By Miles Toogo- Photos by Renee Kaspar
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p437727455 **
RIVER FOREST— Football in the Fall. The Perfect Fit. This time of year across the nation, on a sunny, extremely comfortable Saturday, the chances of every football field having spe combatants of the gridiron on them are extremely high.
From college down to youths, the clashing of pads and helmets are surely heard by millions of spectators watching their favorites play a sport that is second to none The once-a- week performances are cherished and looked forward to every week, every season.
Folks travel long distances just to be in attendance to support their teams and cheer on their victories or console each other after being vanquished. We have some primal connection with football even though many of us have never played the game, yet we live and die with every win and every loss, we take in every hard hit, every tackle, every big play or touchdown as if we somehow helped make it happen.
Yes, the adrenaline rushes throughout the game becomes our puppeteer.
The Sandburg Eagles Freshman football team gave their fans many adrenaline thrills on October 10 visiting the Fenwick Friars at Triton College.
Head Coach Bob DeMarco’s team came in well prepared after watching a lot of film on their opponent. When the final second expired, the Eagles had put on a dominating performance to the tune of 31-0, leaving the Friars a completely and thoroughly beaten opponent.
“Our coaching staff, they’re a heck of a staff, all the guys, just a hell of a job,” said Coach DeMarco. “We got a bunch of film on them so we were ready to go Monday, we watched them over the weekend so we had a game plan ready to go. We are most happy about our defense. We were a little worried about their offense because they play two different formations, so we were happy the way our defense played and stopped their offense.”
“Our offense was also able to move the ball outside which was a big key for us. With Maverick (Vander Veer) and Enzo (Angone), oh my god, we are lucky to have two big runningbacks. Last year we were hurting there and were down to our fifth quarterback. This year we are injury free, not only that, we put in a lot of work into the Pioneers and alot of those kids out there are Pioneer kids. On defense, (Ryan) Duckhorn reads like no other linebacker, He is the future of Sandburg Football, he’s the best Linebacker over the last four years for me. Our offensive line did a great job as well. Our offensive line has been solid all year. We are fortunate to have big guys, they can into guys and block them too.”
“Cade Murphy at center, he is solid, no bad snaps just an athlete. Qais (Naser) at guard, he was great today, the whole O-Line from tackle to tackle, just a great job.”
The Eagles started fast and didn’t stop. Their first series saw Enzo Angone show his elusive running style along with the ability to accelerate past defenders. On four carries, he totaled 32-yards. A Quarterback keeper by Logan Helman added seven more placing them at the Fenwick 27. From there an intended pass to one Eagle receiver was deflected right into Dylan Butler’s hands, he turned and continued into the endzome for the opening score.
A quick 7-play drive had the Eagles up 7-0 after Yousef Dahdal split the uprights.
The Friars offense wasnt flashy but they were working their way downfield on their first offensive possession. They were maintaining control of the football by picking up small chunks of yards
Beginning at their own 36 following the Sandburg score, they steadily moved upfield eventually taking their eleventh snap at the Sandburg 22-yardline. Along the way, absorbing big hits and tackles from Duckhorn, Butler, Angone, Gianluca Arceo, Drake Ulaszek and Wesley Rybka.
Rybka would put an end to the Friars series after making a hard tackle on the sack, causing a fumble and recovering it as well for the Friars first turnover of the game just as the first quarter ended.
With the lead, the Eagles went back on offense but did little with their opportunity, punting away after Helman began the series with a 12-yard sprint.
One thing the Sandburg defense was showing early was their ability to hit hard and finish tackles. After Duckhorn added another tackle, a pass completion by the Friars was jarred free and recovered by Sandburgs’ Gianluca, giving the Eagles another chance to extend their lead on a short field.
They wasted little time. A Helman to Dahdal 22-yard completion saw them in first and goal territory at the Fenwick 9-yard line. One play later, the same combo connected on the 9-yard touchdown pass. Dahdal added the point-after, extending their lead to 14-0.
After the following kickoff, the Friars poor execution would immediately cost them again. A first down pass attempt found the arms of Sandburg’s Gianluca, grabbing an interception.
Three possessions; three turnovers! That was the Friars scorecard. Sandburg was grateful to accept the generosity and make the most of it.
A heavy dose of Maverick Vander Veer followed starting at the Friars 20.
Four straight runs saw Vander Veer gobble up those yards, scoring from 2-yards out for the Eagles third touchdown of the half. Another Dahdal kick put the Eagles up 21-0 just before half.
Fenwick continued with its giving ways, throwing another interception to defensive back’ Butler but that didnt last long as the Eagles returned the football on the Helman interception. Two plays later, the teams headed to the break.
With a comfortable lead, the Sandburg defense turned up the pressure behind the tackling of Duckhorn and Jayden Zuziak, resulting in a quick three and out.
After a couple of incomplete passes and an Angone run of six-yards, Sandburg lined up to punt but Duckhorn faked a punt and completed a toss to Connor Gaylord for 13-yards to maintain their drive.
Another pass completion by Helman to Adam Naser got the Eagles into field goal range. On fourth down, strong-legged Dahdal attempted a 41-yard field goal, splitting the uprights and adding to the Sandburg lead making the advantage 24-0.
Nothing the Friars tried offensively worked, much of it because of the attacking Sandburg defense. A sack by Duckhorn was typical of how the game was going for the hosts. Punting again, the Friars had no solution for a stout Eagles defense.
Entering the final quarter Angone busted free. He took a handoff, cut left and took off down the near sideline for the 37-yard touchdown. Getting into the scoring barrage, Mike Knytych delivered the final Sandburg point when he too managed to split the uprights on his kick, upping the lead to 31-0.
“When I’m running, I go where ever it’s open,” said Enzo. “I Love playing runningback, its my favorite position to play. I guess I could say my vision of the field I do well. I’m happy with how I’m playing but there’s always stuff I can improve on. Nothing in particular but I know I can improve on everything. I don’t think theres much difference from playing youth and high school for me. The size is different but its more about the skill than the size for me. I’m happy with the team, it’s great.”
The Sandburg offense was a machine and relentless in their efforts to score. Led by Logan Helman at quarterback, his ability to get plays off and make, for the most part, good decisions quickly put this game out of reach.
“I did a lot right today but I also did a lot wrong,” said Helman. “I thought I did good reading the defense and passing. I worked on my touch passing during the off-season pretty much, as much as I could. I think I have good accuracy but I still work on it. I also feel I have to work on reading the defense better and cut the interceptions. I think this was a good win for us but I feel we could have done a lot more. I want to shout out to Qais Naser, Armen Patel and Zion Mackey.”
A couple more completions to Gianluca for 30-yards kept the offense moving but going to backups, Sandburg did move the ball but stalled its drive and eventually punted.
With time running out, the Eagles defense continued to be aggressive. Stops and good pass defense by Miles Wurster, Ulaszek and Zach Knudsen closed out the impressive win.
One individual who certainly is eye-opening is receiver/kicker’ Yousef Dahdal. The skill set he displayed has massively increased from a year ago. Size and agility are his forte at the receiver position and a strong leg as a kicker makes him elite.
“I wasn’t very good last year,” said the impressive Yousef. “I just trained and trained and practiced to get better. I got stronger and bigger just maturing, getting older. Logan (Helman) told me before the game that he was coming to me. On the touchdown catch, I was wide and ran my curl route and he got me the ball. I have to run the routes well, if not, I’m not going to get the ball. Today I thought I played well. The team did a great job, I think this was one of our best games this year.”
Another Eagle that had a great game on both sides of the ball was Gianluca Arceo. After an impressive debut last season for the Orland Park Pioneers, Arceo is in the midst of becoming quite a football player. Now a two-way player in only his second year of playing football, he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Defense, offense, it doesnt matter, it’s hard to get him off the field because of his talents.
“I think I’m a difficult guy to tackle on offense,” said Arceo. “I think I’m better on defense though. Im an aggressive player and enjoy making hard tackles. I think I could have done a little better but overall, against this team, I thhink I did pretty solid. On offense I want to improve at getting open quicker with a little more space and getting the ball more and on defense I want to raise my tackle average per game, just be better at it.”
You don’t have a shutout in football without a stellar defense. For the Sandburg Freshman Eagles, one players leads the unit and it’s quite easy to pickup on it from the get go. Ryan Duckhorn from his linebacker position brings Speed, Size and a Finality to his tackles. His role on the team is simple, finish any attempt by opponents quickly and decisively.
Duckhorn seems to really enjoy his job too. They say when you are good and something, you enjoy it even more. He sure presents that.
“I think making sure I got low and quickly watching where the play was going is something I did really well,” said the dfensive star. “I was working on trying to get to the ball quicker and making that tackle this year. I mostly play linebacker but I got a couple plays on the line and that’s where I got that sack. I want to be the best player I can with maybe being a little bit quicker and developing to get better.”
There was a Fifth Quarter also played. Several Eagles stood out with their play. they included Cade Murphy, Ryan Marek, Isaac Okon, Alex Kaspar and Ca,dem Czarnecki who came a way with an interception during the Eagles defensive play. Offensively, Ryan Pempek, Brock Lenzen, Armen Patel and Wurster stood out picking up positive yards.
Other Eagle players there adding to the impressive win or there as support included Mo Abedahirahman, Yousef Abuallan, Saif Abushaqra, Diego Aguilar, Erik Baran, Cater Bates, Westin Berry, Noel Binder, Owen and Sean Boland, Lukas Bylewski, Gage Cucci, David Dlugopolski, Ashton Elder, Antonio Elizondo, Wesem Elmatari, Louie Fellmann, Uday Hamayel, Basam Karim, Alex Kaspar, Mike Katsoullakis, Ayden Kaup, Evan Lavelle, Gavin Loman, Wesley Maes(Vassios), Ryan Marek, Malcolm McGonegal, Justin McNamara, Cade McNulty, Abdullah Mesieh, Steve Mullins, Dan Oliferuk, Dan Pedergnana, Mike Perez, Julian Ravelo, Aiden Rios, Jacob Rodriguez, Matt Ryba, Jason Rzepcynski, Zaid Samara, Ben Schwarz, Ahmed Shaban, Omar Taiym, Hukian Trevino, Liam West, Adam Ainasar, Basim Karim and Amr Banat.
