By Patrick Z. McGavin-Photos by Renee Kaspar
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HAMMOND, IN.— The moment was a long time coming, so much so the pent up emotions and anxious energy spilled out in every direction. The Varsity unit of the Orland Park Pioneers was hungry to change the feeling and mood of the team. Everything felt downcast and somber.
“We started the season 0-5, and no other varsity Pioneers’ team had ever started like that,” Thomas Elliott said. “I feel like some of the leaders of the team motivated their other teammates to get the win.”
The Orland Park Pioneers took no prisoners with the emphatic and soul-cleansing 41-0 rout of the Northwest (Ind.) Vipers in a River Valley Youth Football League game at Bishop Noll Academy on Sunday, October 6.
The team’s only other victory was via a forfeit.
The versatile Elliott enjoyed his longest run of the season with a 61-yard touchdown jaunt, and running back Ryan Almasri broke three breakaway scoring runs for the Pioneers.
“We started with the heart, and came out and wanted to win,” Elliott said. “We could tell once we stepped out that we could take advantage of the game, and beat them.”
Almasri needed just four carries to reach 135 yards and score touchdown runs of 38, 25 and 57 yards. Of course, losing tends to be more emotionally withering than the physical disruption. Almasri said the team had to work through the bleak and disappointing stretches of the season.
“It’s all about staying positive,” he said. “Even when things don’t go your way, you have to stay focused on the game all the time.”
The two-quarterback system of Elliott and Ashton Brennan has been the driver of the offense this season. Coach Andy Rybak has stressed the importance of balancing the offense, and making it more versatile.
Almasri went untouched on his first carry dashing down the left sideline for the 38-yard touchdown jaunt. He showcased the Pioneers’ attack at its most dangerous and well-tuned.
“I’ve always been fast, and this year I’ve gotten shiftier with the ball and harder to bring down,” Almasri said. “I give a lot of credit to my offensive line, who did a great job of blocking. I was able to really use my speed. We were all shooting our gaps, and there was no miscommunication.”
Almasri played pretty much flawlessly, with the exception of an illegal crackback block that nullified a 56-yard punt return touchdown by Elliott.
On a crisply designed misdirection play on the ensuing play from scrimmage, Elliott took the inside handoff and went 61 yards down the right sideline for the early 14-0 lead. “It’s one of the longest runs I’ve had this season,” he said. “They’ve been moving me around a lot. I’ve been playing quarterback, running back and wide receiver, and I’ve played all over on defense. I’ve played a variety of positions, and I think it helps, because when other teams scout us and look at film, they might see me play quarterback one game, come out as a wide receiver, or now play running back the next game.”
Just for good measure, Elliott also had two two-point kicks that helped expand the lead.
Almasri punctuated the 28-0 first half blitz with his 57-yard burst around the left edge that also signaled the last play of participation from any of the starters.
If the lightning running game mitigated the need for the vertical passing of Elliott and Brennan, the defense made sure the Vipers never got close to threatening, much less dangerous, opportunities of their own.
The Vipers had five first half possessions without a first down to show for it. Lineman William Reid was the defensive force for the Pioneers. He had four tackles for loss. His ability to get penetration disrupted the Vipers’ offense at the point of attack, seemingly in the body of the quarterback from the moment of the center exchange.
“At the start of the game, we got the offensive touchdown, and that fired us up,” Reilly said. “On defense we just started getting tackles, and we kept going. The momentum was really high, and it was a good game. At the start of the season we were not really doing well on defense. We were giving up a lot of points, 33, 26 and 50. We started working hard on defense, especially our tackling and our communication. That really helped us get better.”
With the first-team defensive unit, Elliott, Colin McElligott, Josiah Johnson, Jude Doftert and Nathaniel Owei also stood out with their athleticism, aggressiveness and flow to the Vipers’ ball carriers.
The Indiana team rarely had a chance to breathe. Best of all, the team suffered no drop off in quality of play or performance with the second and third units that saw all the action after halftime.
Reserve quarterback Kyle Krokos ran the attack.
In fact, running back Joey Driscoll put on a show. He took a jet sweep on the first play of the third quarter and went 70 yards down the right sideline. Henry Byrne also flashed some jet quickness and open field speed with a 39-yard run to start the fourth quarter. Driscoll put the exclamation point on the victory with a 21-yard touchdown burst.
“It felt great,” Driscoll said. “I do that a lot in the Wednesday night games, but it felt great to do that in the starting games. This was the first time I’ve done this in a Sunday game.”
Regardless of the substitutions and defensive combinations, the team just melded together beautifully. During the second half, Caden Votteler, Wyatt Heinze and Luke Rybak stepped up and made big stops. Aidan Rios also made a strong play with his interior pressure on a pass attempt.
“We kept our foot on the gas, and kept going,” Jack Bordelon said. “We never wanted them to hang around. We started with momentum, and then got more momentum and it was back and forth. We got hyped up after every touchdown.”
With the team set to receive another forfeit next week with the dismantling of the Chicago Blitz program, the Pioneers are on the verge of their primary goal, qualifying for the playoffs. They viewed this game as a launching pad to better and brighter moments.
“All we need is one more win to get into the playoffs,” Elliott said. “We’re going to keep this momentum.”
The Varsity team of the Orland Park Pioneers had many excellent contributors in the 41-0 victory. They included Ryan Beeler, Connor Ward, Colin Kluever, David Kopec, Santino Marrella, Mason Overmyer, Keegan Fogarty, Layth Zughayer, Nicholas Davis, Harley Camargo, Noah O’Kennard, Terrin Lovitt, Nicholas Baniewicz, Michael Sraga, Luke O’Reilly, Mark Grech-Lisula, Brandon Castillo, Aidan Rios, Jacob Morakinyo, Cameron Taylor, Abdallah Abuhamda, William Gardner, Ezennaya Nwachukwu, John Macros, Nolan Burns, Cristian Arevalo, Daniel Evers, Brady Straka and Rhett Capps.
The cheerleaders also showed off great artistry and passion in their dance and performance routines. Their members are Alyssa Abed, Lily Carroll, Erica Gonsowski, Layla Jeffries, Hope Majdecki, Madalyn Marable, AnaSophia Martin, Hailey McDonald, Ava Mendoza, Avery Nugent, Maeve O’Connor, Ava Pastiak, Paige Pomonis, Arianna Ramadani, Leah Ramos, Jordyn Shamma, Jozelyn Tamayo and Klaudia Willis.
