8U FALCONS SHUT OUT TRI CITY
The 8U Hinsdale Falcons improved to 4-1 Saturday afternoon with a 24-0 victory over Tri City 8U Black.
Cole Sherwood stole the show scoring four touchdowns, including three on the ground and one punt return. Sherwood also had an interception as well as three receptions for 85 yards through the air on crisp passes from Connor Pauley. Hinsdale was able to hold off an aggressive Tri City defensive line thanks to the hard-nosed play of Hinsdale’s offensive line, including Wyland Holmes, Teddy O’Toole, Keats Caruso, Parker Brey, Michael Cannizzaro, RT Kouba, Ben Vula and Charlie Hillegass.
Defensively, Hinsdale pitched its second shutout of the season, now having allowed only 31 points through five games. Outside linebackers Daniel Campbell and Kouba were in the backfield all afternoon, each with several tackles for losses, while defensive lineman Max Cantin, Michael D’Ombroski, Rocco and Duke Maggio, and Raj Chandarana were also disruptive throughout the afternoon. Meanwhile, Luke Schroeder, Cade Phelan and Pauley were fierce at inside linebacker while “the honey badger” Brooks Jaqua and safeties Broderick Slavik and Henry Gastevski continued their fearless play in the secondary.
Hinsdale goes on the road this Sunday at 10 a.m. against Oswego Blue in what should prove to be one of their toughest tests of the year.
9U FALCONS STOMP OP-RF
It was a great morning for football as the 9U Falcons traveled to take on the Oak Park-River Forest Huskies in Melrose Park Saturday.
The Falcons’ defense took the field first and set the tone early. Big pressure from Enzo Allegra and JP Rago resulted in a Billy Jaqua interception. The Falcon offense, however, was stymied. Back out came the defense, with tackles for loss by Elijah Trombly, Will Jones and John Dunn, forcing the Huskies to punt. Luke Wanless hit pay dirt on a 36-yard touchdown run following devastating blocks by Quinn Houser, AJ Siepker and Brody Sobieraj. Jaqua forced in the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Out came the defense and quickly turned away the Huskies. Henry Appel, Tate Pitts, Cooper Milburn, Kanas Zitkevicius and Massimo Buttitta ganged up on the Huskies, who gave the ball back to the Falcons. On the last play of the first half, Wanless scampered in from 30 yards out behind Julian Tabuena, Max Breton and Dean Windfelder blocks for a 13-0 halftime lead.
The Falcons salted away the game on a nine-play drive, highlighted by a 34-yard run by Owen Moon and ultimately capped off by a Nate Morris 5-yard TD run following a slick Jack Slavik block for a hard fought 19-0 victory.
10U SILVER WIN A TEAM EFFORT
Hinsdale Falcon 10U Silver has been playing team football all season and nothing changed Sunday against Park Ridge.
The defense was the highlight, as takeaways were plentiful. Jacob Zager, Danny McFarland and Luca Striltschuk all had interceptions. The interceptions and tight coverage from Sawyer Myhra, Theo Messeih, Frankie Levato, Leo Solorio, Brennan Smith, Rohn Ramani all severely altered the Park Ridge passing attack. Marco Oliverio, Rohan Sheth, Miles Perucki, Grant Garver and Rahil Thakkar kept constant pressure on the Park Ridge quarterbacks to assist the great pass coverage.
The hard-hitting Falcon defense generated multiple fumbles from Park Ridge, who lost two of them to the Falcons.
Viren Singh has been incredibly consistent on kickoffs, which has resulted in poor field positions for the opposition.
The offense was powered by blocking from Nico Will, Joey Hillegass, Hayden Sobieraj, Carter Cox and Parker Otzen. The offensive line and key down field blocking by Will Rooney provided lanes for the running backs all day long. Jack O’Malley led the way with a three-touchdown effort.
Park Ridge tried to make something happen with a late drive that was thwarted by a fumble recovery by Blake Bazan to wrap things up for the Falcons with a 32-6 victory.
On Saturday the Falcons travel to Mooseheart Stadium to battle Tri City Green at 5:30 p.m.
11U SILVER LOSES TOUGH BATTLE
In Week 5, Hinsdale hosted Park Ridge in a high flying battle of the Falcons.
Hinsdale set the pace early, marching down the field with a quarterback tandem that kept Park Ridge off balance. Big runs by Logan Sullivan and James West and a 16-yard catch by Lucas Spatara put the team in scoring position. Dane Graham used his speed and elusiveness on the edge for the first touchdown of the game.
Park Ridge matched Hinsdale blow for blow, but the defense held its ground for much of the game. Key tackles by Clark Sandahl, Stevie Aziz and Teddy Sodikoff stymied drives and forced punts throughout the day. JJ Natarelli and Jerry Wang stepped up big and proved their worth on the field by flying to the ball with reckless abandon.
Back on offense, linemen Augie Seraphin, Jacob Tarnowski, Graham Ellis, Gabe Burdi and Chase Mitchell gave the quarterback all day to make big plays. Bruno Hoban threw for more than 110 yards on the day, hitting targets Lucas Spatara, Max Hull, James West and Yebby Diedrich. Wideout Brayden Merchant caught a clutch 65-yard TD pass from Hoban for the play of the game.
Hinsdale held strong and completed big plays much of the game, but Park Ridge came out on top 27-19.
11U Gold D1 DROPS FIRST GAME
The Falcons 11U Gold D1 team took its first loss of the season, falling 16-0 to rival Lyons Township.
Following a string of emotional wins against the league’s best, Hinsdale just didn’t do enough to beat another tough opponent Saturday afternoon.
After giving up a touchdown early, the Falcon defense locked down for the remainder of the first half, getting strong play upfront by Connor Gaylord, Oliver Johnson and Angel Roman. Once the big boys upfront started establishing the edge, the Lions’ runners were funneled into the waiting arms of Charlie Lynch, Grant Kirchheimer, Shane Behar and Jaxon Uthe.
The Falcon offense was able to put together a beautiful drive with Dillon Phelan, Kellan Goodwin and Michael Kipnis finding holes created by the line anchored by Torsten Wood, Ben Kurinsky, Grant Wanless, Leo Crooks and Sal Calandriello. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out in the red zone as the half ran out.
It was more of the same in the second half, as the Falcon defense continued to play well but eventually yielded another Lion touchdown. The offense once again came up just short in the redzone after an impressive drive. Despite the loss, these Falcons (3-1) have every goal still within their grasp and will look to get back on the road to a championship next week.
11U GOLD D2 BEATS OP-RF
The Falcons came flying into Dickinson Field focused and energized on Sunday afternoon, ready to face Oak Park-River Forest.
The Falcons’ offense, led by Brady Madden at quarterback, took control of the game early with some crafty passing and a powerful running game led by Matt Wiskowski, Grayson Danek, Johnny Trombly, Spencer Marnell and Gavin Schuler. Together the Falcons running attack accounted for more than 125 yards on the ground, with powerful touchdown runs by Matthew Wiskowski and Brady Madden. Much of the credit goes to the powerful offensive line led by Rayan Sheikh, Jack O’Toole, Alex Vivanco, Dom Angelletti, Massimo Burdi and Ryan Swieton, who controlled the line of scrimmage all day.
The Falcons were dynamic through the air with big catches by Spencer Marnell, Bennett Shepherd and Ryan Pieczkowski. The Falcons first touchdown was a Dime from Madden to Marnell for 47 yards. The Falcons passed for more than 150 yards on the day.
The Falcons were equally up to the task with a swarming defense that kept the high powered OP-RF offense in check. Many Falcons had strong defensive play, including Johnny Trombly, Nick Carbonara, Lucas Herrick and Leo Yanklowiz.
This was a great team win 18-12 over OP-RF. The Falcons are back at it this Sunday at Dickinson Field against the mighty Carol Stream Panthers at 2 p.m.
JV G2 Comes Close to Victory
The Arlington Heights Cowboys came to Dickinson Field for the Falcons’ fourth game of the season.
The Falcon defensive front of Luke Altemose, Noah “Paint-Ballin’ ” Natarelli and William “Spec Ops” Smitty caused havoc all game long. A great stop on the opening possession set the Falcons up with a short field. Offensive linemen Chase Hellenga, Alex Schaeffer and Bryce Kinder led the way for running back Jake Knapp to pound his way down to the red zone. A dot from quarterback Benjamin Allanson to Knox Apple resulted in the Falcons’ first score.
The Cowboys were quick to answer with a score of their own, but another quick strike to Apple for the 65-yard touchdown and an interception from corner back Jake Wolowick gave Hinsdale the lead 13-8 heading into the half.
Arlington came out swinging in the second half, and a few missed tackles on Cowboy running back KJ Slimhart put them up 22-13.
A late game injury to Allanson made matters more difficult, forcing Knapp under center. However, the Falcons were resilient and demonstrated the esteemed “KnApple connection” as Knapp hit Apple for a 70-yard catch and run and his third touchdown of the day. Hinsdale was unable to convert the fourth-and-17 in lieu of an onsides kick, and ultimately fell short 22-21.
