ten plays gain positive yardage. They began their march at their own 37 and steadily moved the ball with the run. Doftert and Streets-Pruitt were the main rushers with Zackary Salah occasionally having a touch.
Long runs of 19-yards on a reverse by Doftert and a steady dose of Streets-Pruitt slashing soon had them at the Homer 19-yardine but play 11 was disaster, a fumble was recovered by the Stallions to end the time-consuming drive.
Short on time and 81-yards away from a possible tying touchdown, the Stallions had their work cut out for them. Tackles by Peisker and Doftert lost Homer a yard, a third down lateral went out of bounds.
Now fourth and long, the Pioneers pressured the Homer quarterback which forced him to throw the ball up for grabs, Streets-Pruitt intercepted the ball, cut to the near sideline and streaked 67-yards for the Pick-Six touchdown creating an insurmountable lead at 12-0.
“It was really important to win our game, we wanted to advance to the next round,” said Streets-Pruitt.
“We knew if we won, we would end up playing the Jr. Warriors and we look at them as the Bullies of the River Valley and we feel we are going to be the first team to take them down. We really want that.”
“I feel like it’s going to be a tougher game than last time, no one is going to give us anything, we have to take it. It wasn’t too hard running the ball; our linemen were making big holes for me to run through. My running style helps me a lot, if it takes a few guys to stop me, it gives me time to lunge forward to get a couple extra yards. We miss fired and got a few penalties, we need to be cleaner and check with refs so we aren’t lined up wrong, we should have scored three times at least.”
Max went on to state he feels Nicholas Peisker and Hudson Doftert lead the defense and are a big reason the defense plays so well. He also mentioned it helped him grab a Pick-Six.
“I really don’t know why he threw the ball, I think one of the guys was on him, so he threw it int traffic, me and Hudson (Doftert) were there, I picked it off, I could have easily gone left but I ran all the way across the field, broke a tackle, regained my balanced and scored. I was really excited because that was my second Pick-Six of the season.”
With one last Sack that lost 16-yards by John Sutter, the Pioneers punched their semi-final ticket with the 12-0 shutout win.
There was a Fifth quarter that saw some Pioneers showing off their skills. Two standouts included Michael Ordman III who raced 37-yards on one of his runs and a touchdown blast from Anthony Baniewicz which gave the Pioneers an advantage.
Others that also played hard during the Fifth quarter included Bennett Brown and Christian Paulson and their defensive prowess. Offensively, Scott Gumienny, Nathan Campos, Nick Dertz, Carter Peluso, Jase Enstrom and Luke Tonra all contributed as well.
Kristian Willis, Blake Schuler, Vinny Ficaro, Vincent Spizzirri, Carter Erwin, Karam Olyyan, Noah Cordoba, Gavin Connors, Caden Kolodziej, Nicholas Mase, Cody Godlewski, Yousef Yasin, Samuel Horeluk, James Okrasinski, Dominic Lach, Collin Valan, Muhammad Kassem, Avery Vermilyea, Michael Galivan, Owen Garrity, Rayder Slabenak and Brian Curran
The Pioneers Lightweight cheerleading team gave their all in the dreary weather, they included Gabriela Cabela, Isabella Cartolano, Madison Davis, Eleanor Dorigan, Kaylee Gaj, Paulina Goryl, Madison Hedger, Quinn Heinze, Margot Joda, Vera Joda, Adaline Johnson, Gemma Laniosz, Brielle Lenzen, Brooklyn Loman, Lily Maday, Santina Mannino, Molly McGeever, Emily Okrasinski, Kara O’Meara, Ayya Ramadani, Meryn Rucinski, Sydney Scharpf, Avery Seliga, Peyton Tomasik, Molly Utz and Alivia Zawada.