By Ed Muniz- Photos by Ken Dado
** Additional Photos aree Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p748801690 **
TINLEY PARK— Making their 2026 RVYFL Playoff appearence were the Orland Park Lightweight Pioneers Red.
The Pioneers (4-4) would travel to Tinley Park to take on the Mt. Greenwood Colts (3-5) in first round action at Bulldog Field, site of all the Lightweight Playoff games.
For the Pioneers, this was an opportunity to right a wrong, while the Colts looked to continue its winning ways against the Pioneers. These two teams started the 2026 as each opponent where the Colts walked away with a 13-6 victory.
Remembering that outcome was the incentive the Pioneers would use to practice hard all week in hopes to flip the script of this game. They did just that!
Using a stout, swarming, shut-down defense and an eventual meticulous offense, the Pioneers would go on to avenge the early season loss with one of their best performances of the year with the 16-0 Playoff shutout victory and advance to next weeks’ quarter-final round.
“Proud of these boys, One game at a time, said Coach Dan Kolodziej. “This was a redemption game, They got the best of us that first game of the year but we are totally different team from week one to right now. Our boys just played outstanding and hustled hard. Mentally, the first quarter got to us a little bit and then go to no penalties in the second half was outstanding.”
“We prepared for what we saw and they did a couple things differently so we were kind of adjusting on the fly a little bit. They are a tough team beating us that first week. We never look past any team. I think our defense played so well, shutting them down. A lot of hard hits in the backfield, Arthur (Slabenak) was an absolute terror, Bennett (Kersten) off the edge was awesome as well and then you have Sean Kikilas on the other side, it was just unbelievable.”
The Pioneers surprised the Colts starting the game with a pass-play that went for 12-yards. A Gavin Garrity to Jordy Kolodziej combination kicked started the offense. Runs by Taylan Morandi and Sean Kikilas advance the ball another dozen yards and it looked like things were rolling well just as the Pioneers wanted, but a mishandled exchange was fumble that saw the momnetum disappeared along with a penalty.
Two plays later, the Pioneers were forced to punt.
Mistakes in playoff games are notorious for deciding the outcome. The pressure to perform well sometimes gets the best of one who normally is a sure thing. It may have been the sole reason for the momentum loss and eventual punt.
Regrouping and getting their defense on the field, the very first Colt play and the result was a harbinger of things to come from the Pioneers defense. The Pioneers swarmed to the ball for a team tackle, giving notice to the Colts of what to expect all game.
The Pioneers would force a punt a few plays later after seeing tackles from MJ Groark, Kikilas, Kersten, Morandi and Jude Atieh. The tackling continued to open the second quarter of the scoreless game.
The Pioneers were stepping on their own feet unable to get out of the own way the during their second offensive opportunity. Self inflicting mistakes pushed the Pioneers deeper into their own territory with a pair of penalties, eventually too much to overcome, forcing a quick punt to the Colts.
A sense of waiting for one team to blink was the recipe being cooked up by both defenses.
Atieh and Kikilas made short work of the Colts next offensive tries, forcing a four and out after the Colts could muster only negative yards.
With the turnover on downs, the Pioneers took advantage of the short field which was a surprise on the Colts fourth down try. With little time left in the half, the Pioneers went to the air twice, falling incomplete on both but a keeper to his left saw quarterback Gavin Garrity get to the left sideline quickly and proceed to run 66-yards being stopped two yards shy of the endzone.
Time in the first half was now under a minute, the Pioneers were working quickly to score. Another quarterback keeper up the middle grab just a yard with the clock still ticking away.
Now at the 1-yard line, the Pioneers once again surprised everyone. From his end or slot position, Kersten took two steps into the endzone as Garrity took the snap who quickly tossed it to Kersten for the games opening score with just two seconds left in the first half for the 6-0 lead.
William “Super Leg” Sraga easily converted the two-point kick to put the Pioneers up 8-0 at halftime.
Sraga is one of those talents that does something really well. Booting the football is his deal where his abilities are just natural. He elevates the kick quickly and shows a lot of leg strenth as he booms kicks through with huge distances to spare.
With the lead and momentum after the late score, the Pioneers defense was not about to relinquish it.
Coming out with their defensive unit to start the third quarter, the Pioneers increased their pressure and hounded the Colts on every snap. Shane Sternberg, CJ Hufford, Morndi and Kolodziej each made solo stops but the hitting was now even more intense.
The defense forced the Colts to punt after a few plays.
The Pioneers would go on a 13-play drive using up the rest of the third quarter and into the fourth.
Meticulously using the run and the legs of Morandi, Kikilas, Garrity and Kolodziej, the Pioneers moved slowly up the field, driving from their own 29, adavncing to the Colts 2-yard line.
Morandi started the march with a 13-yard dash, later followed by Garrity adding 11 more yards. A steady dose of Morandi and Kikilas with a dash or Kolodziej, eventually had them two yards from the Colts endzone.
From there, the Pioneers increased their lead when Kikilas did what he does best, plowed in for the touchdown up the middle increasing the lead to 14-0. Once again, Slabenak followed with the 2-point kick to elevate the lead to 16-0 with nine minutes to play.
Spear heading the Pioneers defense was Arthur Slabenak. His line play and ability to get in the backfield or plug up the middle with fellow teammates, completey shut the Colts offensive efforts running the ball. He also worked off his teammates efforts and took advantage of how the Colts block them.
“Its playoff season now, so its the right time to play at your best,” said Arthur. “We are in it to win it. The defense absolutely came to play, maybe our corners were a little off but still, our defense was great today. Our line play was awesome. Micheal Patterson and Sean Kikilas had great games too on the line. I think we can still improve on this game. We can improve not getting penalties because the teams are getting better each game. We just have to get through Tinley next week and we have a good shot of making it all the way. We are a Super Bowl Contender when we play like today.”
After the score, Slabenak and his defensive cohorts were back at it with Slabenak beatiing his block and grabbing a sack that pushed the Colts further back. By now the Pioneers defense was in total control of the game, building on their tackle tally each snap.
Hufford followed with a tackle for loss, then Garrity and Kikilas grabbed stops leading to the Colts trying the pass, but only to be picked off by Kolodziej.
The Pioneers sealed the game after a run by Kikilas and Morandi grabbed 26-yards by the duo. It was then time for victory formation as Garrity took a knee to end the game.
The defense was the star of the game for the Pioneers, executing an aggressive design that once they got into the game midway through the opening quarter, the end result was predictable.
Two way stars included Garrity and Kikilas each contributed on boths sides of the ball.
For Garrity, directing the offense his where he seems to fit best. Good at leading the offense, he is a threat because of his abiity to run or throw but he also is an aggressive tackler on defense. The Two-fold Pioneer gives his all throughout the game.
Speaking of his effort and long run on offense, Garrity said,
“I saw Sean (Kikilas) and Taylan (Morandi) give good blocks and I was thinking “We have to get this”, said Garrity of his 66-yard burst. “I prefer running left, I feel faster heading that way. I saw Sean blocking the outside linebacker and then I told myself I’m gonna beat the safety and I did. I was really happy that we got this win and we keep playing. I enjoy having the ball in my hand. I was feeling good throwing passes, we just didn’t connect on those big throws. We have to work on that to get better and better and make big plays. I also think I tackle pretty good on defense.”
Kikilas is a pure football player. He seems to enjoy cotact and banging when he runs the ball or smashing when he is making a stop. Either way, its all good to him.
“I feel good especially when we all work as a team. We block, we do our jobs; We’re really good like today,” said Sean. “I like power running. Even if I get hurt, I wanna play like Ray Lewis did in the NFL when he played with his muscle torn away from the bone. there are lots of tough guys in the NFL that I try to play like. I think football is my sport, its my favorite an I feel I can do it really good. I just think I’m the best at it. We all played really good. Today we just had a spark, We all did our job and locked in to get that pay back and move on.”
There was additional Talent on display for the Pioneers. The Fifth Quarter saw several Pioneers show off their skills and abilities. Among them included Henry Wade who caused a fumble with his tackle, Ethan Brandofino, Amir Haddad had a sack, Paul Rylan Davies recovered fumble, Zacharia Nofal and William Jordan all played well. Sean Johnson scored a touchdown from 9-yards out but it was Anthony Lang whos play shone the brightest.
Lang scored once on a 35 yard run but also had several runs that produced big gains. He was a difficult target for opposing defenders and made then pay eluding several tacklers on his runs. He would cut in then cut out, leaving Colt defenders grasping at air.
“I think looking at the cuts, my awareness, looking for what was open and taking advantage of the defense and scoring is what I did well today,” said Lang. Making cuts and looking for gaps and making a move is more my running style. I’m very comfortable doing that. I want to score a touchdwn every time I get the ball. I think I can ‘truck’ better, if I can do that, I’ll be even better. The blocking of Henry Wade and Jonathan Mizera really helped me on my runs, they were really good and opened some holes for us.”
Other Pioneers adding to the win included Royal Ward, Nicolas Lang, NIcholas Vuolo, Henry Simons, Taym Nofal, Austin D’Andrea, Mohammed and Mahmoud Abu Alshaikh, Nathan Schultz, Thomas McCann, Luke McDoniel and Yazen Nijem.
The Lightweight Pioneers cheerleaders also brought great energy and passion to their routines. They were Zoey France, Scarlett Sternberg, Kara O’Meara, Kennedy Krokos, Stella Bristow, Emerson Schweikert, Eleanor Koehn, Elena Schmaling, Isla Zelensek, Lucy Bohanek, 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.
