By Pat McGavin-Photos by Renee Kaspar
**Additional Photos are available for purchase at justallsports.zenfolio.com/2022pioneers.**
CHICAGO—
Dylan Butler is the kind of ball hawking, two-way threat every coach wants around.
His defensive pressure and creativity helped power a dominant defense.
He also had a special spring to his step.
That is to be expected after he looked up at the scoreboard with only seconds removed from the game.
His team already held a lead.
“That definitely hyped us up,” Butler said. “First play of the game, we score a touchdown, and there are still something like 11 minutes left on the scoreboard.”
Star Nakhati Thompson provided the early spark.
Butler helped seal the deal.
Butler had two fumble recoveries that underscored the all-around excellence of the Orland Park Pioneers Lightweights’ 28-14 victory over the Chicago Blitz in a River Valley Youth League Football game at St. Rita on Sunday, October 9.
The final score was misleading.
Coach Andy Rybak showed admirable sportsmanship after the Lightweights scored three touchdowns in the first 16 minutes.
Thompson provided the early fireworks with an electrifying 76-yard kickoff return touchdown.
The ball took a weird angle and skidded past the reach of Thompson.
As he retrieved the ball, the Blitz coverage team was suddenly out of its lanes.
Thompson improvised and went to town.
“I didn’t really see anything,” he said. “I just made a play, and made a move.”
After the right gunner for the Blitz broke containment, Thompson reversed to his left and ran down the sideline.
“The only thing I thought about was scoring a touchdown, going full speed, and going right at it,” Thompson said.
The Pioneers led without running a play from scrimmage.
Orland Park never looked back.
With Thompson setting the tone, the defense picked up the message.
The swarming defense, with some seven or eight players converging on the Blitz, was a sight to behold.
The first four plays by the Blitz resulted in a loss of 31 yards.
Butler, Nicholas Peisker, Charlie Enstrom, Drake Ulaszek, Hudson Doftert and Qais Nader tore the Blitz line to smithereens.
The Blitz run a direct and simple attack with an athletic quarterback trying to make plays with his feet or arm.
He rarely had a chance to breathe, dealing with a near constant barrage of defenders attacking him from all angles.
“They were sending me on a blitz, and they would block me, or they couldn’t,” Butler said.
“Our defensive line got right through their offensive line, and we got straight to their quarterback.”
Enstrom is also the starting quarterback. After his pressure and disruptive actions gave the Pioneers the ball inside the five yard line for their opening possession, he went to work.
His younger brother Jase Enstrom is an offensive standout for the Super Lightweights.
The brothers have a friendly rivalry. The older Enstrom got into the action.
“You can do so many different things out there when you play quarterback,” Charlie Enstrom said.
“I can hand the ball off, I can throw it, or just take off and run. I really like that.”
Working off the short field, Doftert scored the second touchdown on a four-yard dive.
Running back John Werner ran in the conversion on each of the first two touchdowns for the 14-0 lead.
The Lightweights’ defense was relentless and unconstrained.
The Pioneers just flew to the ball.
On the second Blitz possession, Enstrom had a 16-yard sack and Ulaszek followed with his own takedown for a 10-yard loss.
Following the loss of downs, Thompson scored his touchdown from scrimmage on a seven-yard run.
Nicholas Mase completed the scoring drive with the conversion run.
“We had really great field position the whole game,” Thompson said. “When our defense plays like this, I think we are unstoppable.”
Butler record his first fumble recovery in the second quarter.
“I just ran right through them, and I just took the ball away from them and recovered,” he said.
He followed with his second recovery on the opening drive of the second half.
“On the second one, I just stripped the ball out of the running back’s hands,” he said.
Ulaszek appeared to score on a long run off a reverse down the left sideline.
He was ruled out at the two-yard line after a 31-yard gain.
“I thought for sure I was going to score, and I tried to dive in the end zone,” Ulaszek said.
“We came into the game focused on creating turnovers, and play as hard as we could. We got a lot of blitzes in. Our first defense was everywhere.”
Enstrom completed the Pioneers’ scoring with a two-yard carry around the left side.
“It was a lot of fun playing out there today,” he said. “On my touchdown, Nakhati did a great job on the lead block.’
Zackary Salah ran in the conversion for the 28-0 lead.
“We’re trying to win as many games as possible to get a better seed for the playoffs,” Butler said.
The game proved a valuable showcase of the Lightweights’ depth and high ceiling going forward.
“We have to execute if we want to go through the playoffs, and get to the Super Bowl,” Thompson said.
The one-sided nature of the game allowed the coaches to cycle through the entire roster, a crucial point given the game did not feature a Fifth Quarter.
Many of the development players had a chance to get live snaps in a higher level game.
The normal standouts like Luke Rybak or Peisker were allowed to take secondary roles.
Aidan Rios had a big sack. Cade Judeh had the chance to run some plays from scrimmage.
The Blitz scored two late touchdowns with the game already clearly decided.
“We had a lot of short fields today, and I really like working in those kind of games,” Enstrom said.
“We did a great job of executing.”
The Orland Park Pioneers’ Lightweights team had many participants in the 28-14 victory.
The other key contributors were Kristian Willis, Anthony Baniewicz, Gavin Loman, Carter Bellik, Vinny Ficaro, Evan Lavelle, Luke Tonra, Ben Snider (injured), Finnian Redmond, Carter Peluso, Logan Helman, Karam Olyyan, Luke Makuch, Enzo Angone, Nicholas Herzog, Moody Abudan, Ryan Marek, Brock Lenzen, Steven Mullins, Ryan Duckhorn, Muhammed Kassem, Andrew Quinn, Maximus Streets-Pruitt (injured), Justin McNamara, Erik Baran, Brian Curran and John Sutter.
With their passions and beautifully choreographed routines, the cheerleaders also brought a tremendous energy and grace to the game. The cheerleaders were Aubrey Baran, Keira Barrera, Brittney Blazys, Brooke Blazys, Annabelle Briseno, Hayden Campbell, Avery Carroll, Isabella Castillo-Meza, 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.
