By Bobby Narang- Photos by Renee Kaspar
** Additional Photos are Available for purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p354469036 **
TINLEY PARK— The Orland Park Pioneers Lightweight Red football won’t have any issues finding highlights for its 2026 season ending highlight reel.
The Pioneers had plenty of big-time moments in Sunday’s road game against the Frankfort Square Wildcats.
Whether on offense, defense or special teams, the Pioneers kept making prolific play after play after play in a thrilling close game.
Taylan Morandi scored a late touchdown and the defense held tight to lead the Pioneers to a memorable 27-25 victory over the Wildcats at Walker Intermediate School. The Pioneers celebrated the win in grand style, with Jordy Kolodziej and Gavin Garrity combining for a tackle to secure the victory on the final play of the game.
“This is the first year we split two teams, but these boys put up a fight today and it was unbelievable,” Lightweight Red coach Dan Kolodziej said. “Every lineman, both sides of the ball, did a great job. It was all around a team game. The defense was strong. It was a physical game. These boys had the fire at the end. That is a good team. We’ve won two in a row and just have to keep going.”
The offense played amazing, stunning the home crowd with a long touchdown pass on the final play of the second quarter, then directing a four-play game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter. The defense only allowed six points in the second half, helping the offense mount the late comeback.
Just when the final buzzer sounded, the Pioneers gathered as a team near the 50-yard line, jumping up and down in mass to celebrate the road win.
“This was probably our best defensive game of the year,” Kolodziej said.
In the opening minutes, the Pioneers (2-1) seemed to be in store for a long afternoon, when the home team scored a touchdown in the opening minutes for a 6-0 lead. But the Pioneers countered with a long touchdown drive, ending with Garrity bulldozing his way into the end zone for a 1-yard TD on fourth down with 1:16 left in the first quarter. Kolodziej had the big play, hauling in a 31-yard reception all the way to the 6-yard line.
The Pioneers had trouble stopping the Wildcats’ high-octane offense in the first half, allowing another touchdown to trail 14-6 with 8:55 left in the second quarter. The Pioneers had one of their best and most lengthy drives near the end of the second quarter, churning down the field on an 11-play drive before losing possession due to a fumble. Garrity looked stellar on the drive, running two straight times from the QB spot for gains of 14 and 8 yards and tossing a short completion.
The Wildcats tacked on another TD to take a 19-6 lead, but the Pioneers didn’t let the big deficit bother them.
Right when several fans started heading to the concessions for halftime, the Pioneers shocked the big crowd when Garrity tossed a 45-yard touchdown pass along the sidelines to a streaking Kolodziej to slice the deficit to 19-14 on the final play of the first half.
“I just saw Jordy open and just threw it up and he caught it and scored,” Garrity said.
Kolodziej said he was surprised to be open on the TD play.
“I wanted to get that touchdown so bad, then heard we were calling a pass play and I was just praying Gavin would throw it to me,” Kolodziej said. “I was wide open and so happy to score.”
Both teams struggled moving the ball to start the third quarter. Garrity had a play to remember, hitting Bennett Kersten for a 35-yard pass. Kersten made several outstanding cuts to bring the ball to the 12-yard line with 3:40 left in the third.
On third down and 2 at the 4-yard line, Morandi bulldozed his way into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Pioneers a 20-19 lead. The play of the drive, though, came on Garrity’s PAT pass to Kersten. Just as the Wildcats’ defense closed in on Garrity, he used his left arm to free himself, finding a sliver of open grass and tossed a looping pass to the back of the end zone. Kersten leaped to grab the ball to give the Pioneers a vital conversion.
Leading 20-19, the Pioneers’ defense had several big plays on the ensuing possession. Sean Kikilas had a sack. Garrity saved a touchdown with a stellar tackle and Kolodziej had two key stops, but the home team still managed to score a touchdown to seize a 25-20 lead with 7:00 left in the fourth quarter.
Garrity was a standout in all three phases, saving his best special teams play for the most opportune time of the day. With the Pioneers trailing 25-20, Garrity darted to his left and raced 30-plus yards on the kickoff return to give the Pioneers excellent field position at the Wildcats’ 29-yard line with 6:33 remaining in the game.
“No one was stopping me and I kept digging deep,” Garrity said. “Our offense and defense had our best game of the year.”
Kikilas opened up the drive with an eight-yard run, then Morandi added an eight-yard carry and Kolodziej moved the ball six yards with a strong run. Morandi had fresh legs on the drive, showing his strength with a five-yard run up the heart of the Wildcats’ defense for a touchdown to hand the Pioneers a 27-25 lead. Garrity’s PAT pass to Kersten was a vital capper to the drive.
“I saw the guy was waiting there and saw a hole and just cut it up,” Morandi said of his winning TD. “The offense played great today.”
Kersten said he was happy to be a vital contributor on both sides of the ball for the Pioneers.
“We just blocked better today and this was definitely our best game on offense and defense,” Kersten said. “Our defense got through their line and made tackles in the backfield. The defense had high energy on the last drive and everyone felt that good feeling.”
With both fans cheering loudly, the Pioneers’ defense stood tall. Arthur Slabenak set the tone with a tackle for a loss on the first play by Frankfort Square. Kersten recorded a key sack on second down. Garrity and Kolodziej combined for the final play with a stellar twosome tackle for the win with just over a minute left in the game.
Kikilas said the Pioneers showed a lot of heart and toughness in the comeback victory.
“This is probably our best game on offense,” Kikilas said. “Something started firing in us in the second half on defense, too. We had a great drive to win the game. Everyone did really well.”
In the fifth-quarter game, Anthony Lang was one of the stars of the game. He scored on 35-yard plus reverse play to stun the home team.
“I was going and running hard, looked to my left and saw a good block and a hole, so I took that and ran as fast as I could to get my second touchdown in the fifth quarter,” Lang said. “It felt great to score a touchdown.”
The LW Red team had every single player factor in the stunning comeback win, including Mahmoud Abu Alshaikh, Royal Ward, Nicholas Vuolo, Ethan Brandofino, MJ Groark, Zacharia Nofal, Jude Atieh, CJ Hufford, Shane Sternberg, Sean Johnson, Henry Simons, Taym Nofal, Austin D’Andrea, Henry Wade, Jonathan Mizera, Mohammed Abu Alshaikh, William Sraga, Nathan Schultz, William Jordan, Thomas McCann, Luke McDoniel, Paul Rylan Davies, Yazen Nijem and Amir Haddad.
The cheerleaders also showed their talents and skill in their routines and performances. They were Scarlett Sternberg, Kara O’Meara, Kennedy Krokos, Stella Bristow, Emerson Schweikert, Eleanor Koehn, Elena Schmaling, Isla Zelensek, Lucy Bohanek, Zoey France, 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.
