By Patrick Z. McGavin- Photos by Lauren Gray
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p655018362 **
CHICAGO— The last thing any offense wants is facing fourth down knowing the difficulty of the success rate or having to make plays with no margin of error. The Orland Park Pioneers Junior Varsity have a different mentality. The team welcomed the challenge, knowing the ability to deliver under pressure is a necessity.
“On fourth down, we ran a couple of different plays and we knew where we’re going to go with the passes and everything,” quarterback Luke Krokos said. “We knew where we had to go, and how far to get the first down and that made us push even harder.”
Krokos converted crucial fourth downs that sparked the early touchdowns of the 30-14 victory over the Chicago Cowboys in a River Valley Youth League football game at Perspectives Leadership Academy on Sunday, September 21.
Max Streets-Pruitt caught two touchdown passes and had a crucial interception in the victory.
The Pioneers took some time to find their rhythm and groove. A penalty shut down the opening drive that resulted in a punt. The athletic and fast Cowboys’ team proved very tough and skilled at the point of attack.
At the start, few things came easy for the Pioneers. That required using every down, especially fourth, in the playbook.
At the start of the second quarter, Krokos threw a sharp eight-yard pass to Hudson Doftert into the left flat on fourth-and-seven that set up the Pioneers’ first touchdown. Doftert’s two-way ability as a runner and receiver helped unlock the offense. His powerful and punishing off-tackle running set the template.
“After that first down I got on the fourth and long, the whole team got excited,” Doftert said. “We kept pushing hard.”
It also allowed the Pioneers to throw a curveball.
Working from the 12-yard line, Dylan Ahmer took the handoff and made a decisive inside cut in diving into the end zone for his first touchdown in a Sunday game.
“We did the same play two plays before, and the coach yelled out to run it, which means run the same thing, the same play, and I got the ball and there was a massive hole,” Ahmer said. “The linebacker was there, and I just cut inside.”
AJ Richardson kicked the first of his three two-point conversions for the 8-0 lead.
“After we give the ball to Hudson a lot and then somebody else gets it, and usually they’re not expecting it,” Krokos said. “They focus so much on Hudson, and that allowed Dylan to get free there.”
The early jubilation did not last on the Pioneers’ side. The Cowboys stunned the defense with a pass into the flat that turned into a 65-yard touchdown. The conversion pulled the Cowboys within 8-7. They were celebrating their Homecoming, and ready to play.
“We were not ready for that,” linebacker Nicholas Peisker said. “We were not in the right formation on that play, and we knew after that we had to step it up big time. Our defensive line was getting penetration, their quarterback wasn’t getting time to throw, and the linebackers were creating pressure.”
Holding the narrow one-point advantage, the Pioneers again struck gold on fourth down. Facing fourth and 13, Krokos brought time and lofted a ball that Streets-Pruitt outleaped the defensive back for the 32-yard touchdown pass.
He ran the final 15 yards after the initial catch.
“To get those fourth down plays, we needed everybody, the offensive line blocking and giving the quarterback time, so I could be wide open there,” Streets-Pruitt said. “I definitely thank my teammates there. I was just able to make a play, and get it over that defensive back and score.”
Defensively the first team settled in after the stunning touchdown by the Cowboys. Peisker used his speed to fly to the ball, and Lucca Morandi, John Sutter and Noah Maslowiec created a lot of pressure against the quarterback.
Anderson Matthews, one of the team’s best receivers, also showed his athleticism and ability to chase off the edge. He made four tackles, including two for negative plays.
Even on the rare occurrence when fourth down did not go the Pioneers’ way, the team made it work in another manner. Late in the second quarter, Doftert was stopped two yards short at the Cowboys’ 22-yard line.
A bad snap on the quarterback exchange, a Peisker sack and a stop by Doftert forced a punt from inside the Cowboys’ 10-yard line. The kicker could not get the ball off, and he was smothered at the line of scrimmage.
One play later, Krokos sneaked in from two yards out. Richardson’s kick put the score at 24-7 at halftime.
Defensively the Pioneers made their own crucial fourth down stop at the beginning of the third quarter. Doftert and Matthews forced the scrambling Cowboys’ quarterback out of bounds and short of the marker.
After a couple of strong inside runs by Doftert, Krokos threw a dart to Streets-Pruitt from 12-yards for another sharply executed touchdown drive. The Pioneers were both efficient and opportunistic.
“On that second touchdown play, I thought somebody else was going to get the ball,” Streets-Pruitt said. “I ran a slant, and I was open and I scored. The whole game by everybody today was just solid.”
The game was played without a Fifth Quarter. Some of the secondary and developing players like Ahmer stepped up to the challenge. Luke Tonra also made a touchdown-saving tackle by chasing down a Cowboys’ kick returner after he appeared to break free.
“I saw he broke a lot of tackles and he got outside and I knew I had to chase him down the sidelines, and fortunately I was able to catch up to him,” Tonra said.
Streets-Pruitt ended the threat three plays later by intercepting a deflected pass. The Cowboys did score a late touchdown against the Pioneers’ second-team defense.
Another crucial Fifth Quarter player, George Petraitis, ended the game with the final carry.
“After we got caught on that first touchdown, we knew what we had to do,” Peisker said. “We were able to contain, which helped a lot, and not let them get to the outside so they couldn’t take advantage of their speed.”
The Orland Park Pioneers Junior Varsity had many standout contributors in the 30-14 victory. They were Zackary Salah, Vinny Ficaro, Cole Baldridge, Panos Kyros, Dylan Enriquez, Jase Enstrom, Carter Erwin, Carter Peluso, Tyjuan Hagler, Karam Olyyan, Noah Cordoba, Nick Mase, Gavin Connors, Caden Kolodziej, Moody Abudan, Christian Paulson, Scott Gumienny, Cody Godlewski, Nicholas Dertz, Nick Pomonis, Samuel Horeluk, James Okrasinski, Ameen Musa, Dominic Lach, Collin Valan, Bradley Patterson, Avery Vermilyea, Michael Ordman, Michael Galivan, Jude Morrar, Rayder Slabenak and Owen Garrity.
