By Ed Muniz- Photos by Renee Kaspar
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p134876451 **
Emotions ran high in the 8U finale of the Saturday Night Lights games held on September 30 at Mokena Maina Park.
The hard tackling and physicality of the visiting Northwest Tide from Elgin was eye-opening not just for fans but also for Jr. Celtic players and coaches.
Several injuries occurred during play for the Jr. Celtics which included their staring quarterback and their starting tailback, one requiring transportation to the hospital.
It also didn’t help that the officiating of the two-man crew was in over its head and poor at best. We don’t tend to focus on officiating but in this case, it warranted mentioning. Cretainly, three officials would have helped.
With any injury, players show respect to teammates and opponents, unfortunately, the host felt that wasn’t observed and emotions ran high because of it. It didn’t help that the visiting Tide, tsunami the Jr. Celtics, winning 36-6.
Entering the game, the Jr. Celtics were 4-1 while the Tide came in unbeaten in four games. The way the game played out; it was easy to see why the visitors had won each of their games.
Loaded with talent, speed and tenacity, any opponent is in for a tough game. The jr. Celtics had not experienced that all season.
Beginning the game, The Jr. Celtics first two offensive plays produced negative 12-yards. a short pass on third down by Cohen McCarren to Mason Akileh gained two yards. a fourth down saw Mokena punt from their own 25.
A pair of penalties is how the Tide began their first offensive series. Tackles by Akileh and Holden Reid also helped push the Tide back.
On third down, the Tide took the lead after a run went 38-yards for the touchdown. With the failed extra-pint, the tide led 6-0.
The Jr. Celtics didn’t respond well on their next play. A fumble snap was lost when the Tide came up with it at the Mokena 35.
After a 16-yard run and a tackle by McCarron, the Tide scored again on a run from 18-yards out, extending their lead to 12-0 late in the opening quarter.
A 15-yard run by Collins plus a Tide penalty had the Jr. Celtics at the visitors 45 and a first down. The next eight plays were a bevy of penalties, short runs and incompletions, stalling the Mokena drive at the Tide 37 and losing possession on downs.
When the Tide took over, they went to the air and connected on the 68-pass play that ended in the Mokena endzone for the Tide’s third touchdown of the game. They now led 18-0.
About the only thing the visiting Tide couldn’t do was convert extra points.
The Jr. Celtics offense was now stagnant, but it wasn’t because of effort, they simply found no running room, struggling to gain positive yards against a physical Tide defense.
They again relinquished the ball on downs, giving the Tide another opportunity to score as time was winding down in the first half.
The short field was to their liking. After an incomplete pass, the speed of their running back grabbed them another score after the 20-yard sprint, extending their lead just before half to 24-0.
Try as they might, the Jr. Celtic offense couldn’t sustain a drive to open the second half. The defense was doing all they could to prevent another score, but it was a futile effort. They simply didn’t match-up well against this Elgin team.
The Tide added another touchdown to end the third quarter. A run to the edge saw them increase their lead to 30-0 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Now in the final quarter with a running clock in effect, the Jr. Celtics went to a trick play. A Akileh toss to Reid and then a pitch-pass to a wide-open Keaton Kastys resulted in the Jr. Celtics lone score, surprising the Tide defense.
“I didn’t really know that I would be so open,” said Kastys. “I didn’t think I was going to catch it, but surprisingly, Holden (Reid) made a pretty good throw, so I caught it and scored a touchdown. We’ve never run that play before in a game. I was really surprised I scored because this team we played tonight was really difficult.”
“My passing play is probably what I did best today, I’m not really a good thrower,” said Reid. “it was probably just luck for me I threw a tight spiral. Tackling for me sometimes worked with I went low, they couldn’t stiff arm me then. I think their speed hurt us being aggressive. We couldn’t contain then from the edge. We just need to play good football.”
With the Kastys 45-yard touchdown, the score was now 30-6.
Shortly thereafter, the Tide would score again on a long touchdown run from 67-yards out.
A defensive interception by the Tide ended the game at 36-6 and an injured Mokena player on the field.
One player who seemed to want to play more despite the score, was Henry Bass, the stocky, well put-together player who is a power-runner type and a basher on defense. He relishes being on the field.
“I like running the ball, stiff arming people and score touchdowns, but I also like tackling people and hitting them hard,” said Bass. “I like running with power. I like getting pass lineman on defense. I would like to run the ball more because I like when people try to tackle me, it’s fun.”
Unknown if the visitors and their fans saw the downed player, they celebrated the win, which didn’t sit well with home fans and coaches. As the teams shook hands, it was difficult for some.
Giving their all despite the circumstances, several other Jr. Celtics contributed to the effort, they include Quinton Collins, Aiden Cesek, Zakai Oberg, Angelo Cameo, Zachary Bal-Denton, Daxton Radja, Alexander Wallace, Zachary Obeng, Henry Bass, Michael Salem Porter Ronk and Colin Petty.
Cheering on the players and doing all they could to entertain the home crowd were the Mighty Mite Cheerleaders which included Gabriella Bal-Denton, Madelyn Breymeyer, Lily Burke, Julianna Capadona, Leah Doman, Lucia Garofalo, Shea Kelly, Annabelle Osborne, Lilly Pearson, Emma Price, Olivia Richards, Ellie Roberts, Rylie-Ann Runia, Tessa Taylor and Liliana Wood.
