By Miles Toogo- Photos by Renee Kaspar
** Additional Photos are Available for Purcahse at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p111396219 **
You could say the main issue for the 12U Jr. Celtics isn’t talent, it isn’t coaching, and it isn’t the opponent.
If you watch them play, you pick up on the lack of consistency. Real Simple.
Having the ability or quality of behaving or doing something in a similar way each time. Consistency is what winning teams have figured out. No matter the situation, in sports, success requires some form of consistency to be successful.
Hosting the Plainfield Gold Saints on October 1, the Jr. Celtics had trouble playing in that manner.
Yes, there were offensive plays that worked well but those were sporadic at best and had the Mokena offense unable to establish a rhythm on one side of the ball.
Unable to garnish more than one score, the Jr. Celtics fell to the visiting Saints 12-6 in a game they certainly could have won.
“I think we just had trouble getting going,” said Maddox Sperry. “I’m not sure why we struggled, we certainly should have won that game.”
“We had too many four and five play drives, then we were done.”
The opening series saw Mokena on defense. Hard play and tackles by Dylan Fox and Kelly Slucki limited the Saints early, forcing a turnover on downs near midfield.
In their initial offensive series, Mokena produced negative yards on three carries by Dylan Fox and Sperry.
The three and out was not something the Jr. Celtics are accustomed to. After their punt, Sperry and company returned the favor, forcing a three and out and a punt from the Saints.
Mokena mounted a drive which headed into the second quarter. Two runs by Sperry produced 15-yards. Followed by a 15-yard weaving run from Dylan Fox. Slucki added 11 more yards on his run that now had the Jr. Celtics at the Saints 29 on the last play of the first quarter.
But that was as close as the Jr, Celtics got, four run plays later, Mokena had to give up the ball on downs.
Relying on their defense, the Jr. Celtics soon got the ball back. A tackle for loss of 5-yards by Cordae White got Mokena going. Another tackle by Andrew Feith pushed the Saints further back. An incompletion later, the Saints were punting from deep in their territory.
The Jr. Celtics took advantage of the short field, beginning their drive at the Saints 37-yard line.
Four straight runs by Sperry covered the 37-yard distance, putting the Jr. Celtics ahead, 6-0 when Sperry took off up the middle, made a timely cut to his right and bound into the endzone on his 11-yard run.
“The blockage on that play was great, we had a great hole,” said Sperry. “I found space and ran as hard as I could and didn’t stop. They had a very good team, they blitzed us a lot and our offensive line struggled to block them. It’s why we struggled on several runs. I feel we could have played better fo the win.”
The Saints didn’t take long after the initial score to even up the game.
Using the pass and a series of runs soon had the Saints within scoring range. They capped off the drive connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass with just over a minute left before the intermission.
Tackles by Michael Fryza, Slucki, a pair by Feith and one other solo from Quinton Hoffman did slow the Saints down but the big pass founds its target.
Mokena did try to score before the half, but an errant pass fell into the Saints arms for the interception, leaving the score knotted at 6-6 at half.
Mokena opened the second half looking to establish their running game. Three runs by Sperry and Dylan Fox produced a first down.
Their next four tries gained just two yards, forcing them to turnover the football.
After a series of penalties by the Saints on their possession, they managed to hit a big pass that went 52-yards for their second touchdown.
Trailing for the first time all game, the Mokena offense was called on to even up the score. It didn’t happen. Three running plays gained just a single yard which forced the Jr. Celtics to punt heading into the final quarter.
Exchanging possessions was what the fourth quarter consisted of. For the Saints, they were content sitting on the lead, relying on their defense to make stops.
For Mokena, Ther defense was doing its job. Giving their offense opportunities to even up the game. Unfortunately, their inability to sustain drives resulted in gains of 1 and 2-yards and turnover on downs.
“I thought our defense played pretty good,” said Slucki. “I tried to use my size to my advantage, I can see the field really well and pick up the read real quick. I feel I can improve wrapping up better.
Several other Jr. Celtics tried to help in the game, they include Jeremiah Turman, Tyler Fox, Jayden Hollins, Patrick Conroy, Chris Gravitt, Tegan Walsh, Kalan McCarron, Robert Gena, Jaxon Chalupa, Christian Flores, Henry Rettberg, Victor LaPonte, Henry Ambrose, Lincoln Lopez and Anthony Aldworth.
Cheering on the players and performing along the sidelines and at halftime were the Pee Wee Cheerleaders. They included Brianna Adair, Madison Baker, Chloe DiBennardi, Angelica Enright, Charlotte Fowler, Madison Janik, Luciana Kolenko, Gabrielle Migacz, Eloise Morrison, Penny Oeser, Gianna Picciola, Gianna Ponzi, Mia Rhodes, Bevin Scanlan, Jessica Short, Teagan Smith, Anya Stojak, Madison Varnado, Alexis Vollman.
