By Ed Muniz- Photos by Lauren Gray
** Additional Photos are Available for purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p686805134 **
ORLAND PARK— Speed is the difference in many sporting events. Some of the most elite athletes in the world work hard and increasing it. it is one of the most difficult things to do in sports is to run faster.
The worlds fastest humans are constantly tweeking thier starts or training simply to gain one .1 or .2 tenths of a second because that is considered a monumental feat. It seems so little but in the worls of speed, its huge.
Youth football has those speed demons. they dont work at it, they’re just born with it. Somehow they just simply take off and accelerate more rapidly than neary all the others. Football is one sport that will give a team with speed a big advantage.
The JV Pioneers experienced a case of speed by one of their opponents. Although the Pioneers did a great job of containing the Falcons runner for the most part, his eventual display of acceleration turned out to be the advantage that saw the Pioneers fall short in their 24-8 loss to Frankfort on October 4 in Orland Park.
Addressing his team afterwards, Coach AL Krokos added;
“When we were down 16 with 35-seconds left, no one gave up, we were still trying,” said Coach Krokos. “We battled them for the whole first half. We had a few things that went wrong and put us into a bad position; we turned the ball over, it happens. You guys fought, that’s all I can ask. We are sitting right here where the playoffs are going to be. We are 4-3 with one more game remaining, we will be 5-3 after that. Playoffs will be here, I dont care what sideline we are on— what seed we are, this is our field, we dont give up on our field, we fight all the way through. I am proud of the way you guys fought today!”
Initially, on their first series of the game, neither offense got much going. The Pioneers punted while the Falcons lost the ball on downs.
Both team defenses were limiting what the other side was doing.
The Pioneers next possession saw them punting on third down as coach Krokos decided to look for an advantage via field positioning.
Although the Pioneers continued their tackling assault on the Falcon runners, they did give up a long run that had the visitors inside the redzone.
With the Falcons current drive now in the second quarter, they continued to push towards the endzone. Tackles by Lucca Morandi, Andrew Richardson, George Petraitis, Michael Galivan and Cody Godlewki slowed them but eventually, the Falcons third down try from the Pioneers one-yard line found the endzone on a surprise pass to the outside right.
With the touchdown pass and the converted kick-after, the Falcons led 8-0.
The Pioneers to a man, were well aware they needed to respond playing the top team in the division. Behind the lead of Quarterback’ Carter Erwin, the Pioneers proceeded to go on a 12-play drive with a mix of pass and run plays.
The Pioneers coaches picked up on something the Falcons could be susceptible too and sought to exploit it.
The Pioneers found going to the air was where the Falcons could be had. Erwin prceeded to complete passes to Galivan, Petraitis and Colton Gutkowski on the drive while also using his legs to gain yards to continue moving the ball. Petraitis also converted a key third down try.
Reaching the Falcons 15-yard line, Erwin again hooked-up with Gutkowski, this time completing their response with a touchdown pass. When Richardson split the uprights on the ensuing kick, the Pioneers sat even at 8-8 late in the second quarter.
Three straight ensuing stops by Galivan took the game into the break.
The teams appeared to be very evenly matched. The Pioneers were going Toe-to-Toe with the unblemished Falcons and appeared poised to continue staying a nuisance and a threat to their wining streak entering the second half.
The Pioneers defense had held in-check the Falcons speedster runningback in the first half, allowing just a solo long run that they eventually stopped. Any attempt inside, the Pioneers were there to make the stop and limit him.
Begining the second half, The Pioneers defense continued its solid play. Again, they got to the ball quick and limited the Falcons to small chunks of yards. Erwin, Jude Morrar, Gutkowski, Michael O’Connor and Galivan continued to make stops and once again forced a punt.
Runs by O’Connor and Erwin grabbed 5-yards then followed by an incomplete pass, that saw the Pioneers go three and out on their following possession and quickly punted back to the Falcons.
With time soon expiring in the third, the Falcons went to work but the Pioneers defense wouldn’t relent and made three quick stops by Petraitis, Owen Garrity and Richardson, once again forcing a punt.
In tight games like this, teams wait for the other to flinch, make a mistake and hope they can take advantage of that. The Pioneers flinched on their very next play and gave the Falcons the perfect situation to jump ahead.
From their own 4-yard line, the Pioneer tried to surprise the Falcons with a pass call, but an unseen defender step in front of the Pioneers receiver and collected the pass for the interception and a short field just slightly over 10-yards from the endzone.
It took the Falcons four plays to dive in from the 1-yard line to jump ahead. With the touchdown and kick, the Falcons led 16-8 with 7-minutes left in the game.
Now with the lead, the Falcons defense upped it pressure. Quarterback Erwin would take off four straight times but on fourth and short, was stopped and forced to give up the ball on downs at midfield.
The Pioneers did proceed to stop the Falcons offense again with 1:24 left in the game but after an 11-yard completion to Galivan, the Pioneers never really threatened from midfield and again saw a pass attempt be intercepted.
Late in the game, that Falcons speed showed up again. A handoff would go the distance with no Pioneer abale to snag the Falcons speediest runner dashing down the far sideline for the Falcons third score to ice the game at 24-8.
The score doesnt indicate just how close these two teams truly are. Although a loss, the Pioneers coaches and players now realize just how well they measured up to the Unbeaten Flacons. Could another face off be in their playoff future? We will see.
Among those heading the Pioneers defensive play was Noah Cordoba. The very modest Cordoba gives a lot of credit to his teammates for his play. He was a difficult task for the Falcons all game.
“I’m feeling pretty good right now, it’s sad that we lost but we will get them next time,” said Cordoba. “We will kep working and try to get better, we are close. I was trying and working on turning it on in the first half but in the second, I felt I did turn it on. It’s a process for me. I used my speed and aggression to get in the backfield and make some plays. We just have to try and stop guys on the edge. We did a good job on their fast guy inside. I feel we played ok today but I think after today, we are going to play much better and work on the edge play and contain more.”
Another that had a very good game on both sides of the ball was Michael Galivan. Whether he was hauling in passes, running with the ball or making stops, Galivan had one speed of full go on the snap. His versatility and skills to play both offense and defense well is why he is one of the many asset the Pioneers have on JV.
“I thought I played well today,” said Galivan. “I obviously like playing defense more at the end. I was more active in the second half. I try to keep a high motor through the game. It’s just the way I play, making stops. It’s a great feeling when your teammates come up to you after a big stop or a great hit. Today as a team I feel we played well with some room for improvement, probably more on defense. When we don’t have the outside edge against a fast kid, that kid gets outside, so that is something we need to get better at. That was a big difference today. We did still did ok today.”
The Fifth Quarter saw several Pioneers show off their capabilities with solid efforts throughout. Jackson Biskup, Connor Kvelland, Cooper Elslager, Jimmy Elsberg, Adam Krokos, Will Poore, Keith Piekarz all played well. One big play came from Rayn Lukas. His interception was a process in of itself.
“On my interception, realistically, I shoudn’t have been on him,” said Lukas. “On that play I should have the deep zone in cover 3 but I didnt see anybody there so I came up on that play but the guy got past me and I realized something I do in Madden Football, I fake like I’m not covering him and saw the quarterback lock eyes on him, so I went in and he threw it right to me for the pick, also, the D-line played really good and was able to put pressure on him. I hope to get more picks. I obviously want more time but I’m ok right now, I’m always there for my team.”
Other Pioneers representing the Pioneers well included Gunner McCarthy, Joey Zotto, Luke Krokos, Emmett Kane, Ameen Musa, Jase Enstrom, Patrick O’Boye, Talon Tyrakowski, Jason Erwin, Christopher Medina, Caden Kolodziej, Anthoy LaPapa, Christian Paulson, Scott Gumienny, Laith Hammami, Dominic Gabriele, Nick Pomonis, Dominic Lach, Collin Valan, Bradley Patterson, Vincent Shervino, Michael Ordman, Zechariah Torgerson and Rayder Slabenak
The JV Pioneers Cheerleaders were in attaendance and once again kept the sidelines well supported. Their cheers were loud and their halftime performace was stellar.
Among those relishing the atmosphere and truly enjoying being there was Sana Kishta. Being a Pioneer Cheerleader is what she truly enjoys.
“The best part of being on the JV Pioneers is being able to make a lot of friends, stunting together, being a strong team and the community,” said Sana. “I would say being here as a cheerleader is more about the friendships because you need to be able to trust each other to do the skills and the stunts because if you fall, you know your strong friendships are there to always catch you. Losing in competitions is just hard, it’s when I am disappointed the most. That is what I feel is the hardest about being a Pioneers cheerleader. But I still enjoy being with all my friends here.and going out as a strong team, regardless if we won or lost, for me it’s all about the friendships.”
Other Cheerleaders displaying their skills included Sydney Scharpf, Lila Gavin, Brielle Lenzen, Marissa Gumuls, Mabel Lukasiewicz, Annie Milosovic, Adaline Johnson, Ainsley Moore, Ava Janota, Emily Okrasinski, Maeve Smith, Alexandra Burda, Kaitlyn Minick, Skylar Shlepakov, Brooklyn Loman, Morgan Collins, Molly McGeever, Ayya Ramadani, Sophia Molina, Margot Joda, Olivia Hufford, Aaliyah Medina, Delaney Piencak, Kyla Kwiatek, Olivia Ally, Allison Guest, Ella Mrowca, Khaliaha Brown, Liliana Holmes, Madison Davis and Liliana Darlak.
