By Patrick Z. McGavin- Photos by Renee Kaspar
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ORLAND PARK— The Orland Park Pioneers Lightweights program took a serious blow on the eve of a crucial game.
Michael O’Connor, the team’s top running back, suffered an injury riding his bicycle over the weekend, and is unavailable for the coming weeks.
“We knew it was going to be hard without our best player on offense,” Jason Erwin said.
The rest of the team had O’Connor’s back, and put the opposing quarterback squarely on his.
Erwin and Adam Krokos provided the offensive firepower, and a dominant defense pitched its third straight shutout in the 18-0 victory over the New Lenox Jr. Knights in River Valley Youth Football league at Sandburg on Sunday, August 31.
Edge rusher Sean Kikilis and interior lineman Ellis Hubbard keyed the suffocating defensive effort that crippled any effort by the Jr. Knights to generate any positive plays from scrimmage.
Kikilis had three sacks, and Hubbard two as the Pioneers overwhelmed New Lenox at the point of attack and on the line of scrimmage. They embodied the special motto of the coaches.
“They call it bigger, stronger and faster, and that’s what we were out there today,” Kikilis said. “The whole team did a great job of getting into their backfield. We brought our middle linebackers down, and that easily got us back there. It was a lot of fun.”
Adam Krokos was the other primary architect of the victory by impacting the game from all sides. With O’Connor out, he took on the pressure of the breakaway threat. O’Connor’s speed, power and vision set him apart. Krokos showed off his own special qualities.
His two older brothers are quarterbacks, including Luke Krokos, the starter for the Junior Varsity. Adam Krokos goes his own way as a pure runner.
“I’d rather run with the ball,” Adam Krokos said. “We have great coaching, and lots of great blocking. We also have a lot of speed on the team. I don’t really think of my style as really shifty or anything like that. I know how to get around guys or make them miss.”
The Pioneers broke the game open with two first quarter touchdowns. Working off the superb field position provided by his stellar defense, quarterback Connor Kvelland directed the attack with efficiency and precision.
Nothing fancy or too complicated. The team lined up its best players, and let them go to work. Krokos started things off just right with a 26-yard touchdown burst.
“On the big touchdown, I started running and somebody came up to me and tried to tackle me, and I made a move and got over to the right and I was able to score,” he said.
Even missing his top offensive player, Kvelland was steady and composed. He kept all the pieces smoothly functioning. The team made a collective effort to step.
“Without Mike today, we had to put in some of our players or substitutes, and they really did their work,” Kvelland said. “The defense did a great job. We never had to go very far with the ball.”
If Krokos symbolized one style of running with his mix of power and speed, Erwin flashed his own way of doing damage and creating positive plays.
Erwin is more of a pure burner, and he extended the lead to 12-0 with a 20-yard touchdown run.
“I’m really shifty, so I just juke and get around people and just know how to score,” he said. “I’m really athletic, and I’m really good at different things out there, like kicking or catching the ball. No matter who has the ball or who’s out there, we just have to keep playing hard and practicing hard.”
If the Jr. Knights had any thoughts of regrouping and making adjustments to start the second half, Krokos and Erwin took turns expanding the margin between the two teams.
Even after the Pioneers’ offense failed to move the ball on the opening possession of the third quarter, Krokos stepped up with a massive play defensively.
On the Jr. Knights’ first play of the third quarter, Krokos stepped into the path of an open receiver and ripped the ball out of his hands for a vital interception.
Erwin broke around the left edge and ran untouched for a 55-yard touchdown that sealed the victory.
“On the interception, the guy basically caught it, but I started running and got in there and took it away,” Krokos said.
With the way the Pioneers played defense, the three-touchdown difference felt like two or three times that difference. The Jr. Knights were out of rhythm or hope.
Thomas Sutter, Luke Bostock and Joey Zotto also stepped up with sharp play and hard tackles.
Erwin stepped up for a one-yard loss and Hubbard broke through for an eight-yard sack. The hits kept coming, and the unrelenting defense never stopped or slowed down.
“I had a pretty good game,” the humble Hubbard said. “The whole team did really well. We all got into their backfield. When they tried passing the ball, we didn’t let them really complete anything. The coaches compare my style to Joey Bosa or Micah Parsons, and that’s how I like to play.”
Kikilis put the finishing touches on the day with back-to-back sacks. Operating from the right edge, his speed and power made him virtually unblockable.
“It was a fun day,” Kikilas said.
In the Fifth Quarter, running back CJ Hufford made a spectacular return from complications of a concussion. He bust off runs of 17, 19 and a 22-yard touchdown.
“It was my first game back, and I felt like I did pretty well with a couple of those long runs,” Hufford said. “I have different styles. I could be aggressive, or if I have to, I can lower my shoulder and make contact.”
The Orland Park Pioneers Lightweights had many standout contributors in the 18-0 victory. They included Jaweed Abuzir, Gunner McCarthy, Nate Abbs, Keith Piekarz, Taylan Morandi, Will Poore, Jackson Biskup, Ryan Lukas, Zachariah Ballouta, Martin Groark, Brady Higgins, Alex Kopec, Christopher Medina Jr., Shane Sternberg, Luke Holoubek, Bennett Kersten, Brooks Foster, Michael Patterson, Gavin Garrity, Arthur Slabenak, Anthony LaPapa, Paxson Leithleiter, Laith Hammami, Ian Frost, Jonathan Mizera, Dominic Gabriele, Ammar Abdelmuti, William Jordan, Jordy Kolodziej, Jimmy Elsberg, Luke McDoniel, Paul Rylan Davies, Amari Adigun and Dominic Maurella.
The cheerleaders also brought great energy and passion to the game. Their members are Lucy Bohanek, Kaitlyn Minick, Alexandra Burda, Mabel Lukasiewicz, Elena Schmaling, Adaline Johnson, Zoey France, Emerson Schweikert, Eleanor Koehn, Stella Bristow, Brooklyn Loman, Eila Richter, Aaliyah Medina, Ava Janota, Molly McGeever, Skylar Shlepakov, Makayla Sotelo, Vera Joda, Kara O’Meara, Sophia Molina, Emily Okrasinski, Ainsley Moore, Maevry Harmatys, Marissa Gumuls, Madison Hedger, Morgan Collins, Aleena Badwan, Scarlett Sternberg, Sadie Griffin, Grace Poore, Kennedy Krokos, Olivia Ally, Liliana Holmes, Morgan Burger, Evelyn Byrne, Lillian Fudala, Alaina Holoubek, Anderson Foster, Selena Rios, Gwendolyn Moffatt, Margaret Moffatt, Evelyn Moffatt, Quinn Heinze, Callie Juarez-Radovanovic, Eloise Sarhage, Jenna Michalczewski and Charlotte Dorigan.
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