By Bobby Narang- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
**Additinal Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p466649831 **
NEW LENOX – The Orland Park varsity football coaches stressed one main point numerous times in the postgame on Sunday afternoon.
The Pioneers were looking to head into the playoffs armed with momentum but the host Lincoln-Way Central Knights had other ideas.
In a hard-fought battle between two quality teams, the Knights pulled away in the fourth quarter to post a 20-8 triumph over the Pioneers in a River Valley Youth Football League game at Jonas R. Lashmet Field on the campus of Lincoln-Way Central High School.
The Pioneers had problems moving the ball in second and third quarters, while the Knights scored a touchdown in the second quarter and tacked on two touchdowns in a three-plus minute segment in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Orland Park football coach Vince Annel said his players have to be more focused for the playoffs.
“We started off the game moving the ball up and down the field, had a couple of penalties that pushed us back and then it started a snowball effect,” Annel said. “We kind of got out of our elements. We were down a score or two, then we had to get out of our element and put the ball in the air and they were able to pin their ears back and come after us.
“We will fix it and clean it up and be ready for the playoffs. We had a great stretch, won five wins in a row and playing our best football. We just have to get back to the drawing board and do the little things right and get ready.”
Taylor McDoniel agreed with his coach. The Pioneers were scoreless until punching one back the goal line with 3:07 left in the game. Quarterback Jack Bullington tossed a 55-yard touchdown to Mason Marable to end the scoring drought for the Pioneers.
Marable was one of the main players in the Pioneers’ offensive game plan, rushing seven times for 52 yards in the first half. But the speedy Marable was shut down in the second half, as the Knights buckled down at the line of scrimmage to hold him to five carries for five yards. In total, Marable had 12 rushes for 56 yards. Marable closed out his first-half rushing with a stellar 24-yard run, but his longest run in the second half was a six-yarder on his second-to-last attempt. Marable added two receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown.
“They saw we were running the ball a lot, so they adjusted,” Marable said. “It seemed to work for them. We have to work on all parts of our offense. We can run the ball, but we have to focus on the other things. It will be hard to stop us then. We have to work hard this week during the bye and can’t give up, like on their last score. WE just gave up at the end.”
Orland Park’s Taylor McDoniel said the team has to be focused for all four quarters, especially with the playoffs on the horizon.
“It was all about effort,” McDoniel said. “We didn’t show a lot of effort or desire to take the game over and win. The defense did pretty good. We can do better. We can learn from this game. It was a tough loss. We weren’t expecting this at all. We got punched in the mouth and we didn’t answer back or respond well. We have to come more prepared and show more heart. It was a rough game.”
On Orland Park’s lone scoring drive, the Pioneers started their drive at Lincoln-Way Central’s 47-yard line. The key play early in the drive was a fourth down conversion. The Pioneers were within striking grasp of the Knights until the fourth quarter, only a few plays away from seizing the lead, Annel said.
“They made plays and we didn’t,” Annel said. “They came ready to play and we didn’t. We were on our heels from the beginning. Our offensive line struggled today. They’ve been great all year. It was a tough game today. Our line has to do better. Unfortunately, it was a bad performance. The kids have to step up when it matters. This was a like a playoff game, and the other team came ready to play today. We will probably down to a five or six seed as opposed to a three seed after this loss.”
The Pioneers couldn’t stop Lincoln-Way Central’s rushing attack. Braydon McNulty led the Knights with several drive-extending runs that eventually wore down the Knights’ defense. McNulty scored on a 21-yard run in the second quarter and added a 56-yard scoring burst with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter.
The Pioneers hurt themselves with a key turnover midway through the fourth quarter, when Lincoln-Way Central’s Andrew Pellicci stepped in front of a short pass and intercepted the ball, dashing seven yards for a touchdown to give his team a 20-0 lead.
Orland Park’s Nick Shamma said it was a tough game for the team.
“We have to execute better,” Shamma said. “We made some small mistakes. We have to push harder for all four quarters. We put our heart out, but we have to show more effort. We have to show up to practice ready to work and hit.”
Orland Park’s Ayden Toth said the Pioneers have the potential to be a threat in the playoffs but stressed the team has to get back to basics in practice.
“We have to go to practice and work hard,” Toth said. “We definitely need more effort on the field. There was a couple eof plays they made that we didn’t. We have to contain the outside run better. Their quarterback was hard to stop.”
In the fifth quarter game, the Pioneers played hard until the final whistle to make the game an entertaining battle.
The Pioneers were a hard-working team throughout the regular season, as the entire roster played a role in the big regular season. Those players included Ayden Murphy, Mason Marable, Taylor McDoniel, Thomas Elliott, Ethan Vinson, Vinnie Annel, Adrian Maldonado, Cash Phillips, Ayden Toth, Samuel Basiorka, Christian Czerwonka, Jack Bullington, Dominic Gigliotti, Kyree Gills, Rocco McCarthy, Ryan Almasri, Athanasios Gatses, Joshua McNeil, Eli Citlali, Adam Hoak, John Murray, Casper Piskurewicz, Will Beeler, Mark Grech-Lisula, Adam Danko, Mohammad Ghadban, Keegan Kirk, Nathan Owei, Yasin Shafik, Rami Agha, Andrew Wojtanowicz, Nimer Alamawi, David Klimaszka, Raymond Arredondo, Dominic Rizza, Blake Wagner, Connor Ward, Ibrahim Jaffal, Mostafa Mostafa, Nick Shamma, Logan Kondziolka, and Brady Straka.