By Ed Muniz-Photos by Kathy Jones
**Additional Photos are available for purchase at justallsports.zenfolio.com/2022pioneers.**
Coach Andy Rybak has a team that can hurt you running the ball with Nakahti Thompson and Enzo Angone. The pair have both made some incredible plays all season.
They can also hurt you through the air. Quarterback Charlie Enstrom has improved his accuracy and ability to find the open man as the season progressed.
Defensively, they tend to have several players near the ball which has limited their opponent success. In their unbeaten previous four-games, the Pioneers did just enough to win, with each victory coming within one score.
Week five saw the unbeaten Pioneers hosting a rugged one-loss Jr. Warrior team.
It was a mismatch that had Pioneer players sidelined with injuries or frustrated in their inability to get much going in their 31-7 throttling.
The Pioneers struggled to make stops via the ground or the air and were caught chasing completions several times.
The Jr. Warriors began on offense scoring once and retaining ball control twice before the Pioneers offense took to the field.
Angone, Thompson and Dylan Butler did all they could to make tackles for the Pioneers, but a physical Jr. Warrior team was relentless in moving the ball towards the goal line.
The Pioneers gave up a long touchdown pass at 7:05 mark of the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the ball was kicked hard, ricocheting off Ryan Duckhorn and bouncing right back to the Jr. Warriors for the recovery.
They used up the remaining first quarter and finally punted away when Drake Ulaszek, John Werner, and Nicholas Peisker picked up their game and gave nothing to the visitors.
The Pioneers possession was short lived when Nakahti Thompson quick elusive footwork broke him free up the middle but waiting for him, a Jr. Warrior defender poked the ball free, and the fumble was recovered by the Jr. Warriors.
Before you knew it, it was 13-0 for the visitor after the Jr. Warriors powered in from two yards out.
Things looked bleak for the host, unable to maintain possession for long, the Pioneers needed to respond, and they did just that, Angone took a handoff while in motion and streaked to the far sideline getting to the edge and glided down the sideline enroute to a 47-yard touchdown.
Thompson added the point-after which saw the score go to 13-7.
The Jr. Warriors got that score back quickly. A 26-yard pass got them to the Pioneer 1-yard-line after Logan Helman caught the runaway Jr. Warrior receiver. From there, a 1-yard plunge gave the visitors a 19-3 lead.
Each team closed the first half grabbing interceptions. Pioneer Quarterback Enstrom lofted a pass that never made it to his receiving target and was easily intercepted. Angone returned the favor grabbing an interception as the half ended.
The third quarter saw the Pioneer go on the offense but runs by Thompson and Angone produced just 4-yards on four tries. Giving up the football, the Pioneers tackled hard. First Butler then Peisker, who caused a fumble.
On the following play, the Pioneers ended the Jr. Warrior drive via an interception by Thompson.
Frustration was setting in on the Pioneer faces as their offense just couldn’t get much going. Missed blocks and a leaky offensive line was seeing Jr. Warriors in the backfield nearly every play.
Again, the Pioneers lost the ball on downs.
The Pioneer defense was challenged again and again. In this game, injuries, hard-hitting and a fast, swarming defense, along with a power running game, was more than the Pioneers could handle.
The Jr. Warriors scored twice more in the final quarter which brought the final score to 31-7.
The Pioneers started poorly and finished the same way. This was a game that every team eventually experiences. It just wasn’t meant to happen.
Rybak has a talented team and will soon gain the talents of returning Co-MVP from last year, Ben Snider, who has been on the mend since he broke his collar bone 7 weeks ago, which should bolster the offensive and defensive play.
The Fifth Quarter Pioneers split their team and had two games going on at once. Each defense gave up two scores while their offense saw little success.
Offensively, Maximus Streets-Pruitt, Brock Lenzen, Finnian Redmond, Logan Helman, Cade Judeh, Anthony Baniewicz, Carter Bellik, and Gavin Loman all rushed the ball picking gaining yards for the Pioneers.
Defensively, Street-Pruitt, Luke Tonra, John Sutter, Justin McNamara, Luke Makuch, Baniewicz, Loman, Bellik and Karam Olyyan all contributed with tackles and assists for the Pioneers.
Other Pioneers active on the field were Kristian Willis, Vinny Ficaro, Evan Lavelle, Luke Rybak, Carter Peluso, Drake Ulaszek, Nicholas Mase, Nicholas Hertzog, Moody Abudan, Ryan Marek, Hudson Doftert, Aidan Rios, Qais Naser, Steven Mullins, Muhammed Kassem, Andrew Quinn, Zackary Salah, Erik Baran and Brian Curran.
Demonstrating the talents in front of the stands and at halftime, the Lightweight Pioneers Cheerleaders gave a great performance all game. They included Aubrey Baran, Keira Berrera, Brittney Blazys, Brooke Blazys, Annabelle Briseno, Hayden Cmapbell, Avery Carroll, Isabelle Castillo-Mez, Frankie Ficaro, Emma Golonka, Delaney Grenda, Tessa Heinze, Arabella Hernandez, Bianca Kapusciarz, Brinley Laniosz, Malayna Marable, Gabriella Milosovic, Emily Minard, Eleanor Nothnagel, Emma OVerman, Makayla Roman, Emma Ruisz and Kamilla Ulaszek.
