By Bobby Narang- Photos by Renee Kaspar
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JOLIET — Algonquin Argos 12U Blue quarterback Connor Fillipp didn’t let a long afternoon affect his birthday – or his positive mood.
After the final buzzer sounded in Sunday afternoon’s 33-0 loss to the Plainfield Saints, Fillipp encouraged his teammates to keep their heads up, barking out “we had a great second half, but we have to work on the first half.”
The Argos certainly did have a rough first half, allowing the Saints to chew up big chunks of yards and giving up several long touchdown runs. The Saints relied on their massive interior size advantage on the offensive line, combined with a pair of strong and fast running backs, to overpower the Argos on the plush grass field in Division II Pop Warner football.
But Fillipp wouldn’t let the tough defeat affect his positive attitude, especially on his birthday.
“We need to start the game off like we did in the second half,” Fillipp said. “We have to bring the energy because that gives us momentum. If we played like we did in the second half, it would have been a different ballgame.”
The Argos’ offense struggled to move the ball, producing several negative yard plays. But Fillipp and the offense never lost their focus and kept pushing forward and playing hard until the final whistle despite trailing 27-0 at halftime.
The Saints’ defensive line was big, strong and tall, Fillipp said.
“They were pretty big,” Fillipp said. “We were able to do some different things on offense and started to move the ball well. Defensively, we started stopping them, but one mistake would lead to a big play. I just tried to pump up my teammates when they were down.”
Argos coach Joe Kenny remained positive and upbeat in the postgame, imploring his players to keep their heads up and asking them to yell out their favorite plays of the game. Kenny said his team is hoping for another turnaround this season. The Argos (0-3) lost their first four games last season but flipped the switch and made a run that lasted until the second round of the playoffs.
“The last couple of years, we’ve had a really rough start to our season,” Kenny said. “We have a not-give-up spirit and had to dig out of holes in the past. For whatever reason, we started really slow this game and the season in general and we have to get things back on track. We want the kids not to give up at halftime. Then all the kids hit the field in the second half with some big hits and there was definitely a no give up in them. We got into a position where we had to throw the ball and become very one-dimensional. I think Plainfield has been a great host, props to them. They definitely had the better team today. Hopefully, we can see them again in the playoffs.”
Mekhi Ruiz, who plays on the offensive and defensive lines, had his hands full all game battling the Saints’ strong linemen. He did a solid job helping give his quarterback some time to throw the ball and made a few outstanding plays on defense.
“It was really tough inside because it was a good matchup between our line and their line,” Ruiz said. “It didn’t go our way today, but we’re going to work hard and improve. I learned that I’m tough and I can adapt.”
Wearing jersey No. 0, Jace Barber was back on the field for the first time this season after sitting out with an injury. Barber opened his season with a one-yard run on the second play of the game. He finished with a hard-earned 31 yards on the ground, including an eight-yard run for the Argos’ best play of the game late in the fourth. Barber’s speed and toughness helped the offense grind out a few yards to keep the Saints’ high-octane offense off the field for most of the second half.
Barber, who also plays defensive end, said he was happy to be with his teammates on the field.
“I was out for three weeks, so this was my first game,” Barber said. “We came out kind of flat in the first half, but in the second half we kind of picked it up but we have to play four quarters. It feels good to be back playing, though. It was hard sitting out. We all can learn from this game and have to play better in the first half. I felt I left 100 percent out on the field.”
The 12U Blue Argos team also includes Nico Esche, Aidan O’Leary, Steven Ernsting, Gavin Eich, Rory Latham, Liam Black, Austin Jourdan, Ricardo Arroyo Jr., Gerardo Dorado-Sanchez, Charlie Frederick, Nino Gormsen, Abrahm Saavedra, Lance Krupke, Paul Kenny, Walter Kenny, Charlie Wolfe, Chris Campos and Paxton Heimbrodt.
