By Ed Muniz- Photos by Lauren Gray
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p600184923 **
ORLAND PARK— An Interesting crossover game happened on September 23 In Orland Park. Schedule to play in the Wednesday Night Football League was the Orland Park Pioneers varsity squad against the New Lenox Junior Knights. That game didn’t happen.
The Pioneers were informed that the Junior Knights were going to forfeit the game as they couldn’t field a team.
The Wednesday Night Football League was formed years ago to help develop players with little to no experience and for those whose talent level was not as developed as others.
During regularly scheduled games on Sundays, many of those players see little playing time, therefore these games fill an absence for many of these players and give them an opportunity to gain experience in the exact same game situation seen on the weekend games.
Any game that is missed or is forfeited takes a chance away from those players who require more game time experience and development.
Coach Adam Sutter understood that so he reached out to a neighboring football organization outside of the River Valley Youth Football League and scheduled a scrimmage game.
The Illinois junior Celtics 12U Team out of neighboring Mokena, headed by coach Tony Urso, welcomed the opportunity to gain more experience on the field while also helping the Pioneers and their players do the same.
The game would follow Wednesday Night Football League rules with two halves at 25-minutes each and would also have referees with a game score kept. A real football game environment.
The result was a very entertaining game with lots of hard hitting along with scoring by each team. The end result would see the Pioneers out-duel the visiting Jr. Celtics, 28-16.
The Jr. Celtics took possession to open the game, they proceeded to go on a 13-play drive which concluded in a 6-yard run up the middle for a touchdown. They Converted the kick-after to jump ahead 8-0 using nearly 15 minutes of the clock.
A mixture of run and pass plays allowed them to keep advancing the ball starting from their own 30-yardline. The Pioneers defense worked hard during the drive but couldn’t get off the field or stall the drive.
Several pioneers did make stops prior to the Jr. Celtics scoring which included Dylan Enriquez, Edward Follis, Aleksandar Tosev, Luke Tonra, Nick Mase, Rayan Ghabayen and a sack by Panos Kyros that pushed the Jr. Celtics back 7-yards.
The Pioneers looked to respond and did. Using the same formula as the visitors, the Pioneers mixed the run and the pass and used it to their advantage. Rodney Vincent display quickness and speed getting to the edge while also receiving a pass from Vinny Ficaro. Vincent took a handoff, sped to the left edge, accelerated and flew past the visiting defense enroute to the Pioneers first score from 44-yards out, closing the lead to 8-6. Ficaro also connected via a pass with Kyros prior to the score.
After Enriquez deflected a Jr. Celtics pass, followed by another attempt through the air, the Pioneers defense took the game to the break trailing by two.
The second half saw more scoring than the first. A total of 30-combined-points were added to the scoreboard with both teams using a bevy of players.
The Pioneers used not a single player from their regular game starters at any point in the game, depending on the strength of their second and third unit, while the Jr. Celtics saw most starters sit out the second half.
Less than three minutes into the second stanza, the Pioneers offense struck gold again. Quarterback Vinny Ficaro called his own number and took the snap and headed left, just beynd the reach of every defender. He hit the near sideline and didn’t stop until 72-yards later in the endzone. His touchdown run now had the Pioneers ahead and when Follis converted the kick-after, the Pioneers now led 14-8.
Lean and lanky, Ficaro has speed and a skill-set he is learning about. His development will be one to keep on eye on. His big-play aspect of his football abilities is what makes him a threat to score every time he takes off. The visiting Jr. Celtics saw that in this game.
“On my long run, All I saw was green grass, all the blocking went perfectly,” said Ficaro. “I like taking off like that. I get to use my legs instead of passing and handing off. My legs make up for everything which includes my passes that were off. I think quarterback is a position I can excell at and maybe get some attention down the line. I think maybe I need to improve my ballcarrier vision, looking around better and my throwing accuracy, I’ve been working on throwing during the off season. I can get better. I think at every position we can get better.”
With momentun now squarely on the Pioneers side, the defense made short work of the Jr. Celtics offense. A solo by John Sutter followed by two stops by Tosev and an incomplete pass, gave the Pioneers the ball back on the turnover on downs.
With a shortfield, the Pioneers sat 27-yards away from increasing their lead. It took them the ensuing play to do that.
Kyros took an end-around handoff and streaked down the far sideline for the Pioneers third touchdown of the game. Follis again converted the kick-after that jumped the Pioneers lead to 22-8.
The Jr. Celtics werent done just yet.
They powered their way downfield. A long run put them deep into Pioneers territory. Using the pass also moved them closer to a score, twice connecting, ending up at the hosts 2-yardline. From there, the Jr. Celtics backups, powered in on a dive with about 5 mins left in the game. After their converted kick, they now trailed 22-16 and looked to stop the Pioneers offense.
Speed can dash all hopes and it did in this game for the Jr. Celtics. The Pioneers possess a speedster in their backfield and he showed it off at the best time for the Pioneers.
Taking a handoff, Vincent moved to his left, took his time waiting for the opening then hit the jets and flashed past all the Jr. Celtics defenders just two plays after they scored.
“Speed is what I excel at. I like getting the ball, It’s more of a euphoric rush,” said Rodney. “Being able to run out, having the linemen make a hole for me and being able to run through it, it’s really a euphoric rush. I am a first year player. I didn’t play earlier because I didn’t think I had the skill for it, so this year I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I thought I’d try it.”
“This is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I need to have more reflex decisions, half-second decisions and having more agility. I’m looking for a spot when I run the ball but mostly just taking the time to speed up, that’s all. I just have to work at reading the defense, do I go inside, do I go outside.”
His 75-yard blast aroud the left edge and down the near sideline, iced the game for the Pioneers, with the Vincent touchdown, the Pioneers upped ther lead to 28-16..
The last three minutes saw the Jr. Celtics give their all but the Pioneers defense shut the door with the interception by Follis. With the last few seconds expiring, the Pioneers took home the well earned comeback win.
Other Pioneers also did all they could in this win. Whether on the field or suppirting from the sidelines, their abilities and encouragements worked well. They include Max Streets-Pruitt, Hudson Doftert, Louai Suleiman, Zackary Salah, Cade Judeh, Anderson Matthews, Nicholas Peisker, Mohammad Ashkar, Jude Daghlawi, Nolan Byrne, Marquise McMorris, Jacob Hyla, Carter Peluso, Leonardo Luciano, Thomas Lynch, Karam Olyyan, Daniel Ramirez, Muhammad Kassem, Aws Khalil, Gavin Connors, Ryan Kenny, Daniel Malacina, Faris Hussein, Abdelkarem Shuaibi, Julian Mika, Noah Maslowiec, ames Okrasinski, Nicholas Hertzog, Dylan Ahmer, Avery Vermilyea,Joseph McCann, Bran Curran and Issam Abulaban.
