Falcons 9U Gold Advances to SemiS
The Hinsdale Falcons 9U Gold team improved to 9-0 by defeating Lyons 30-0 in the first round of the Bill George Youth Football League playoffs.
On fourth down of the first series of the game, Bryce Lee got things going when he took a reverse 60 yards to the endzone and then caught a 2-point conversion from Connor Pauley. Later in the first half, Cole Sherwood broke on a Lyon’s pass from his position at corner and returned the interception for a touchdown. Noah Jones capped off the effort by catching a 2-point conversion, making the score 16-0 at the half.
Sherwood finished the day with two touchdowns, the second of which came on a 35-yard scamper from his tailback position in the fourth quarter. Pauley rounded out the scoring effort with a quarterback sneak. Hinsdale’s line — anchored by Teddy O’Toole, RT Kouba, Michael Cannizzaro, Keats Caruso and Bennett Wilson — dominated the line of scrimmage throughout the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Hinsdale’s defense continued its relentless play, recording yet another shutout. Brooks Jaqua set the tone early in the game with a jaw dropping hit on the Lyons’ running back. At edge, Dan Campbell and RT Kouba were absolute menaces, essentially shutting down Lyons’ outside running game. Meanwhile, Noah Jones manned the middle and consistently pressured the Lyons quarterback along with defensive linemen Michael Dombroski and Wyland Holmes, who were in relentless pursuit of the entire Lyons backfield throughout the afternoon, resulting in a number of Lyons turnovers. The Falcons recorded three interceptions on the afternoon, two by Sherwood and one by Connor Pauley. At outside linebacker, Cade Phelan and Luke Schroeder along with safety Parker Brey recorded a number of vicious tackles of their own.
The Falcons will face Bartlett in the semifinals this weekend.
11U SILVER team wins, moves on
The Falcons went into this week with high hopes of a deep run into the playoffs. After defeating the Downers Grove Panthers at Dickinson Field 20-0, those hopes are becoming a reality.
The Panthers seemed worried about keeping up with the Falcon offense. On their first Possession they displayed a strategy to run the play clock down to the 10 second mark before starting their cadence to snap the ball. They were hoping the limit the time that the Falcon offense was on the field. The problem with that was that the Falcon defense — led by Jack O’Malley, Killian Byrne and Franky Lovato — wouldn’t allow the necessary first downs needed to execute the Downers game plan.
Eventually the Falcon offense got their turn.
On defense, the Panthers employed another risky strategy to limit the Falcons. They crowded the line of scrimmage with nine or 10 defenders trying to stop the high-powered Falcon rushing attack, led by Jacob Zager and Danny McFarland. The strategy worked for a quarter and a half, but eventually Zager found the endzone midway through the second quarter, breaking the 0-0 tie.
Zager wasn’t done yet. He opened the second half with a long touchdown run on the first play. After falling behind by two scores and not moving the ball very well against the stiff Falcon defense, the Panthers were under a ton of pressure.
The suffocating Hinsdale defense just would not give Downers Grove any breathing room. Carter Cox, Blake Bazan and Marco Oliverio were relentless in the effort to pitch another shutout. Luke Gray, Mile Lindemeyer, Parker Otzen and Grant Garver wreaked havoc on the Panthers in the second half.
The final nail in the coffin was a nifty touchdown catch by Jasper Maggio.
The team will face Tri City this weekend in round 2.
JV Gold D1 Notch win in Playoffs
It wasn’t always pretty, but the JV Gold Falcons got a first-round playoff win, beating Bloomingdale 12-6.
Hyped up and ready for the extra effort playoff football requires, the Hinsdale offense came out of the gates strong. Michael Kipnis found some beautiful holes on the opening drive thanks to the bulldozing big boys up front (Sullivan Camp, Sal Calandriello, Grant Wanless, Oliver Johnson and Ben Kurinsky). Dillon Phelan capped the opening drive with scoring run to make it 6-0 Falcons early. The Falcon defense was in a bad mood as linebackers Grant Kirchheimer and Charlie Lynch delivered punishing hits early with Torsten Wood, Brock Bradley and Leo Crooks getting constant pressure up front. A long Bloomingdale drive met a swift end with a well-read Logan Sullivan interception. In the second quarter, the Falcon offense couldn’t get much going and the Bulldogs found the endzone to knot the score 6-6 at half.
The stalemate continued in the third quarter with both defenses dictating play. Connor Gaylord stood out with a massive pass knockdown from his defensive tackle spot, while Dominic Cresap and Kellan Goodwin provided steady support in the secondary. As the third wound down, Jaxon Uthe screamed up the right side for a field-flipping punt return, which put the Falcon offense in business. Now into the fourth quarter, the Hinsdale offense methodically drove down the field with the drive culminating in a Kipnis touchdown, making it 12-6. Bloomingdale’s last-chance drive showed promise, but Angel Roman put a stop to that with a sack and then a game-sealing pass break up on consecutive plays.
Hinsdale, the top seed, will host round two of the playoffs this week against Glen Ellyn with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
Varsity Gold Comes So Close
Varsity Gold visited Downers Grove for their final game as Falcons.
“You couldn’t ask for a better day for a rematch,” barked manager RJ Hull.
The team’s message all week: “Give more than you think you have, and come out throwing haymakers!” The Hinsdale defense set that standard. Liam Cranmer, Brock Willits, Krystian Przychocki and William “Mr. Devious” Smith formed the defensive front. Linebackers Jack “Battlebus” Gray, Max Milburn, Hank “Scary” Scheri and Blake Schnur flew to the ball, halting the Downers’ offense. Outstanding hustle by Smith and Gray translated to involvement on 90 percent of tackles. An explosive hit from Milburn forced an early Panther fumble, recovered by cornerback Matthew Stone.
Wolf Pohlenz, Willits, Scheri, Landon Ronaldson, Smith, Luke Altemose, Charlie Koridek and Schnur formed the collective blocking unit. Although outsized, an unbelievable effort escorted rushes from quarterback Keaton Cassell, Gray and Schnur.
Falcon receivers Grant Goodwin, Chase Morris, Bear Kumskis, and Stone had their best game. Cassell was dealing, and great catches on the perimeter moved the sticks. But to the Panthers’ surprise, it was tight end Knox Apple throwing the 21-yard touchdown pass to Goodwin! It only took two years, but Apple finally earned the naming rights to the play “Lego City.” The kick from Colin Parry was good, but the Panthers quickly answered, tying it up before half.
The Panthers scored in the third quarter, but the Falcons continued to attack with runs from Cassell, and Gray forcing another fumble for Scheri to scoop and nearly score. On the final drive, the Falcons came up just short, finishing the game 8-14.
Despite the tough loss, the Falcons gave a heroic and remarkable performance, truly leaving it all on the field. The coaches, community and parents are beyond proud of these Hinsdale Falcons.
