By Ed Muniz- Photos by Jenn-Anne Gledhill
** Additional Photos are Available for Purchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p796359467 **
JOLIET— Heading into the Chicagoland Pop Warner playoffs, Coach Bob Russell’s Jr. Celtics 13u D3 team was riding a winning streak of eight games in a row. As one of two teams to run the gaunlet of the season and remain unbeaten, all they’ve known this 2025 season is winning and staying perfect without a blemish.
But this is now the playoffs, the second season! The slate is wiped clean and if you are one of the eight teams who earned a chance at a league Championship, eveything that happened before during the regular season is gone. Everyone is 0-0 coming into their first playoff game.
Strange things happen in the playoffs. Much of the time the favorites or higher seeds get the job done to advance but occasionally, there are upsets and surprises occur. Ask the top seeded Elmhurst Bears after being upset by the last-seeded Proviso Bills.
The Jr. Celtics were so dominant in their initial playoff game against the Tri-City Wolverines, any upset thoughts were quickly squashed as the second seed Jr. Celtics thrashed the Wolverines, 46-13 in the one-sided game. In fact, of the top four seeds entering the playoffs, the Jr. Celtics were the only one’s to win.
“First and foremost, the offensive line did an outstanding job today,” said Coach Russell. “They created some really big holes for our backfield. Nakhati (Thompson) did a great job running the ball. After he went down, Dominick Bennett really stepped up and did an outstanding job. He’s very slippery and very tough. He has the grit of a fullback with the speed and agility of flanker.”
“Also, Matthew Webb ran the ball incredibly today, it was a great job. For his size and young age, its shocking what an athlete he is. We let up on defense a cuple of times, we’re going to shore that up but they too did a great job. I think we still need to improve our tackling. Offensively, we need to hit the holes at the right time and follow our blocks but overall, a win is a win, I’ll take it.”
The Jr. Celtics defense kick-started the offense when it came away with and interception by Adrian Friscia to end the Wolverines initial drive. Tackles by Bennett, Thompson and Thomas Walsh preceded the Interception for the Jr. Celtics.
After a 40-yard run by Bennett on first down, Thompson glided in from 25-yards out for the Jr. Celtics first score. Adding the conversion-kick, Mchael Brown brought the lead to 8-0.
The Jr. Celtics defense was being quite stingy on the Wolverines next series. Anthoni Stefos started it off with a solo then followed by Bennett whos pair of tackles moved the Wolverines back 10-yards but a fourth down pass attempt instead of punting turned out to bite the Wolverines when Thompson stepped in front of the intended pass and returned it 48-yard on the “Pick Six” and upped the Jr. Celtics lead to 16-0 after Brown added the kick.
Opening quarter two, the Wolverines mounted a series of plays trying to get back into the game. Although tackles by Friscia, Bennett, Caleb Griffin and Stefos slowed them, they did get on the scoreboard after a 25-yard pass completion went for a touchdown. Adding the point-after, the Wolverines trailed 16-7 with just under six-minutes left in the first half.
Runs of 19-,16- and 13-yards by Mathew Webb and Bennett soon had the Jr. Celtics knocking at the Wolverines endzone door. one play later from the 1, Webb plunged in for the Jr. Celtics third touchdown of the game, increasing their lead to 24-7 after the Brown conversion-kick was good.
The final minute of the first half saw two big plays go for touchdowns, one from each team.
After stopping the Wolverines on downs, the Jr. Celtics used one play, scoring from 49-yards out on Thompson’s sprint to the right edge and streak to the endzone. Brown again added the kick-after for the 32-7 lead.
With just seconds left in the first half, the Wolverines threw up a long pass that was somehow caught and raced 50-yard for the touchdown with no time left. The missed kick brought the score to 32-13 at the half.
With a three-score advantage, the Jr. Celtics came out of halftime with a comfortable lead. Having the talent laden roster they have, no chance they wouldn’t see the endzone again even with a large lead. They certainly didn’t sit back on their laurels.
No, this team smelled blood in the water and weren’t done feeding. A mixture of runners saw the Jr. Celtics keep heading to the Wolverine endzone. Runs by Stefos, Bryce Robinson, Brown, Bennett, Thompson and Webb soon had the Jr. Celtics just outside paydirt. A four-yard plunge by Bennett once again elevated the lead to 40-13 with another kick by Brown splitting the uprights.
Bennett showed his offensive skills throughout the game. He upgraded his game especially offensively. Not big in stature but a diffcult target none the less due to his elusive ability and quick burst of speed, made him hard to stop and created positive yards every time he was called on.
“Id say I have good vision on the field,” said Bennett. “I’d say I’m more of a slasher-type runner. I think that style of running fits me well but I also like to lower my shoulder. I Think I can probably improve by finding my blockers better and using my linemen to help me get further down field. I think our defensive pass coverage needs to get better, we can’t give up on the ball, we need to stick with our people.”
Unheralded in this game for a bit, the Jr. Celtocs defense wanted to be heard and they did just that on the next Wolverines series. Limiting whatever the Wolverimes tried, the defense was playing stellar ball. Webb and Friscia stuffed two running attempts and then Caden Russell came away with a pick when the Wolverines went to the air.
The Jr. Celtics rode their dominance into the fourth quarter controlling nearly all the play. A seven play series followed but this time, the Jr. Celtics couldn’t convert and loss the ball on downs midway through the fourth.
Although the offense sputtered in their last possession, the Jr. Celtics defense wasn’t having none of that and again forced a turnover. An ailing Thompson was able to grab another interception for the Jr. Celtics as time was winding down in the game.
The Jr. Celtics didn’t sit back and once again scored one last time on another Thompson touchdown run from 27-yards as time expired for the 46-13 playoff win.
Thompson is one of those players gifted with natural abilities. He has a sense for the ball, has great vision, makes the right cut and has god-given speed you can’t teach. His skills aren’t limited to one side of the ball, his closing skills and eye for the ball creates defensive plays others aren’t able to make. This game showed of all his skills even after a slight injury. It was just another usual game for him.
“I think the pregame speech was a determining factor in this game for me,” said Thompson. It was like a pep talk speech, We knew what we had to do coming into this game and we just did it. I got a stinger on one of the kickoffs, it was a helmet right into my leg but honestly, nothing they did was difficult for us. We are just going game by game but we really want to make it to Kansas. We are trying to stay focused in our next game much like today and make it down there.”
Matthew Webb also saw quite a bit of success against Tri-City. His deceptive speed and ability to make himself difficult to get a clean hit on made him very elusive and a troublesome target for his opponents. He also wasnt shy in providing the initial contact against defensive Wolverines, showing off a powerful running style when needed. He filled in and provide big offense for his team, doing all he could to help his team win.
“I just keep my feet moving and keep my shoulder down,” said Webb. “I enjoy running the way I do, it’s just fun to hit people and I like the contact. I’m a power back and I like hitting people in my way. I think I can improve staying more on my feet. I feel I need to improve the most running the ball. For my size. I”m pretty fast. Also need to step up more as a leader and start communicating better too. I didn’t really have much trouble with any of them when I played defense.”
Kicker-Quarterback Michael Brown was perfect in a couple ways too. He converted every two-point kick (5-times) he tried and when given the chance to run as quarterback, he excelled in picking up good chunks of yards. His day was about as good as you’d want .
“I don’t work on kicking the football because I’m actually a soccer player,” said Brown. “It actually just comes natural but it’s actualy nice having lineman that can hold their blocks and let me get kicks off. thats awesome! If I need to kick a field goal I can but with this team we don’t end up in situations where we need a field goal but I can kick field goals from at least 30-yards. I do like running the ball alot but at the same chance, I like giving my other guys a chance to run the ball too. When we need to get the yards that we need and we have something going, I’ll call my play and get the yards needed. We have two really good running back in Nakhati and Bryce, that helps.”
Other Jr. Celtics that contributed in the playoff victory include Nolan Purtill, Frank Vosholler, Christian Taphorn, Thomas Walsh, Andrew Lowry, Kyle Tompkins, Ben Tiernan, Max Dukups, Graham Salvador, Kaiden Alexander, Dominic Nemchausky and Robert Hauck.
