8U WINS FIRST CONTEST
The 8U Hinsdale Falcons opened the season in convincing fashion with a 31-0 victory over the Naperville Saints 8U White.
The Falcons got things going on the first series after Cole Sherwood scampered for 50 yards on third and 10 and the Falcons never looked back. Connor Pauley capped off the first drive with a 20-yard touchdown run — his first of two on the day. Sherwood also scored two touchdowns, running one in and catching one from Luke Schroeder. Schroeder was also responsible for scrambling for a 40-yard touchdown on the ground in the third quarter. The coaches were extremely impressed by the dominant blocking on the line led by Wyland Holmes, Teddy O’Toole, Keats Caruso, Parker Brey and Michael Cannizaro.
The defense turned in a ferocious effort, holding Naperville to only one first down on the day. Max Cantin, Charlie Hillegass, RT Kouba and Dan Campbell were responsible for several stifling tackles throughout the afternoon.
The Falcons are set to take on Tri City 8U Gray this week at Hinsdale Central High School at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
9U VICTORY A nTEAM EFFORT
It was a cool, cloudy Saturday in Palatine for the 2023 9U Falcons first game — a stark contrast to the sweltering week leading up to the inaugural game for 12 of the 22 Falcons.
The young Falcons started slowly, giving up a long touchdown run on their first defensive possession. Trailing 7-0 the Falcons came back out on offense. Coach Wes Breton’s impassioned speech woke the team up. Luke Wanless broke free up the middle for a 53-yard TD run. A missed extra point had the Falcons trailing 7-6.
Tackles for loss by Quinn Houser, John Dunn, Billy Jaqua and Cooper Milburn gave the ball back to Hinsdale with great field position. Following key blocks by Max Breton, Dean Windfelder, Enzo Allegra, Julian Tabuena and Brody Soberiaj, Owen Moon slithered his way in for 6-yard TD run. A Nate Morris to Will Jones pass gave the Falcons a 14-7 lead. The defense ended the half on strong plays by Elijah Trombley, Grant Garber, Massimo Buttitta, Kanas Zitkevicius and JP Rago.
Clinging to a 14-13 lead, Wanless followed big blocks by AJ Siepker and Jack Slavik, breaking tackles along the way in for a 30-yard TD run. A Morris pass to Moon for 2 more points gave the Falcons a 22-13 lead. Henry Appel would later score with a tackle breaking 35-yard TD run with Tate Pitts leading the way. A late Panther touchdown ended the game, a Falcon 28-19 victory. The win was nice, but more importantly every Falcon player was able to contribute and start what hopefully will be a long, fun Falcon career.
10U Silver Wins a nailbiter
The Falcons came in hungry to take on their crosstown rival, Lyons Township. Their preparation showed as they never lost their nerve during the defensive struggle, with the Falcons coming away with a 7–0 win.
On offense, the line powered by Luke Hanson, Joey Hillegass, Hayden Sobieraj, Carter Cox and Parker Otzen provided lanes for Jacob Zager, Danny McFarland, Jack O’Malley and Luca Striltschuk to run through. However, the Lyons’ defense was equal to the task until the late game heroics of Luca Striltschuk in the form of a 25-yard touchdown run around the left end to seal the game. Jacob Zager punched in the extra point to make it a two-score game.
Although the passing game was limited, it did show flashes of promise with crisp routes and solid quarterback play. The offense was in command with new quarterback Sawyer Myhra, who remained calm during the tense contest. On defense, the Falcons stood tall series after series and held Lyons to minimum gains. Key contributions by Marco Oliverio, Rohn Ramani and Nico Will helped pave the way for the shutout.
A late game punt return of 55 yards by Danny McFarland flipped momentum in the Falcons’ favor, which ultimately led to the only score of the game.
In the end the stingy Falcon defense was called upon to keep Lyons out of the endzone. The tenacious team defense allowed the Falcons to wrap this one up.
The Falcons travel to OST Field in Palatine to take on Palatine Silver Black Saturday at 1 p.m.
10U Gold takes down oswego
It had been 28 days since the 10U Gold team gathered for the first time to kick off the 2023 football season. There were a handful of returning players, but a lot of new faces to this team. Coach Nate Brown knew he had his work cut out for him to get his team prepared against a much larger Oswego team.
Oswego struck first with a touchdown to open the game. The Falcons’ offense wasn’t going to be outshined. On its opening drive, Kellen Brown broke the third play for a 40-yard scamper down the sidelines, with key blocks from Grant Omiecinski, Lukasz Gewont and Keerthan Tucke. Ben Murphy capped the drive with an excellent throw, finding Soren Carlson in the back of the endzone for a successful 2-point conversion to give the Falcons an 8-6 lead.
The defense was able to buckle down the rest of the first half and provide a lot of pressure up front, led by Sebastian Christensen, Killian Byrne, Jasper Maggio and Owen Parry. The offense wasn’t done as Topher Allanson provided the exclamation point on a well played first half with a 50-yard touchdown run, led by key blocks from Christian Gernot, Keegan McKoskey, Ivan Burt and Harrison. The defense didn’t let up in the second half with Christian Kirchev forcing and recovering a fumble, while Marcello Salamone, Nate Thangamani and Bo Cuculich continued to provide the hard hits. Teddy Ouimette danced circles around the Oswego defense late in the game to help drain the clock and the Falcons walked away from their season opener victorious, 14-6.
Next up is the home opener against Bloomingdale.
11U Silver falls by point
The Falcons kicked off the first game of the 2023 season against the Arlington Heights Cowboys.
Hinsdale struggled to find its footing in the first half. Early miscommunications led to busted containment and an Arlington touchdown. A costly Falcons’ fumble in the endzone later led to another six for the Cowboys. The first half ended 0-13 in favor of Arlington Heights.
The Falcon’s to put it together on all fronts in the second half. The defense, anchored by Bennett Zeikus in the middle, held Arlington on fourth down and secured the ball for the Falcons first drive of the half. The offense, commanded by quarterback James West, reassembled and put together a dominant scoring drive. Dane Graham gashed the Cowboys for big chunks on the edge, culminating in a 40-yard scamper up the sideline for the Falcons’ first score of the game.
The Falcons held containment and forced Arlington to run into the arms of the linebackers. Inside linebacker Burke Brotschul stepped up for a key interception, setting up a short field for the Falcons’ offense. A Yebby Diedrich touchdown catch was followed by a conversion that knotted the score at 13-13.
In overtime, Hinsdale struck first on another Dane Graham foot race to the pylon. A quick 1-point conversion and the Falcons held the lead. Arlington countered with an end around run to put the game in striking distance. The Cowboys elected to go for two and ultimately converted on the last play of the game, handing Hinsdale in a heartbreaking overtime loss, 21-20.
11U Gold shows strong defense
The Hinsdale Falcons came into the home opener at Dickinson Field against Glen Ellyn Eagles on Sunday ready for a battle. The game turned into a defensive contest while the Falcons offense turned the ball over multiple times, failing to score.
The Falcons were able to move the ball with strong runs by Matt Wiskowski and Gavin Shuler and some crafty passing by Brady Madden, but weren’t able to crack the endzone. On defense, the Falcons were led by Brady Madden, Nick Carbonara, Rayan Sheik, Danek Grayson and Leo Yankolowiz. The defensive front stood up to two 2 goal line stands — one of which went on for six plays — to keep the Falcons in it. In the end, the early season miscues led to a 12-0 loss for the Falcons.
But there are lots of good things to come this season from this bunch.
The Falcons’ next contest will be at Bartlett this Sunday at 1 p.m.
