By Ed Muniz- Photos by Lauren Gray
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TINLEY PARK- The Lightweight Pioneers visited Tinley Park to take on the host Bulldogs in River Valley Youth Football League play.
The Lightweight and Junior Varsity divisions are the leagues most competitive. Of the 15 teams in the Lightweight level, 10 have .500 or better winning percentages while the JV has 11 of 17 teams with .500 or above.
Al Krokos’s Pioneers team falls in among those at Lightweight that have won more than lost as does the Bulldogs.
Facing each other saw two once beaten teams go at it. The Pioneers were looking to improve their 4-1 record while the Bulldogs wanted to notch another win on their 3-1 tally coming in.
The Pioneers’ vaunted offense was stymied and silenced by a quick, swarming Bulldogs team that used an aggressive defense and a mixture of Run and Pass plays to shutout the Pioneers in the Bulldogs 19-0 win on September 28 in Tinley Park.
“They just outexecuted us, is really what it was,” said Coach Krokos. “We made some mistakes in the first half to put us trailing and they came out with a nice individual play to start the second half. We will make the adjustments, come back stronger. This will make us better as we move on later into the year and the playoffs.”
The Pioneers are known for their defensive play but in this game, they struggled to make stops in key situations, particularly on pass plays. The Pioneers had difficulties with their pass defense as it seemed every time the Bulldogs dropped back to pass, they completed the play as receivers got open beyond the defense or found an opening mid-range and squared up for the completion.
The Pioneers opening drive did not set well for them. On fourth and short, the Pioneers needed a single yard to continue their first series. What looked to be enough on Luke Krokos quarterback-keeper to continue offensively, when measured, the Pioneers came up mysteriously short and were forced to give up the football on downs.
Taking possession on the Pioneers 37, it wasn’t long before the game saw it’s first score. Three pass completions and soon had the Bulldogs at the Pioneer 3, from there a short burst to the endzone had the Bulldogs up 6-0.
The Pioneers looked to tie the game and possibly take the lead on their next series. Runs by Jase Entrom, Michael Oconnor, Jason Erwin and Luke Krojos moved the ball on the nine-play series.
The Pioneers abruptly stopped their promising counter drive when a pass from Krokos to Enstrom was fumbled after a nice run down the far sideline and recovered by Tinley Park.
The self-inflicted wound would be the last real chance the Pioneers would have to score the rest of the game.
On the ensuing Bulldogs series, a fumble, a pass incompletion and a tackle by Krokos forced the Bulldogs to punt deep in their territory.
Although Jason Erwin grabbed 11 yards on his run, the previous two plays lost four yards and forced the Pioneers to release the football on downs as the first half concluded with the Bulldogs letting time expire to half and maintaining a 6-0 lead.
The second half opened with a bang for the Bulldogs, they doubled their lead on the 50-yard pass-play, catching the Pioneers by surprise.
With the 12-0 deficit, the Pioneers desperately needed to respond with points and tried but a short three-yard pass, a run for four yards and a try that lost 5-yards, once again forced the Pioneers to punt.
Things just weren’t gelling for the Pioneers. Offensively, the Pioneers couldn’t sustain drives as runs were shut down after a few yards and pass-plays although completed, just weren’t gaining enough yards. Credit the Bulldog defense. Their quickness to the ball and ability to complete tackles limited the Pioneers quite often.
The Bulldogs were outplaying the Pioneers which was a rare feat against this Pioneers group.
On the next four Bulldogs plays after the punt, three completions moved the ball quickly up field.
The Pioneers pass-coverage was failing resulting in the Bulldogs moving to the Pioneers 27. With their success passing, the Bulldogs got greedy and when Luke Krokos stepped in front of one pass too many, the Bulldog threat ceased with the Krokos interception opening the final quarter.
You could see the home sideline and its players were determined to keep the Pioneers struggling. You saw them increase their efforts defensively, determined to keep the Pioneers off the scoreboard.
Three runs by Oconnor netted 9 yards along with an incompletion, resulting in the Pioneers losing the football on downs.
The very next play saw the Bulldogs to the elation of the home crowd , increase their lead o a 32-yard run that gave the Bulldogs their third touchdown of the game and when they passed for the extra-point, their lead now stood at 19-0 midway through the fourth quarter.
It got worse for the Pioneers. The ensuing kickoff turned into an onside kick which the Bulldogs recovered to use up more time off the clock.
Eventually the Pioneers managed to force a punt and went back on offense but with little time remaining, one last pass attempt by the Pioneers was intercepted, thus ending the Pioneers unusual game with the 19-0 loss.
Jude Morrar was one lineman who gave all he could for the Pioneers. His interior play was one of the key bright spots for the Pioneers. Both offensively and defensively, Morrar worked hard.
“You really have to work hard to get the tackle when playing defense,” said Jude. “Playing on the offensive line is really fun but sometimes you just got to work against a really good guy so it gets harder, you try to get away with holding them a little. I do sometimes.”
The Fifth Quarter Pioneers fared better scoring on the very first play. A Bennett Brown to Adam Krokos pass completion went 70-yards for the touchdown.
We were mad because the Super Lightweights lost so we were planning on scoring during the Fifth Quarter,” said Brown. “It worked! It was a swing pass, Adam (Krokos) broke the defender off, so I just threw it. We work on it and scoring on it.”
Receiver Adam Krokos added, “When I saw it, I thought I was going to drop it but I caught it. It hit my helmet, but I still got it, it bounced into my hands. Then when I was going down the sidelines, I thought I was going to be tackled but I broke free and scored. When they try tackling me high, they miss. I think its better catching the ball with my hands.”
Adding to the offensive display were runs by Connor Kvelland that total 57-yards on four carries.
Michael Ordman also added 16-yards on his solo run.
Defensively, the Pioneers gave up a solo score but overall, did a very good job of making stops and getting several players to the ball quickly. Among them was Jackson Biskup, Christian Paulson, Brown, Vito Cangelosi, Chris Medina Jr., Brooks Foster, Scott Gumienny and Keith Piekarz.
Others playing hard and contributing with all they had includes Gunner McCarthy, Thomas Sutter, Joey Zotto, Will Poore, Cole Baldridge, Ryan Lukas, Carter Erwin, Lucca Morandi. Noah Cordoba, Andrew Richardson, Tyler Wilkie, Caden Kolodziej, Blake Nance, Laith Hammami, Cody Godlewski, Dominic Gabriele, Nick Pomonis, Sam Horeluk, James Okrasinski, Dominic Lach, Collin Valan, Bradley Patterson, Jimmy Elsberg, Jude Morrar and Owen Garrity.
Cheering and keeping the sidelines and halftime upbeat with their cheers and performances, the Lightweight Pioneers Cheerleaders never disappoint when called on. 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 and Alivia Zawada.
