SECOND SHUTOUT FOR 8U FALCONS
The Hinsdale 8U Falcons improved to 5-1 on Sunday with a 27-0 victory over Oswego 8U Blue.
Offensively, the Falcons got things going on the third play of the game, when Connor Pauley connected with Cole Sherwood for his first of two touchdown passes to Sherwood (who also had a rushing touchdown) on the day. The offensive line, anchored by Wyland Holmes, Keats Caruso, Teddy O’Toole, Parker Brey, Michael Cannizarro and tight-ends Charlie Hillegass and RT Kouba gave Pauley tons of time in the pocket throughout the game, allowing him to carve apart the Oswego defense with several impressive passes, including a late-game strike to Kouba, who hauled in the pass for a 30-yard gain.
Defensively, the Falcons pitched their second shutout in a row while also contributing to the scoring effort when Brooks Jaqua returned an interception for a touchdown on the first play of the second half. As has become typical, Jaqua and Sherwood, along with outside linebackers Kouba and Dan Campbell, shut down the edges, while Hinsdale’s stout defensive line, including Max Cantin, Michael D’Ombroski, Rocco and Duke Maggio and Raj Chandarana, along with Caruso, O’Toole and Holmes, shut down the middle. Meanwhile, middle linebackers Luke Schroeder, Cade Phelan and Pauley along with safety Broderick Slavik were all over the field making tackles.
The Falcons face the Bartlett 8U Chrome on Saturday.
9U REMAINS UNDEFEATED
First play, every play, all day is the rallying cry for these undefeated Falcons.
Coach Andrew Appel challenged the team to deliver on these words for their Sunday morning game at Plainfield. The Falcons started with the ball and five plays later hit pay dirt. Owen Moon, following the lead blocks of Enzo Allegra, Jack Slavik and Dean Windfelder, got the Falcons close. Luke Wanless finished the drive behind Quinn Houser, AJ Siepker, Julian Tabuena and Max Breton for the touchdown and an early 6-0 lead.
Now it was the Falcon defense’s turn. As would be the case all day, Plainfield was denied any positive yards. Will Jones, John Dunn, Elijah Trombly, JP Rago and Grant Garber were a constant presence in the Jr Cats backfield. Cooper Milburn, Massimo Buttitta and Kanas Zitkevicius shut down the passing game and secured the shut out.
The next two plays the Falcons ran resulted in touchdowns. Henry Appel caught a Nate Morris pass and scored a 45-yard TD with the help of a key Tate Pitts block. Morris punched in the extra point. Next up Billy Jaqua took a handoff, cut off a Brody Sobieraj block and scampered in from 55 yards, finishing off the 19-0 team victory.
10U SILVER REMAINS UNBEATEN
The first-place Hinsdale Falcon 10U Silver team traveled to North Aurora to take on the unbeaten second-place Tri City Chargers and found themselves in a defensive battle that ended in a 0-0 tie.
The Falcon defense has been great all year, and Saturday was much of the same. Marco Oliverio, Jacob Zager, Rohan Sheth, Miles Perucki, Grant Garver, Jack O’Malley, Luke Hanson, Blake Bazan, Theo Messeih and Rahil Thakkar were in the Charger offensive backfield all game long, resulting in numerous tackles for loss.
Tight coverage from Frankie Levato, Leo Solorio, Rohn Ramani, Danny McFarland and Luca Striltschuk kept the Tri City passing attack under wraps.
The offense, led by Brennan Smith, was close to scoring a couple times but just couldn’t punch one in.
The blocking from Will Rooney, Nico Will, Joey Hillegass, Hayden Sobieraj, Carter Cox and Parker Otzen was sound, but the Chargers were equal to the task.
Since there wasn’t much scoring, the Golden Toe of Viren Singh was called upon only once, which had Tri City starting deep in their own end.
In overtime, the shutout was secured by an interception by the Falcons.
On Saturday the Falcons travel to Knock Park in Naperville for a 7:30 p.m. game.
11U SILVER FALLS IN OT
The Falcons went on the road in Week 6 to face the Panthers in Palatine.
Hinsdale set the pace and put together a long scoring drive to open the game. Runs by Logan Sullivan, Dane Graham, Max Hull and James West gave the Panthers fits. Sullivan capped the drive with a powerful run to put the score at 6-0.
The Falcons’ defense would hold early. Safeties Teddy Sodikoff and Stevie Aziz helped to keep the Panthers’ passing game in check, while Nick Rachford and Graham Ellis helped to set the edge.
Later in the half, a mysterious lost down resulted in the Falcons moving into fake punt formation. Punter Yeabsira Diedrich would lay a dime on Bruno Hoban for a big Falcon first down.
The second half was all about the defense. A key interception and big return by Sullivan kept the Panthers out of the endzone. Big tackles from Chase Mitchell, Burke Brotschul and Brayden Merchant would help stop Palatine from gaining yards on the outside. Bruno Hoban would step up yet again for a key strip and 40-yard score to give the Falcons the lead.
The game went to OT, with Palatine scoring first. The Falcons scored but failed to convert on the 2-pt try, falling to Palatine 21-20.
11U Gold D1 back to Winning Ways
The Hinsdale Falcons 11U Gold D1 (4-1) showed true grit this week grinding out an 8-6 win against the Oswego Panthers. Each Falcon came into the game with an aggressive mindset and battled through blood, sweat and tears until the job was done.
The Falcon defense set the tone early, not giving up a first down in the first quarter. The Hinsdale offense struggled to start but found its stride in the second quarter with a monster 70-yard drive. With Michael Kipnis, bloody nose and all, toting the rock and Dillon Phelan eluding rushers to deliver dimes, the Falcons found the endzone with a gorgeous Phelan pass to Kellen Goodwin for six. A converted 2-pointer to Charlie Lynch made the score 8-0 at half.
The defenses again dominated the second half with some great play from Dominic Cresap, Brock Bradley and Oliver Johnson for Hinsdale. The Panthers were able to score at the end of the third, but a huge stand on the 2-point conversion kept the Falcon lead at 8-6. The Hinsdale offense was able to burn some clock but unable to mount a sustained drive, and the Panthers had a chance to steal the game with 4 minutes remaining. The Falcon defense slammed the door shut with a huge fumble recovery by Leo Crooks to send the Panthers home in tears.
11U Gold D2 FALLS IN FINAL SECONDS
The 11U Gold D2 Falcons came into Sunday’s match up against a powerful Carol Stream ready for a battle. The Falcons’ offense came out roaring, with a strong running game led by Grayson Danek, Matt Wiskowski, Johnny Trombly, Gavin Schuler and Spencer Marnell. Marnell was a weapon in the passing game as quarterback Brady Madden continued to get his playmakers in open space.
Grayson Danek electrified the crowd with a 50-yard scamper to the endzone. During the drive, Marnell has a couple of great catches, including a great snag for the 2-point conversion.
The defense was stout the majority of the contest. The defensive line controlled the day, led by Alex Vivanco, Dom Angelletti, Rayan Sheik, Ryan Sweitan, Mossimo Burdi and Jack O’Toole. This defensive line accounted for six sacks and multiple turnovers throughout the day.
The Falcons controlled the game for the first 38 minutes of the game, but with 30 seconds left, Carol Stream found a man over the middle who avoided all of the Falcons defenders to score and steal the victory with a score of 12-8.
The next game for the Falcons is against Downers Grove at their Doerhoefer Stadium Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
JV G2 Loses tie game in OT
The Falcons JV Gold D2 team visited the concrete turf of Mooseheart to take on Tri City Gold 2 for their fifth contest of the season.
A booming hit from lineman specialist William Smith on the opening kickoff set the Falcons off on the right foot. A solid defensive stop from linebackers Michael Garber, Clay Tims, Knox Apple and Cole Prasse set Hinsdale up for its first possession. However, a few offensive woes prevented Hinsdale from significantly advancing the ball.
The defensive bout would go on for four quarters. Tough tackles and quarterback pressure from defensive linemen Smith, Chase Hellenga, Alex Schaeffer and Noah Natarelli kept the Charger offense in check. A lockdown Falcon secondary was on display as well. Jake Wolowick led the defensive backs with a spectacular three-interception day. Benjamin Allanson, Giuseppé Salamoné and Kellen Miller broke up late-down pass attempts while Jake Knapp snagged an interception of his own. The two teams were held to 0 points in regulation, forcing overtime. The Chargers were able to run it in for the score. Hinsdale was unable to answer with their final possession, ultimately falling short 6-0.
