By Patrick Z. McGavin- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
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ORLAND PARK— In a game of crazy bounces, the best players make their own outrageous luck and rarely do what is expected.
A standout for the Orland Park Pioneers Varsity, Enzo Angone turned a seeming disaster into a remarkable return that foretold the beauty and wonder that followed. After the opening kickoff skipped past him, he appeared out of hope to do anything except the desperate recovery by falling on the ball. Agone had other ideas.
“I think once I dropped the ball, it kind of knocked them off guard,” he said. “I think they felt like I’d just accept it, and take a knee there because they were kind of close. They were not really in their lanes there.”
Angone turned the broken play into a stunning 86-yard touchdown return that sparked the 30-6 Homecoming victory over Homewood-Flossmoor United in River Valley Youth Football league play at Sandburg High School on Sunday, September 7.
“I was able to go straight through them,” Angone said. “We wanted to have another fast start, and I’m happy the outcome wasn’t like last week where they came back.”
Agone scored three touchdowns, pushing his total to seven in the last two games.
The offense was quick strike, and the defense and special teams were equally opportunistic. The team has put together a string of brilliant first halves. Unlike a week ago against the Jr Warriors, the team stitched together an entire game. The Pioneers failed to protect a 20-0 first half lead in a double-overtime loss last week.
Linebacker Ryan Duckhorn was another standout. His blocked punt set up the second touchdown and he also had an interception to go with four tackles.
“It might be the best game we’ve played this season,” Duckhorn said. “We have to keep staying hyped. I think everybody really did their best today. We didn’t let them come back after halftime. Everybody was fired up and was excited to play this game. It’s kind of a rivalry for us. As hard as that game was last week, we forgot about it probably 24 hours later.”
After the Duckworth blocked punt gave the Pioneers possession at the H-F 17-yard line, running back Ben Snider ripped off a 15-yard run that set up Angone’s two-yard TD run.
Significantly, the Pioneers also welcomed the return of kicking specialist Yousif Dahdal. The first-year player made each of his two-point attempts to push the early lead to 16-0 less than five minutes into the game.
Dahdal took a hard hit on a 40-yard field goal attempt late in the second quarter, and did not return to the game. He is perfect on the season on the crucial two-point kicks.
He was unavailable last week due to a soccer tournament. The Pioneers converted just 1-5 kicks in the loss to the Jr Warriors. The team is just 1-7 by replacement kickers in the last two games.
“I’ve wanted to play this all of my life,” Dahdal said. “I’ve always wanted to be a kicker, but soccer usually has gotten in the way. It’s an amazing feeling to kick those field goals or extra points. It gives us a huge advantage, especially getting two points for a kick, and that helps our team a lot. I scored eight points in our first game.”
H-F stunned the Pioneers when its running back broke down the left sideline for a 74-yard scoring run, conjuring up thoughts of a week earlier.
That was the only significant offensive play of the game by H-F.
Interior linemen Ahmed Ali, Michael Sraga and Qais Naser controlled the line of scrimmage, creating pressure and havoc at the point of attack.
“I felt like we were more focused since we started practice in late-July, and we’ve been together for a while now,” Nais said. “We kept focusing on the small details of the defense. In practice, we’ve talked about how we have to look at the ball all the time, especially for the defensive ends. You have to stay out because this team likes to get outside. We also knew they liked to throw sometimes, so we had to keep an eye on the ball.”
The Pioneers responded to the long H-F touchdown run with a clinical and sharp 10-play, 62-yard drive.
Angone finished with 76 yards on 13 carries.
He did a bit of everything, gashing the defense with early runs of 11 and seven yards and adding an 11-yard pass reception from quarterback Charlie Enstrom.
Snider finished the excellent drive with a six-yard scoring run around the left edge.
“Enzo’s return boosted everybody’s confidence at the start,” Snider said. “It’s been great to start off pretty much every game with a bunch of touchdowns at the start. Scoring that early was great. We kept our composure in the second half, and we didn’t get cocky and stayed confident and we finished.”
After Ali and Rios forced another three and out by H-F, Angone closed out the first half scoring with a two-yard burst.
Receiver Logan Helman set it up with a crucial 11-yard reception.
The Duckworth interception gave one final opportunity to score before the half. Helman appeared to score on a 19-yard reception on the final play of the half. The officials ruled him half a yard short of paydirt.
With the 28-6 halftime lead, the Pioneers were a bit loose in their play during the second half with two fumbles. The defense was sharp, forcing a safety for the only scoring.
“I think our defense was really good today,” Agone said. “I think the way we tackled them sent a real message about how serious we were.”
The fact that it all played out on a beautiful and celebratory Homecoming day made it all the more beautiful and memorable.
“It was super cool, just amazing, for this to happen in our eighth grade year,” Duckworth said.
In the Fifth Quarter, quarterback Brock Lenzen was the early star with a series of touchdown runs.
“My favorite part is just making all of those decisions,” Lenzen said. “I can decide what’s best for the team, and help us get down the field and score. It’s just really nice to get some extra playing time. Sometimes you don’t get to play on Sundays. Wednesdays and the Fifth Quarter are the times we can get some extra playing time and see the field and show what we could do.”
The Orland Park Pioneers Varsity had many standout contributors in the 30-6 Homecoming victory. They included Syncere Preshon, Riley Atzman, Gavin Loman, Dylan Butler, Cade McNulty, Sean Buer, Liam West, Evan Lavelle, Justin McNamara, Luke Rybak, Finn Redmond, David Burgert, Jake Marzullo, John Werner, Gage Cucci, Drake Ulaszek, Adam Naser, Maverick Vander Veer, Benjamin Schwarz, Malcolm McGonegal, Mohammad Abedalrahman, Gianluca Arceo, Brandon Castillo, Aidan Rios, Diego Aguilar, Steven Mullins, Michael Stefancic, Nicholas Hertzog, Camden Czarnecki, Julian Trevino, Ryan Pempek, Erik Baran and Brian Curran.
The Varsity cheerleaders also contributed greatly to the radiant Homecoming atmosphere with their routines and a dazzling halftime show. They are Oliwia Burda, Aviana Briseno, Aubrey Baran, Brooklyn Richardson, Hailey McDonald, Keira Barrera, Ava Mendoza, Kaelyn Albright, Jordyn Shamma, Brittney Blazys, Brooke Blazys, Gia Parisi, Avery Nugent, Arianna Ramadani, Layla Jeffries, Giulia Cangelosi, Madalyn Marable, Flora Lane, Sofia Castillo, Julia Stekala, Violet Fino, Riley Meekma, Serena Murray and Sofia Murray.
