By Ed Muniz- Photos by Raj Chavda
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PLAINFIELD- Last season, the Plainfield Saints 12U level fielded 2 teams playing in the D3 division of the Chicagoland Pop Warner Football League. This year the Saints still field two 12U teams but now have put together a team of talented players to compete in the more challenging D2 division.
“We made a new D2 team, we had some new kids come in. We are still finding our own but I do think we are headed in the right direction. Like anything in football, its just getting a team to play together, for us it’s on defense,” said Head Coach Brain Bain.
After losing two of its first three games this season, the Saints have now won their last two games with a complete drubbing of the visiting Rockford Titans, celebrating their Homecoming with the 34-6 victory on September 22 In Plainfield.
Without the rain to hamper their speed, the Saints were performing at a level the Titans simply couldn’t match. From the get-go, the Saints looked crisp and sharp in the execution of plays, whether by run or through the air, the Saints offense was a well-oiled machine while the Titans looked sluggish and slow, almost out of sync.
“We were able to get our backups some more plays and same thing on defense, we were able to get some kids some more playing time,” said Coach Bain.
“In the long run, it only makes your team stronger. I think today was really the most complete game we’ve played. Offensively we really put it all together. Our D-Line stepped it up today. We challenged them to set individual goals that each one of them should have a couple tackles, and right out of the gate, you could tell some of the kids really took to that.
Coach Bain also felt several players really played well, mentioning how EJ Ibekie and Bernard Nkay flashed out of the gate in their defensive line play.
“EJ was getting penetration all game long and Bernard was also doing a great job, those are two kids that never played football before, so they do a great job for us, that was exciting to see.
Offensively, Coach Bain had this to say about lineman Dominc Airoldi.
“He’s just a good leader for us, does a great job as well, gets everybody where they need to be.”
Right away, you could tell it was going to be a long game for the Titans with a long ride back home.
The Saints put up two touchdowns in the blink of an eye.
First, Haven Davison exploded on a 60-yard touchdown run and was soon followed by teammate Ti’an Moore’s 8-yard dash to the right corner to put the Saints quickly up 13-0 after one quarter.
The Saints continued the offense attack into the second quarter. Quarterback Bryce Pallija connected with Davison on the 33-yard touchdown pass. As good as the play was, the conversion catch was even better.
With Pallija rolling right, he tossed the ball to an intended open receiver farther back in the endzone, at the goal line was Bernard Nkay. What looked to him as a bad pass behind him, he quickly reached back and made a one-handed catch into the endzone for the extra-point and a 20-0 lead.
It wasn’t all offense the Titans were struggling with. Defensively the Saints were putting on a lot f pressure and occasionally getting through to the backfield. Among the Saints tackles was a sack by Mason Becka.
“My D-Line got a hole open for me and I was able to get through and get the sack,” said Becka. “I like playing both offense and defense but if I could just play one side, it would have to be defense. I like the contact a lot and it’s better than blocking on the O-Line, but I like blocking for our quarterback, he’s pretty good but sometimes he can be cocky. I want to get better at blocking and staying focused on what’s happening each play.”
After a defensive stop by the Saints, Pallija was at it again, connecting with Davison on the swing pass to his left. From there Davison took over eluded every Titan on his way to his third touchdown of the first half on the 46-yard pass play, upping the Saints lead to 26-0.
Defense again was limiting what the Titans did. A tackle by Joseph Stobaugh was followed by a fumble recovery by Ibekie as the Titans misery on the field continued.
With the first half about to end, Pallija once again swung a pass to his right flat, connecting with Nkay who weaved past a few Titans and hit the sidelines and took it the rest of the way untouched for the 42-yard touchdown. With the added kick-after, the Saints now led 34-0 headed into half time
“I like leading the offense and calling the plays and doing all the hard work,” said Quarterback Bryce Pallija. “The hardest part about being the quarterback is knowing all the receivers’ routes and knowing their responsibilities. I want to improve my accuracy and arm strength. Right now I’d give myself a B if I was to grade myself but I have more to improve on.”
Bryce also added about why he likes playing on this team.
“Everyone boost our team morale even when we are losing, they keep our heads up no matter the score.”
Sitting out the whole second half was not something he cares for, but he understood why.
“I knew it was for a good reason, give other guys a chance to play much more but it kinda stunk I couldn’t play more and get better.”
The second half saw many changes to both sides of the ball for the Saints. Now leading the offense at quarterback was James Major while the backfield runners also were different.
Defensively, the Saints continued to stifle the titan offense with stops by Charles Hampton III, Davison and Aidan Gonzalez.
Vincent Masco got his chance and made the most of it in the backfield, carrying the rock for 15 yards on one carry, but a couple penalties stalled the drive and forced the Saints into their first punt of the game.
That didn’t happen either. About the only thing the Saints did wrong up to that pint in the game was hiking the ball over their punters head.
Now on defense, Jacob Thompson would grab a big tackle that lost 10 yards. followed by Stobaugh and ben Colella each grabbing a solo tackle them selves.
Forcing a turnover on Downs, the Saints made there second mistake, fumbling the ball which was recovered by the Titans. The error led to the Titans only score to end the game, a touchdown pass that ended the game.
With three touchdowns and an extra-point conversion, Haven Davison was clearly one of the stars of the game. He showed he has a well-rounded game of running, catching, blocking and tackling with little to none flaws.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m playing at a bigger level but mostly I just play the game,” said Davison. “I try to keep everybody focused and make sure they don’t give up even if we are losing, that’s the hard part for me. I think our line is underrated on both sides of the ball; I think they are really very good. I feel they really help us especially on offense, they’re basically our whole offense. I need to improve on staying on my block when it comes to runs or screen plays behind me.”
Imagine if he improves that.
Others playing hard and contributing to the win are amir Jackson, Pete Honiotes, Brandon Allen, Charlie Reuterskiold, Easton Fitzgerald, Connor Matyas, Andrw Ringa, Rashad White Jr. and Jameson Turvey.
