By Bobby Narang- Photos by Gary Larson
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p54224063 **
ORLAND PARK— The Orland Park Pioneers Super Lightweights football team is taking steps in the right direction.
For the second straight week, the Pioneers put together a solid effort on all three sides of the ball. On Sunday morning, the Pioneers endured a rough weather day, withstanding the driving rain and dark clouds in a home game against the Manhattan Patriots.
The Pioneers opened the game with a promising 10-yard un by Vinny LaPapa, but bad snaps derailed the first drive.
The Patriots seized the advantage, scoring a touchdown on a long fourth down run to pull out a 13-7 victory over the Pioneers.
The Pioneers (0-5) held the visitors without a point in the next two quarters, were able to move the ball on offense and kept their mistakes to a minimum in a strong four-quarter effort, according to coach Paul Bertucci.
“We are getting closer and closer every week,” Bertucci said. “I thought we ran the ball and had the better team today, but it was about fundamentals in just snaps, fumbles and some missed tackles in the end. I think we’re moving the ball and right there. I’m very proud of the guys. Liam McNulty, Suhaib Ballouta and Michael Maurella are a few guys who stepped up for us, along with Shane McDermott. I’m really happy with the way we moved the ball and the way we played defense.
“The defense just got caught on one play, but the defense played amazing and we were in the backfield and just had a few sacks and tackles in the backfield. I thought the fifth quarter guys also played well. We are right there as a team at the finishing line.”
On their second drive, the Pioneers made some waves and energized the wet crowd with a diverse set of plays to move the chains in an eight-play sequence. Ballouta set the tone with three straight runs, highlighted by a dashing 40-yard burst on the first play. However, the highlight run was called back due to holding. McNulty moved the chains with a strong four-yard run on fourth down, when he ran into a host of defenders at the line of scrimmage but powered his way to move the yardage markers.
The impressive drive stalled with a failed fourth down conversion.
Defensively, Maurella had two big tackles, most notably a nine-yard sack on Manhattan’s second possession.
“I think I did pretty good on defense,” Maurella said. “The coaches helped me and pushed me harder and harder in practice. Our line played good.”
Using a hurry-up offense late in the first half, the Pioneers managed to get a first down on Ballouta’s 11-yard run. The drive ended with a reverse that fell short of extending the drive. Ballouta was one of the standouts on both sides of the ball, intercepting a pass in the red zone to neutralize a threat with 7.1 left in the first half.
With the scoreboard undergoing some mechanical issues in the second half, the Pioneers regained the momentum on McNulty’s stunning 52-yard touchdown run up the heart of the Patriots’ defense early in the third quarter.
“Everyone was blocking and I saw a gap and just kept running,” McNulty said. “That was my best run of the year. I liked getting past everyone. The offensive line and running backs did a great job blocking all game.”
Ballouta added a successful run on the point-after-attempt to give the Pioneers a 7-6 lead. Ballouta was a thorn all game for the Patriots, running the ball hard and playing sideline-to-sideline on defense to make numerous tackles.
“I just kept moving my feet,” Ballouta said. “I ran hard to make tackles. I was happy with how I played on offense. We did a great job blocking on the touchdown and worked as a team.”
The Patriots answered with a short but productive drive to regain control of the game. On fourth down and two, the Patriots shocked the home team by executing a long pass to get into the Pioneers’ territory. Jax Thomas saved the day with a tackle to stop a potential touchdown. The Patriots took the lead on a 23-yard touchdown run to go up 13-7.
“I just tried to play hard and make tackles,” Thomas said. “I tried to help the team.”
The Patriots’ defense stiffened up to hold the Pioneers to just nine yards on their next possession, capped by a nice tackle on a fourth down attempt by McNulty with three minutes remaining in the game.
Orland Park defensive end Tyler Duchovitz said the team made some positive strides on Sunday.
“We had some good tackles and didn’t go offsides like we normally do and we improved a lot with several tackles in the backfield,” Duchovitz said. “I was happy with the way we played.”
LaPapa agreed with his teammate.
“I think I played really good on defense and helped save a touchdown,” LaPapa said. “I was very happy with how the team also played.”
In the fifth quarter, Keenan Ballouta and John Ordman both shined on the offensive end. McDermott made several memorable tackles and Jibreel Morrar made a big tackle along the sidelines. Logan Biskup managed to force a fumble.
The Pioneers had a total team effort, which included their entire roster: Jack Bertucci, Elias Joda, Matthew O’Shea, Stanley Bielawski, Lakye Peniche, Max Kalker, Ben Poore, Karter Pipkin, Ryker Tyrakowski, Anthony Comiskey, Kirk Valach, Lachlan Glassner, Liam Serafin, Mahmoud Hinnawi, Dominic Dronzek, Hudson Glassner, Benjmain Ally, Nicholas Smurzynski, Oliver Skwara, Jamal Jebreal, Abdallah Hasan and Zakariya Jaber.
