By Ed Muniz-Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p988926636 **
The Varsity Pioneers traveled to St. Rita High School on August 27. The Chicago school is the home base of the Chicago Blitz.
Both teams were looking to break into the win column after dismal opening performances in week one of the River Valley Youth Football League.
The Pioneers struggled in their 28-6 loss to Mt. Greenwood while the Blitz found their game against the Jr. Warriors just as difficult, losing 41-13.
For both teams, looking to correct the troubles of week one was the main objective of their matchup.
The Pioneers did all the right things, while the Blitz continued its woes on the field after a 30-7 loss to the visiting Pioneers.
“We wanted to get back to pounding the ball the whole first drive,” said Coach Vince Annel. “We knew we could throw the ball a little bit, but we wanted to make sure to get the inside stuff that we needed to get done again. Communication with our line was much better. We had a lot of blitzing last week and we struggled with some of our guys with the blitz last week.
“I challenged the O-Line and D-Line this week, we watched a lot of film and talked to these kids about their effort, regardless of the weather, we still got to come to play. We did that today.”
Two big runs by Vinnie Annel highlighted the opening Pioneer drive. Runs of 18 and 34-yards by Annel set up the first score of the game.
A six-yard pass from Pioneer quarterback Jack Bullington to Ayden Toth notched the first touchdown of the game. The PAT kick by David Klimaszka clanked off the crossbar and left the score at 6-0.
The Blitz took their turn and rattled off a nine-play series but ultimately lost possession on downs after an incomplete pass on fourth down.
Tackles by Keegan Kirk and Stephen Caxton-Idowu along with a pair of tackles each by Annel and Adam Danko forced the turnover on downs.
Back to the offense, the second quarter was welcoming to the Pioneers, but it took some effort.
The Pioneers were stopped on downs to open the second quarter.
After a pass from Bullington to Annel gained six yards along with a penalty, the Pioneers stalled and loss yards on their next two plays. Even with a 12-yard burst by Annel, it wasn’t enough to maintain the drive.
Now on defense, a tackle by Kirk was soon followed by a fumble recovery by Danko.
Annel raced for 13-yards on first down followed by 28 more when Kyree Gill broke free on his run, setting up the Pioneers at the Blitz 4-yard-line.
From there, the Pioneers crashed up the middle on Annel’s four-yard touchdown blast. Klimaszka adjusted and converted the kick-after, which elevated the Pioneers lead to 14-0.
Klimaszka is a big, beefy guy, but is nimble with a powerful leg that will contribute a lot this year for the Varsity Pioneers.
With momentum securely on the visitors sideline, the Pioneers defense made quick work of the Blitz ensuing possession.
Annel, Mohammad Ghadban and Nick Shamma made sure of that with each making stops to force a loss on downs for the Blitz.
With time closing in on the first half, the Pioneers were looking to add another score quickly.
After a Bullington incompletion, he found Annel for 16-yards and once again on the next play that went 29-yards. The pair of completions had the Pioneers at the Blitz 10.
Bullington called his own number, managing to run up the middle into the endzone for the Pioneers third touchdown of the half with just 22-seconds left before intermission.
“I feel we tighten up our stuff and I trusted the routes better,” said Quarterback Jack Bullington. “Our receivers ran well, they aren’t always open when I throw it, but I have to trust that they’ll create separation. There isn’t pressure to play well, our coaches do a great job, every week we are getting better and better. We just have to improve on all the little stuff, but this win feels good.”
Klimaszka booted another conversion kick and upped the lead to 22-0.
The Pioneer defense didn’t let up to open the second half.
Frustration was soon on the far sidelines as the host Blitz were struggling to get much going.
Tackles by Caxton-Idowu and a fumble caused by a hard-hitting Sam Basiorka, saw the Blitz give up the ball via the first punt for the program all day.
After Bullington was sacked for a 6-yard loss, he came right back and laid a perfect pass to Gill who caught the ball in stride down the far sideline and took it to the house from 46-yards out.
Once again, Klimaszka added the conversion kick which increased the Pioneers total to 30-0
Two bad snaps on the ensuing first two downs by the Blitz, loss them 26-yards and 18-yards to end the third quarter with a running clock now in use.
Opening the final quarter, their punt turned into a bizarre, rarely seen play at any level.
The Blitz second punt of the game was blocked, it ricocheted up and was caught by a Pioneer defenseman. Instincts told him to run, and he did, sprinting as fast as he could but doing it in the wrong direction.
No one was going to catch him, not even his teammates. Those yelling at him from the sidelines to turn around weren’t heard, he rambled into the endzone oblivious to what had happened, as he came out of the endzone still with the ball, and finally Blitz player trying to tackle him at the four-yard-line, confusion set in. The Blitz was awarded the football at that spot.
The Blitz did score two plays later from the one, ending a program scoring drought, adding the point-after to make the score 30-7.
The Pioneers ran a few more offensive plays. A pass from Thomas Elliott to Connor Ward gained 8-yards and Ward followed that with a sprint of 14-yards to show his capable talents.
“I feel like I use my speed and my shiftiness to my advantage,” said the elusive and speedy Ward. “I usually show folks what I can do when I get my opportunity. Right now, there are bigger guys starting ahead of me, so I wait till it’s my turn. I feel for the time I had in the game, I played pretty good. I got to prove in practice that I’m good enough to play more, that’s how things work.”
Others rushing the ball for the Pioneers included Christian Czerwonka who was a slippery as they come eluding a big Blitz rush.
Leading the Pioneers’ defensive efforts was Adam Danko. The veteran defensive lineman was showing the staff how good he can be with today’s performance.
“I was more confident to come out here and get a win,” said Danko. “I think a loss prepares you for a win, it kinda motivated me a lot to come out here and play much better. Today I was getting through the line much more. I think I’ve gotten much better at gap containing. We all played well today.”
Several other Pioneers contributed to the win. They included Ayden Murphy, Taylor McDoniel, Ethan Vinson, Adrian Maldonado, Cash Phillips, Dominic Gigliotti, Rocco McCarthy, Ryan Almasri, Athanasios Gatses, Joshua McNeil, Eli Citlau, Adam Hoak, John Murray, Casper Piskurewicz, Mark Grech-Lisula, Nathaniel Owei, Shafik Yasin, Rami Agha, Andrew Wojtanowicz, Nimer Alamawi, Raymond Arredondo, Dominic Rizza, Blake Wagner, Ibrahim Jaffal, Mostafa Mostafa, Brady Straka and Logan Kondziolka.
Cheering on the Pioneers and showing the fans their skills were the Pioneers Varsity Cheer squad. Among them were Alyssa Abed, Tahani Alzamareeh, Madeleine Carrier, Lily Carroll, Sophia Gasior, Erica Gonsowski, Natalie Gruszka, Lily Jacquez, Layla Jeffries, Emilia Kos, Madalyn Marable, Ghazal Masadmasad, Lily Masino, Hailey McDonald, Liliana Minard, Rain Murphy, Avery Nugent, Maeve O’Connor, Paige Pomonis, Arianna Ramadani, Taylor Ruisz, Fiona Sejud, Jordyn Shamma, Kiera Ulaszek, Summer Vahl, Lila Vitale, Kylee Votteler, Klaudia Willis and Anna Woloszyk
