By MIles Toogo- Photos by Laura Stubbs
**Additional Photos are Availble for Purchase for 2 weeks at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p2652947 **
Orland Park– Theres something about the Orland Park Lightweight Pioneers that’s not hard to notice.
What Coach Al Krokos has is a team of Confidence and Savy, a team that is comfortable on the field in both Offense and Defense.
Theres no panic, there’s no visible nerves, its just players going onto the field and doing what they are expected to do.
Even new additions to this team, they blend in so easily and find their niche within the winning ways.
Perfect example is the play of Quarterback Luke Krokos. He walks out there calmly, gives the play it to his offense, executes the play and reloads.
He is a veteran of the position and smooth as silk. I don’t even think he sweats in the heat.
His proficiency of running the Pioneers offense is impressive to say the least.
“It’s kinda hard playing quarterback, its not as easy as it looks,” said Luke. “Probably running to the sideline to get the play and running back to the huddle is the hardest thing. I do have plays on my wristband we sometimes call. I’m just used to playing quarterback now. We need to get better and improve not going offsides. We had some first game problems, but our goal is to win a championship this year.”
Luke and the rest of his Pioneers played hosts to the Frankfort Square Wildcats on August 25 at Sandburg High School.
A stellar display of defense and an efficient ball control offense gave the Pioneers their first victory of the season with a 14-0 shutout.
The Pioneer offense is good and can jump ahead quick , but their defense has a knack of limiting teams of any success.
Beginning the game defensively, it took the Pioneers three plays to show what was instore for the visitors the rest of the game.
Two Tackles by Carter Erwin including one for a 4-yard loss and another by his brother Jason Erwin that also lost 3 yards, set the tone for the game.
After a punt by the Wildcats, Krokos and his offense went to work.
The punt into the wind saw the Pioneers benefit from it as it lost yards and saw the Pioneers start with a huge advantage at the Wildcats 16-yard-line.
Runs by Michael O’Connor and Jase Enstrom had the Pioneers at the 2-yard-line but a first down fumble on the next play saw the Pioneers backed up to the 10.
Krokos then went to the air and completed a pass to Cole Baldridge for the Pioneers first touchdown of the 2024 season. Andrew Richardson nailed the 2-point conversion kick to put the Pioneers up 8-0.
The Wildcats were afforded a few more plays on their next series but tackles by Carter Erwin, Owen Garrity, O’Connor and a sack by Richardson forced a turnover on downs at the Pioneer 30-yard-line.
Again, the Pioneers tried to establish their run game with Jason Erwin breaking away for 14 yards to begin the following drive. Using rushes by O’Connor, Enstrom and Krokos, the Pioneers went on a 10-play drive.
Unfortunately, the drive bogged down and an amped-up Wildcats defense made a key stop and force the Pioneers to give up the ball on downs.
The Wildcats were trying to get their offense moving up field but Coach Krokos team is a stingy bunch and won’t give much.
Jason Erwin, Will Poore and Luke Krokos each made tackles to snuff the Wildcats efforts just as the first half concluded.
After Baldridge took the second half kickoff and returned it 24 yards, the Pioneers offense tried to extend their lead. To the Wildcats credit and already down a score, their defensive efforts were more aggressive and now limited the Pioneers second half beginning series.
Back on defense, the Pioneers continued to give next to nothing. Nothing the Wildcats tried was gaining much yardage and pass attempts were either defended well or falling incomplete.
Baldridge and Garrity were key in forcing another punt by the Wildcats.
The teams were now exchanging defensive stops and turn over on downs or a punt.
The Pioneers offense had lost its edge and was struggling to move the ball. mostly because of the play of their opponents.
With time closing out the third quarter, the game turned into a wait and see who finches first by each defense.
For the Pioneers, Jude Morrar, O’Connor, Richardson and Carter Erwin made sure the Wildcats would continue to trail as they each made solo stops early in the fourth quarter.
When Krokos connected with Jason Erwin for an apparent touchdown, it looked like the Wildcats had finally flinched, but the score was called back because of a penalty which upset the Pioneers staff on the mysterious formation call.
After Michael Ordman went around left end, and tore off 19 yards, the Pioneers were ready to score again and did.
Krokos dropped back and found Carter Erwin from 20-yards out for the Pioneers second touchdown and a 14-0 lead as time was winding down in the game.
Carter Erwin was stellar in this game. His play throughout the day warrants him being player of the game. Both offensively and defensively he contributed. His tackle and offensive skills were on full display.
“Practice and playing for three years really helps me a lot,” said Carter. “I’m better at form tackling, its gotten a lot easier for me. On the touchdown pass, we run that formation a good amount. We do a double-wide, the other guy runs a hitch, for me, it was almost a jump ball. I got it, it’s the best feeling scoring a touchdown and I’d rather catch one than run one in.”
With another defensive stance, the Pioneers closed out the game and secured the 14-0 win to open their 2024 campaign.
Prior to the game, the Pioneers also show cased their depth of talent during the Fifth Quarter.
Among the starts offensively was the combo of Connor Kvelland and Brooks Foster. The tandem hooked up for a perfect 22-yard touchdown with Kvelland finding Foster for the score.
“We sent out two receivers, one up the middle and one to the side, as three guys were rushing and sacking me, I threw it and Brooks caught it,: said Kvelland. “We work on it but maybe I could have gotten out further. Still a good play,”
Brooks added, “I was in the middle, I saw the ball coming so I jumped up to catch it, I was four yards away from the endzone, next thing I knew, I was in the endzone. It feels pretty good to score a touchdown.”
Coach Krokos and his team starts another season with a win. It’s become a fixture for his teams. The expectation to win is there from staff and players but it takes a lot of hard work.
“We were able to run out side early, I think as they got tired on the other team, our guys got a little bit stronger,” said Al Krokos. “We saw the right spots to throw that ball, the blocking was there. Pass, catch, it was a strong game passing this early in the season, usually takes them a while.”
Coach Krokos feel from the top to the bottom, his team this year is faster and will benefit their game often.
Krokos was also impressed with his Fifth Quarter efforts. He mentioned Jackson Biskup was outstanding along with Connor Kvelland. He felt Chris Medina’s blocking and Caden Kolodziej edge play was very good.
Others Pioneers showing their skills include Gunner McCarthy, Keith Piekarz, Thomas Sutter, Joey Zotto, Bennett Brown, Ryan Lukas, Vito Cangelosi, Lucca Morandi, Noah Cordoba, Tyler Wilke, Christian Paulson, Blake Nance, Scott Gumienny, Laith Hammami, Cody Godlewski, Dominic Gabriele, Nick Pomonis, Yousef Yasin, Samuel Horeluk, James Okrasinski, Dominic Lach, Collin Valan, Bradley Patterson, Jimmy Elsberg, Michael Galivan, Rayder Slabenak and Adam Krokos.
Showing their talents along the sidelines and at halftime are the Lightweight Pioneers Cheerleaders, they include Alexandra Burda, Morgan Collins, Madison Davis, Nora Dorigan, Emma Evans, Chloe Gaj, Kaylee Gaj, Lila Gavin, Madison Hedger, Quinn Heinze, Ava Janota, Margot Joda, Vera Joda, Adaline Johnson, Ella Kluever, Gemma Laniosz, Brielle Lenzen, Brooklyn Loman, Molly McGeever, Aaliyah Medina, Sophia Molina, Ainsley Moore, Annette Mullaney, Kayleigh Mullins, Emily Okrasinski, Kara O’Meara, Ayya Ramadani, Selena Rios, Sydney Scharpf, Avery Seliga, Maeve Smith, Addison Storrs, Peyton Tomasik, Molly Utz, Alivia Zawada
