By Ed Muniz- Photos by Kathy Jones
** Additional Photos are Available for Purcahse at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p451287287 **
After going into overtime last week and tying, the 7U Jr. Celtics were hoping playing at home would bring them the first win of the year.
Quarterback Michael Comise has the skills to lead his team to a victory. He is confident under center and shows it during games.
Facing the Tri-City Wolverines, the Jr. Celtics would face a formidable foe which features big speedy backs and a rough, aggressive defense. Who comes in splitting their first two games. So, they are beatable.
Comise and his Jr. Celtic teammates found out quickly, they were in for a tough time.
When the last second ticked off, the visiting Wolverines found their second victory of the season and left Mokena again searching for their first win of the 2023 season after the 27-0 win.
“Definitely was a tough game for us today,” said head Coach Tom Comise. “No excuses, we take the field and work very hard expecting to put up results, unfortunately, the season hasn’t gone our way yet.”
“We are showing progress, every day we are getting a little bit better, step by step, we’re just waiting for that next big leap. We do have seven first year players, trying to get them to embrace their will on the other team. They all want to win, just takes a little time.”
Coach Comise mentioned that his team usually tackles really well but struggled today. He stated his team is usually pretty physical, but today it just wasn’t there.
Football is funny, sometimes everything you attempt doesn’t work, while other times, you’re close to perfection. That was the case in this game.
Seemed everything the Jr. Celtics tried wound up going wrong while the Wolverines were near perfect.
Two runs by Caleb Partin and Vincent Venegas picked up 7 early yards for the Jr. Celtic offense to open the game. A third down fumble led to the Jr. Celtics punting on fourth down.
After a stop by Partin on the Wolverines first carry, the visitors jumped on the scoreboard after a 65-yard sprint wound up in the endzone. after adding the extra-point, Tri-City was up 7-0in their opening possession.
Amped up and ready to play, the excited Tri-City defense limited two runs by Partin which lost four yards. An incomplete pass by Comise forced another punt nearing the end of the opening quarter.
The ensuing Tri-City drive would consist of nine plays that marched them 65-yards before reaching the endzone.
The Jr. Celtics were giving their all and showed it as the drive progressed downfield against them.
Despite three tackles each by Partin and Ryder Dow; a pair by John Skuzinski and a solo by Jack Mackiney, the Wolverines still managed to up their lead to 13-0 while using nearly the entire second quarter.
After a 6-yard run by Dow and 3-yards by Ashton Bradshaw, the Jr. Celtics went to half time trailing by two scores.
After halftime, a long stretch by the Jr. Celtics defense in the first half would again take place to open the third quarter.
Tri-City would go on an 11-play drive that used up the entire third stanza, concluding two plays into the final quarter.
During the Wolverine drive, the Jr. Celtics kept giving their all, showing great effort and refusing to give in on their stops. Joseph Paciorek, Venegas, and Mackiney all had solo tackles Partin chipped in with a pair of his own but again, Dow led the way grabbing a trio for the second time.
“When I was at Linebacker, I got closer and could see where the ball was going,” said Dow. “I could make the tackles when I saw where the ball was going. I did really good tackling them today. I think I’m pretty fast too. We didn’t block very much either. I think we will be better next game.”
After the 3-yard score upped the Wolverine advantage to 20-0, the Jr. Celtics were trying to sustain a drive with hopes of scoring.
A 48-yard romp up the middle by Partin was a good start. Bradshaw added another four on his carry that now had the Jr. Celtics in the redzone, looking to put some points on the board.
“So my coach just said hit the hole, do jump cuts so I do that,” said the workhorse Partin. “When I run, I try to make a cut if a guy is there and run as fast as I can. I do that good. I don’t really know what we have to do to get better because our coach tells us all that stuff.”
A fourth down try three plays later was snuffed out at the Tri-City 14, that was as close as the Jr. Celtics would get all game to the endzone.
The Wolverines added another score, flipping the field on two plays and leave Mokena with the 27-0 victory.
The Jr. Celtics also had strong efforts in the game from Finn Ward, James Short, Timothy Gena, Owen Miller, Hendrix Bernard, William Fitzgerald, John Drabeck, Iacovos Christou, Rocco Macaluso and Corbin Caine.
Cheering on the Jr. Celtics loud enough to hear on the opposite sidelines were the Mighty Mite Jr. Celtic Cheerleaders. They kept the sidelines entertained with their routines and halftime performances. They include Gabriella Bal-Denton, Madelyn Breymeyer, Lily Burke, Julianna Capadona, Leah Doman, Lucia Garofalo, Shea Kelly, Annabelle Osborne, Lily Pearson, Emma Price, Olivia Richards, Ellie Roberts, Rylie-Ann Runia, Tessa Taylor and Lilliana Wood.
