By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p889914262 **
Tinely Park— Orland Park running back Peyton Barbee is an easy player to spot on the football field.
And that’s just because of his outstanding, worldly football skills.
Sporting jersey No. 0, Barbee rarely leaves the field, playing also defensive back. He also wears blue rim-colored glasses – a perfect match for Orland Park’s colors, by the way.
On Sunday, against Franklin Square Wildcats, Barbee was a one-man machine, helping spark the running game and playing solid in the running game on the defensive side.
Barbee ran for three touchdowns, provided a key block that led to another score to lead the Orland Park Pioneers Super Lightweight football team to a 27-6 road victory in a River Valley Youth Football League game.
“I thought today was a really good test against a good team,” Orland Park coach Pat Richardson said. “Both sides of the ball came out and played with a lot of heart. I had to challenge a couple of guys to make some plays on defense and had to pull them out for a minute, get them right back in there and they responded.”
Barbee was the star offensive player of the game, shredding the Wildcats’ defense with three long runs that showcased his vast potential.
“I was happy with how I played,” Barbee said. “I ran good. My teammates blocked (well) for me. This was a good win for us. My favorite run was my second touchdown. It was one of my best games. I was also happy with my block.”
A player with not much words in the postgame about his highlight-reel performance, Barbee did his talking on the football field via his legs, his dynamic cutback skills and speed. He torched the home team with his running, scoring on touchdown runs of 68, 35 and 59 yards.
““Peyton did a lot,” Richardson said. “I keep telling him that’s how leaders play and pointed out to our whole team that touchdowns are awesome but his block showed the effort that was needed. If we all follow that, we will be a very good football team.”
The Pioneers (2-0) fell into an early hole when the home team scored on their first possession of the game. After a short series to open the game, the Pioneers answered on their second drive. On the fourth play, after three not-so quality plays, Barbee opened the floodgates for his team with a memorable 68-yard touchdown run.
Barbee made an exciting cutback move, shed a tackler and raced along the sidelines to tie the game at 6-6 with 1:06 left in the first quarter to cap a three-minute drive.
Early in the second quarter, Barbee wasted little time getting his team in front on the scoreboard, taking a handoff on the second play of the drive and sprinting 35 yards for his second TD. His speed allowed him to blow past several defenders into the end zone for a 13-6 lead.
Defensively, the Pioneers received a big help when Sean Johnson intercepted a pass in the red zone with one second left before halftime to stop a scoring threat.
In the third quarter, Barbee had a nice tackle and Henry Wade notched a touchdown-saving stop that eventually forced the Wildcats to punt the game. That’s when Barbee put another imprint on the game, darting 59 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the ensuing drive. Barbee broke numerous tackles and caused one of his coaches to bark out “that’s a run, right there” and another coach to reference Chicago Bears all-time great running back Walter Payton.
Orland Park Kitai Hubbard, who plays offense and defense, said it was special to watch Barbee run free on the plush grass. Hubbard was one of the main reasons in the win, blocking strong on the O-line and playing strong defensively.
“I blocked well,” Hubbard said. “We played really well on offense and defense. We scored a lot of touchdowns. Peyton is so very good and it was fun blocking for him.”
Quinn McCarthy, who plays defensive tackle and tight end, said it was fun blocking for the team.
“This was pretty good win,” McCarthy said. “We blocked good and the offense did good. It was a nice win. I’m very happy we won.”
The Pioneers closed out the scoring on Johnson’s four-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, which was aided by Barbee’s big-time block to spring his teammate on the outside.
Wade ended the game with three key tackles on the Wildcats’ last drive that kept them from adding a second score.
Wade said he was happy to be a key contributor in the win.
“I felt really confident on defense,” Wade said. “It was fun. I made a lot of tackles out there. I didn’t want them to score on that last drive. My coach told me to line up outside the linebackers and sit there and be ready.”
Richardson said Wade is a gamer who understands his role and thrives as a leader on the defense.”
“He played tough. Henry just shows up and doesn’t say much, but just goes and makes tackles,” Richardson said of Wade. “We love his energy for that. I thought everyone did a good job. We have a lot of work to do, but across the board, from top to bottom, everyone played a good game.
“Our offensive line is a work in progress. We have a lot of new guys who have never done this, so this was their first real test. I thought they did amazing, and every game they will get better. I thought defensively the effort was off the charts.”
In the fifth quarter game, the Pioneers had several players step up with strong efforts. Jax Thomas had numerous strong runs at running back to try and help move the chains. Stanley Bielawski also delivered on the offense end, and Vincent LaPapa made one of the best defensive plays of the game, dropping a runner for a five-yard loss in the second quarter.
The Orland Park Pioneers’ captured their second win of the season via an entire team effort, which included in jersey number order, Peyton Barbee, Mahmoud Abu AlShaikh, Stanley Bielawski,, Royal Ward, Jax Thomas, Max Kalker, Quinn McCarthy, Logan Biskup, Ryker Tyrakowski, Cade Rucinski, George Buffo, Joey Guest, Nicholas Vuolo, Kitai Hubbard, Suhaib Ballouta, Ethan Brandofino, Wren Rucinski, Noah Hammad, Mahmoud Hinnawi, Niko Scumaci, Sean Johnson, Vincent LaPapa, Michael Maurella, Henry Wade, Dominic Dronzek, Abdallah Hasan, Henry Kruse, Shane McDermott, Thomas Richardson and Jibreel Morrar.
The Orland Park Pioneers’ cheerleading team entertained the fans by getting some extra work in on plot of grass that was roped off right in front of the main grandstand, allowing the cheerleaders an opportunity to practice their routines and do cartwheels. The roster includes Normandy Golden, Maddie Battaglia, Everleigh Holdsworth, Hazel Nichols, Emersyn Ramirez, Piper Darin, Savannah Molina, Eva Garza-Perez, Olivia Raggio, Morgan Griffin, Nella Leithleiter, Charlotte Koehn, Lanie Hermann, Emmy Burger, Mia Mizera, Meghan Shilney, Lea Barbee, Chloe Fregeau, Haley Erwin, Eva Aubin, Siena Lang, Olivia Peters, Sofie Annerino, Hailey Valan, Jessa Alvarez, Grace Latronica, Ava Kolodziej and Emma Podoreski.
